Before I lived in Connecticut I wasn't really a beach person. Now that I'm living inland, I crave a glimpse of water from time to time. It's a good thing we don't live too far from the ocean.
M. surprised me on my birthday with an impromptu trip to Santa Cruz, the original California surfer town. Our lovely B&B, West Cliff Inn, overlooked the boardwalk and the beach.
Just a few minutes' drive away is Natural Bridges State Beach.
Both of these sketches were done on a Fluid 100 hot press watercolor 8x8 block. I'm really enjoying the way paint behaves on this smooth surface.
You can't go to Singapore without eating ... or shopping. Although I didn't get to see Orchard Road (inexcusable, I know - will have to go back), I did make one purchase: a Hero pen with a bent nib, from Straits Art. It's similar to the Sailor bent nib pen I already own, but shorter and heavier. Its nib lets you make thin and thick strokes by varying the angle of the pen.
I filled its cartridge with the super5 ink that we got in our symposium goodie bag. This is my kind of travel souvenir -- something I'll be using for several years that will remind me of a great experience!
After registration and an opening sketchwalk, the symposium's packed schedule of activities and workshops got underway.
This year, I led an activity for the first time. It was called "Putting the 'Urban' in Urban Sketching." The task was to incorporate found materials -- both as drawing tools and as paper/substrate -- into our sketches, in order to tell the story of a place. I was concerned that Singapore's famously clean streets would yield no interesting scraps to use, but I needn't have worried.
![At Albert Mall Trishaw Park, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/393/20223286891_e016faf6f5.jpg)
I was blown away by the creativity of the activity participants. One found a scrap of cardboard at Albert Mall food center; another used a splayed joss stick to do a great ink drawing.
I used a palm twig dipped in watercolors to draw this -- not easy!
![Twig and watercolor sketches, Albert Mall, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/407/19888574000_201b9001c0.jpg)
In this sketch, I used a stray price label, a dried leaf, and coin rubbings to evoke the atmosphere of the vendors.
![Vendors at Albert Mall, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/320/19455615383_a6b358cf56.jpg)
Virginia Hein's excellent workshop, "Light and Dark with a Punch of Color" was a good challenge for me. I'm so used to working with line that it's hard for me to see just value shapes.
![Value sketches at Singapore Art Museum, Singapore](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3706/19455607763_15f9475d69.jpg)
![Value sketches around SAM, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/340/19889887389_fe6c5aa493.jpg)
In Nina Johansson’s workshop, "Light in the Spaces Between," we learned to look at the areas between planes, to seek out the changes in value between surfaces.
![Value sketch near Selegie Arts Centre, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/428/19888494668_7a16a8c029.jpg)
Nina also showed us how to make subtle warm and cool shifts to our watercolor mixes without creating muddy colors.
![Selegie Arts Centre, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/449/20077822015_1ea129ce70.jpg)
![Shophouses near Selegie Arts Centre, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/338/20069898672_69481ccb88.jpg)
Melanie Reim's workshop, "Found In Translation: The Influence of Calligraphy in the Figure and Environment," was inspirational. I loved "collecting" faces and figures with economical strokes of the brushpen in and around the Sri Krishnan Temple on Waterloo Street.
![Collecting figures, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/340/19891119879_27dfa1f9d4.jpg)
![Collecting many faces with calligraphic strokes, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/555/19891117619_2ca38a1fa4.jpg)
![Collecting faces, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/321/20077824325_971a972c4d.jpg)
![Worshippers, Sri Krishnan Temple, Singapore](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3704/19455164784_4319d2e80b.jpg)
![Lady in green, Sri Krishnan Temple, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/504/20077816705_b3b9765861.jpg)
![Priests in Sri Krishnan Temple, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/452/19455162444_1d3c38f56e.jpg)
The final sketchwalk was at the Singapore Management University courtyard. It was a tranquil oasis of green, with ample space for sketchers to spread out and choose different views. Some sketched the Singapore Art Museum across the road:
![Singapore Art Museum, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/550/19455159954_cf2e799e4b.jpg)
I decided to complete my symposium experience with a sketch of the other sketchers.
![Open sketchwalk participants at SMU, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/359/20069891472_a576007a2b.jpg)
And who could resist drawing our youngest participant, who patiently held this complex pose?
![Our youngest sketchwalk participant, Singapore](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/255/19889794890_394c343fea.jpg)
All the energy from Singapore will carry us through the rest of the year and onward to our next symposium: USK Manchester 2016 here we come!!