Symposium Blog

Day 3 - Challenges

Pedro Loureiro — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:52:15 +0000

Morning spent with Cathy Gatland and Isabel Fiadeiro. Now, they had a challenge for us! Whoever is used to sketch with line, should only use stain; whoever uses stain, should use line. Guess it was staining time for me. This really took me out of my comfort zone!

Each sketch (not all are shown) became a lab for incrementing techniques, with advice from Cathy and Isabel - "let the colours blend", "pay less attention to the colour and more to values" - progress was at hand. Getting out of the comfort zone really multiplies one's learning potential by ten!

Then, after lunch, Simonetta Capecchi told us about some other challenges. The challenge L'Aquila's population faced after the terrible earthquake that devastated the city. The challenge she and a small band of sketchers took on as they decided to enter the ruins and record the post-event, the lives, the stories of the people there, with the sole purpose of "spreading the news". When traditional news reports are becoming less meaningful, is urban sketching a way to get the message through? A way to retell the story in an appealing fashion? Recalling Simonetta's talk, and the events in Spain recorded by several spanish indignados sketchers, I come to think were on to something here. Sketch like you got a purpose!

Or, you can lighten the mood, and entertain an audience, retelling the stunts in your travel sketches project, with a cool blend of humour and effective sketching style, the way António Jorge Gonçalves did with us there.

The climax happened in Terreiro do Paço, Lisboa's magna square, with around 300 sketchers congregating (mostly in the shade of the western arcades), chatting, sharing and, of course, sketching, each other, other people, the buildings, the castle up on the hill, the river, the gulls, anything that moved or stayed still.

As for me, I craved to continue the experiments in which I had been initiated. Stain on!

Thank you very much, dear organizing team! This was an acomplishment!

Urbansketchers in Lisbon - day 1 - a video from Patrícia Pedrosa

Mario Linhares — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:31:32 +0000

Urban Sketchers in Lisbon (day 1) from Patrícia Pedrosa.

how to make a sketchbook

uebero — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:14:26 +0000

this workshop really got me going, since taking part I have noticed myself picking up scraps of paper and cloth with yet another sketchbook in mind. This is last weekends production with heavy duty 220gr paper. Thanks again Ketta.

Alternative to Tia's Hero Pen?

Leepenghui — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:27:55 +0000

This Sailor Calligraphy pen looks very similar to the Hero that Tia and others were using, and is probably easier to obtain in Europe. Also, it looks like it can be used with the cap stuck on to the top of the pen.

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/showproduct.php?id=894

Day 2 - Confirmation

Pedro Loureiro — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:04:51 +0000

The second day began in Chiado, with Frank Ching and Pedro Cabral, showing us how the architecture of a place becomes the frame of life in drawings. Here, I sat next to Miguel Herranz who was applying this intense blue to his sky, and I just had to try it out. I like his better though. I also remembered a technique I had seen in the previous night in Melanie Reim's sketchbook in which she would detail the background thoroughly, while leaving the foreground unfinished. This created a sense of complexity and deepness I wanted to experiment. Here's the result.

Inside the Brasileira, by the counter, I tried to use the frames of the doorway to create a kind of proscenium effect, where the street would be the stage.

The talks by Matthew Brehm and James Richards were very reassuring. The first, explaining the difference between technique and style confirmed my thoughts on the subject, and made me feel at peace about using the same techniques as the sketcher next to me, such as I did with Miguel and Melanie, earlier in the morning. The second was a great pep talk on why what we're doing "is hot again!"

On to Rossio, where Melanie Reim and Ângela Luzia asked us to tell the stories from the square. My own favourite way of sketching. It seemed that only two kinds of people were there at that time: foreign tourists, and small groups of people from the african communities.

The former were too restless to sketch, so I turned my attention to the latter. They were mostly just hanging around, talking, observing. Some, in very elegant postures. Others, more relaxed.

