Monday 27 March 2017

URBAN SKETCHING TIPS

It is a little daunting to venture out with a sketchbook unless you are very sure of yourself and have no objection to passers by having a look over your shoulder.  How do you feel about this?  I hate it personally, and I am an experienced artist.  I feel as if I am deliberately asking for attention.  I have learned a few tricks to cope with this.

Join a group of sketchers.  The Urban Sketchers organisation is a great one to join.  It costs nothing.  No matter how experienced or inexperienced or simply a beginner,  you are welcome.  There is no competition involved.  You will learn so much and other sketchers are always willing to give advice on equipment, etc. You just have to ask.  Being with a group makes you feel less exposed and there is a nice sense of comeraderie.

Sketching regularly is an invaluable way of seeing how wonderful the world is around you and really experiencing how things actually look - the colours, the shapes, the smells, the warmth of the sun, the chill of the wind or the soft caresses of a gentle breeze on a hot day.  If you are a keen painter, your work will improve dramatically if you sketch often.

Try to do a quick sketch each day.  It can be a small one.  There are so many things to attempt.  Look around you.  Where are you sitting now? Your desk has so many objects to sketch.  Perhaps you are off to the kitchen.  Look around and see what you can draw - even a wooden spoon has shape , colour and form.  The more you sketch , the more you will see.  

More tips will be posted on my blog soon.

Enjoy your sketching.  Most of all - have fun and I am sure you will be excited as you see your sketches come to life.


 

URBAN SKETCHING

It has been ages since I have added anything to my blog.  It has been a tough year healthwise but am now on the mend and feeling more like my old self.  Urban sketching has become a real passion for me and I am sketching more than ever before.   I have met a great group of sketchers in South Africa in a small seaside town called Hermanus.  They sketch whenever they can .  I had the privilege of spending several days sketching with them. It is good to have made new friends with similar interests.  I am hoping that two sisters will be able to visit me in Germany for a few days and we can spend time sketching in the lovely little town in which I live.  It is a Spa town and there are so many stunning places, buildings and landscapes to excite any keen sketcher.  

I belong to an art society called the Kunstverein Mindelheim. I am keen to get together a group of artists to spend time enjoying their sketchbooks.  For this reason I will be hosting a sketchcrawl on the 24th June in Bad Wörishofen - my town and am really looking forward to it.  I hope we willl have a good turnout.

Here are a few of my latest sketches done in South Africa.