Last weekend, the skies cleared just in time for the Urban Sketchers 10x10 Bay Area launch event. We started off with a quick sketch at Mission Bay with the SF Sketchers (who were celebrating their 5th anniversary).



Then it was on to Arch Art & Drafting Supply, where we noshed on finger foods, shopped, and heard from the workshop instructors. We ended the day at Thee Parkside, where we sketched over drinks and a late lunch.

There are still spots left in the workshops -- learn more and sign up.

Interested in learning about urban sketching or sharpening your skills? Check out Urban Sketchers' 10x10 -- a series of workshops around the world to celebrate the nonprofit's 10th anniversary.

Here in the Bay Area, you can take workshops from ten awesome artists throughout 2017. Sign up for as many as you like. They're just 3 hours each -- perfect for busy schedules.

The workshop I'm teaching is in San Jose on June 24, titled Putting the "urban" in urban sketching. We'll draw what we see around us and have some fun incorporating signage, textures, and found materials into our sketchbook pages. So excited!











If you'd like to know more, stop by and see us at the 10x10 launch party on Saturday, February 11. The event starts off with a sketching meet-up at San Francisco’s Mission Creek Park Pavilion at noon. At 1:30 pm, we'll head over to Arch, where we'll introduce the instructors and the workshops. You'll get a chance to meet and mingle with all the artists and register for the classes.

Learn more about the workshops and how to sign up here.

When I found out that this year's annual West Coast Sketch Crawl would be in Tacoma, Washington, over my birthday weekend, I thought, hey -- what a great excuse to go to Seattle! Well, turns out Tacoma is a great place to explore and sketch in its own right.



There are picturesque buildings and sparkling marinas framed by the deep greens of the Pacific Northwest's conifers.



The Museum of Glass has a hot shop where you can watch the glassblowers in action. I enjoyed listening to the narrator talk about how the teams worked together to create a piece.



The city is home to UW Tacoma...



...and the fantastic Tinkertopia, a "creative reuse" shop that sells all kinds of odds and ends perfect for upcycling into artwork -- wallpaper samples, acrylic offcuts, paint chips, you name it. I rummaged through a bin full of colored pencils and snapped up several vintage Berol Prismacolors for a song.



Of course, I couldn't leave Tacoma without sketching the iconic Union Station rotunda/courthouse.



Thanks Urban Sketchers Tacoma for organizing this year's crawl and introducing me to your wonderful city!

After a year of anticipation, #USKManchester2016 was finally upon us! The symposium opened on a Wednesday evening with a reception at the stunning Manchester Town Hall. Looking around, I was reminded of how amazing it was to have 500 of us from around the world all there in one place.

M. captured it perfectly in this photo.



I was too busy catching up with friends and meeting people to sketch, but several people had their sketchbooks and pens out already, not wanting to miss a moment.

Even our hotel seemed to celebrate our collective love of line. Check out the headboard in our room at Innside Manchester:



Thursday

Manchester turned out to be a treasure trove for sketchers -- red brick and glass, canals and cathedrals. My first sketch was the following morning, at Mike Daikubara's workshop "Sketch Now, Think Later."



Mike gave us tips for keeping our kit portable (e.g., try using a sponge to wipe brushes instead of paper towels) and asked us to dive right in. Since it was raining, we were inside the Museum of Science and Industry. I like looking at planes and cars, but drawing them is another story.



I was more interested in the families who had chosen the museum to escape the downpour outside, slickers and galoshes still dripping.



I spent the afternoon getting slightly lost, having comfort food at Indian Tiffin Room, and then attending a fantastic lecture by Brazilian anthropologist Karina Kuschnir on teaching ethnography students to sketch. As I walked to the elevator after the talk, I was drawn to the view outside, so I had to stop for a quick thumbnail.



After dinner, a few of us went to what became the "mascot" pub of the symposium, Peveril of the Peak.

Unlike everyone else, I didn't draw the exterior. But I did sketch some of the patrons!



Friday

The day dawned overcast and drizzly. I stole off to the Northern Quarter, a lively area of restaurants and boutique shops. I stopped in at Fred Aldous and H. Blyth & Co., with their drool-worthy sketchbooks and art supplies.





Time to sketch the ubiquitous red brick! I grabbed a drink at Foundation Coffee and set out my watercolor kit for a few sketches.







In the afternoon, I attended Daniel Green's demo on painting reflections in watercolor. Here he's showing us his custom-cut Plexiglas easel tray.



I also helped out with The Big Crit, organized by illustrator Fred Lynch, where experienced sketchers offer to review symposium attendees' work and share tips for development.

In the evening, the Urban Sketchers board officers and coordinators had dinner at the canalside restaurant Albert's Shed, chosen by the one and only Simone Ridyard, our indefatigable USk Manchester chapter leader. Hats off to her for bringing us all to her fantastic hometown.

Saturday

The next morning, I was back in the Northern Quarter. I sketched as M. got a haircut at The Corner Barber Shop.



As we walked around, I stopped to get in a few more sketches. One symposium tradition I love is the local logo stamp we have each year, for everyone to add to their sketches. Isn't the Manchester logo great?





Too soon, it was time to wrap things up. A few of us set up for the silent auction and then ran out to be part of the massive group picture. (Thanks to M. for the pics.) What a huge crowd! It was a perfect opportunity for sketchers with selfie sticks.



The closing party featured a costumed band (which immediately became the subject of several people's sketches).



It was hard to believe that #USkManchester2016 would soon be just a memory. But just as the evening came to a close, we made the announcement everyone was waiting for: See you all next year at...#USkChicago2017!!!!

A few weeks ago, I was in New York for the Urban Sketchers Executive Board in-person meeting. We spent long hours in a small room at Pearl Studios near Penn Station, but we took a break from our strategy sessions to sketch with the Urban Sketchers New York City chapter.

We sketched at Brookfield Place (formerly the World Financial Center). The installation of luminaries among the indoor palms was striking; they changed color frequently.



A highlight of the weekend was our visit to the Picasso sculpture exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. I spent my time mostly looking, not sketching!

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.



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!



In this sketch, I used a stray price label, a dried leaf, and coin rubbings to evoke the atmosphere of the vendors.



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.





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.



Nina also showed us how to make subtle warm and cool shifts to our watercolor mixes without creating muddy colors.





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.













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:



I decided to complete my symposium experience with a sketch of the other sketchers.



And who could resist drawing our youngest participant, who patiently held this complex pose?



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!!