At one time, one of those nefarious hashish pushers that use to roam around Rossio spotted me, restlessly, until he remembered there were some guys, in the news, the previous evening when he got home, drawing in the streets of Lisboa. Allright! I was certified! I was authorised to stand around in his corner!

bye bye lisboa!

pete scully — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:28:37 +0000

Wow, Another amazing Urban Sketching Symposium! Lisbon seemed to be the perfect city for an urban sketcher, and over the course of three days I met lots of great people, some new faces, some of whom I had met in Portland, and many who I had followed online for years and could not believe I was sitting there sketch alongside them. A huge thank you to all those who oragnized this event, and to everybody who came.

Portugal is a lovely place, and the people were very friendly. I stayed at the Shiado Hostel on rua Anchietta, along with some other urban sketchers. And then there are the fire hydrants...

Since returning from the symposium I have been trying to scan and post my drawings, and it has been a long slow process. I have symposium-hangover. I have done a fair bit of sketching too (how can we stop?), taking in each of the things I learnt in Lisbon, and moving forward with my own personal sketchbooking. I've been posting about the workshops and events from Lisbon on my website; if you're interested please pop by and take a look!

Day One: Exploring Chiado

Day One: Unfinished Business

From the Lecture Hall

Day Two: Lisbon Perspectives

Day Two: Light of Lisboa

Day Three: Contrastes

Day Three: Worldwide Sketchcrawl 32

Where will the next one be? There was some discussion about that, and I for one hope that I'll be able to make it. In the meantime I like all of you I'm sure will keep on sketching!

Lovely to meet you all! Keep in touch!

a big thank you

uebero — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:17:55 +0000

back now for some time and having started to digest all the impressions and new things I learned at the symposium I would just like to say a big thank you to the organizers, the instructors and the great fellow attendees that I was able to talk to and see in action.

I have already started on "the natural way to draw", thank you Monica Cid, actually I printed it out myself and then bound it as hardcover, thank you Ketta Linhares.
I think a lot of the things I picked up went into this sketch crawl sketch, especially Paul's hints on colour splashes.

Day one - Excitement

Pedro Loureiro — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:29:28 +0000

With Manuel João Ramos, I struggled to enhance the obstacles pedestrians face when negotiating their way through Largo Barão da Quintela. All that block the way are painted. Out of topic, just couldn't resist sketching the rough firefighters in their best Brando impersonation, checking out all the sketchers with just enough curiosity not to look curious - and the terrific Famel motorcycle. A classic portuguese 60s, 70s and 80s bike.

The talks by Tia and Ruth drew my attention avidly! The first for the straightforwardness of the tactics that get a small group to draw the attention of many, by effective networking and sincere sketchworking.The second, for writing in words the soul of the urban sketcher.

Afternoon with Nina Johansson and José Louro. Great challenge! Forget about the final result - always a smart reminder. Most of the skeches there were in fact unfinished, against my will. People just wouldn't sit still for 5 minutes. Well, at least, the people who were in my pen range.

Loved the leaflet, by the way!

Back in Portland

lengstro — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:28:29 +0000

Another great symposium! I got back to Portland on August 4th after spending 2 weeks in Portugal. Lisbon was a wonderful city ....after the symposium my husband and I went to visit Sintra, Obidos and Bellum. Then drove down to the Algarve region along the southern coast. Having grown up near the Atlantic Ocean in New York, I was drawn to the beautiful beaches and the coastal atmosphere. Now that we are home I hope to continue my sketching and am thankful for all the new global friends that I met in Lisbon!

from Stella Jurgen - Back to Canada!

Stella Jurgen — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:28:01 +0000

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share with you how greatful I am to have met new friends during the Lisbon Urban Sketchers Symposium 2011 and being able to share my interest of urban sketching with you all. It was an amazing experience and I hope to see you all again next year. Here are some sketches of the sessions. These instructions really helped me. :)