On Saturday I held the first of three Travel Sketching walks in conjunction with Melbourne Library Service at my local library. My previous Travel Sketching with Melbourne Library Service was in June last year. The three walks are all booked out.
After a short introduction inside to watercolour pencils and the idea of travel sketching, we headed out – drawing trees, cars, houses, fences, signs and whatever else attracted each person. They only had 15 minutes at each of the three locations, so it was all about getting marks and an impression down on paper.
Rain was predicted all day on the Bureau of Meteorology website and threatened in the skies throughout the day. There was only one short downpour, which occurred the moment we walked out of the Library door ! So we sketched under the shelter of the building for 15 minutes before moving on .
This short time of rain was a great time to talk about travel sketching and about being flexible, and going with the moment. Great plans go astray but create other opportunities. The fact that we have to sketch under cover and that people got big splotches of rain on their page is part of the story of the page and of their day.
We headed back to East Melbourne Library for biscuits, coffee and to chat, share and look through some other examples of sketchbooks (my own and published books) that I had brought in. The sketchers had lots of questions and it was exciting for me to be able to share my experience with them. Some questions were about the techniques of using watercolour pencils, and other were about the practicalities of travel sketching.
Below are some books that I had on display (as well as my own travel sketchbooks).
They are not’ how to draw’ books, but rather show different people’s sketches and styles. I’ve put links if you are interested, I will often borrow a book from my local library before deciding to purchase it.
An Illustrated LIfe by Danny Gregory
Reportage and Documentary Drawing by Veronica Lawlor
London You’re Beautiful by David Gentleman
Taking a Line for a Walk by Christopher Lambert
Drawing Paris by David George Holm
Manchester Sketchbook by Manchester Sketchers
An Eye on the Hebrides by Marie Hedderwick
A great book to start drawing is Danny Gregory’s book Creative License . It will open your eyes to creativity and drawing. I return to it regularly to refocus and relearn.
Any questions about travel sketching or watercolour pencils ? Just ask !
Lucky East Melbourne residents! For the second time I am asking my Surrey County Council Libraries (UK) to pioneer a similar service! There is an urban sketchers group for London meeting once a month but return public transport to London is inconvenient and exhorbitant for me. I did email one London Urban Sketcher for advice on starting a sketching group in my local area but failed to get a reply!
We are very fortunate that Melbourne Library Service (which has six branches) offers a wide variety of Learning Experiences – ukelele playing, yum cha cooking, learning coding for kids. . I was very lucky to become involved so that I can share the concept of Travel sketching with people who have wondered and thought about it but not known where to start. I hope that the short time they spend with me inspires and motivates them.
It really depends on the backing of the library and its managers. MLS could not be more supportive !
I hope that you find a local group of sketchers. It is hard to find small groups – especially if there do not have an online presence, and just run through a local group or centre. There is a list of Urban Sketching Regional chapters http://www.urbansketchers.org/p/list-of-chapters.html .
This sounded so much fun! I think your library service is brilliant to support your classes like this. No funding here sadly and the structure is quite different. Way to go Melbourne Liibrary Service!
I will pass this message onto them !