The International Urban Sketching Symposium is an annual educational event organised by Urban Sketchers (USk), a nonprofit dedicated to fostering the practice of on-location observational sketching.  The goal of the Symposium is to celebrate and practice the art of on-location sketching in the host city. Each symposium offers valuable field-sketching instruction and opportunities for participants to meet new friends and learn more skills. Following our spirit of “sharing the world, one drawing at a time,” we aim to bring the Symposium to new cities and countries every year.

This year it was the 11th in Auckland, New Zealand, and there were 500 participants from 31 countries.

Purchasing a Workshop Pass meant you could choose 3 workshops from a choice of 20. There were also Demos and Lectures. Alternatively, you could purchase a Sketchpass. I choose the Workshop Pass and below is an overview of my experience.

I was in Auckland for 10 days and filled more than one sketchbook. I arrived on Sunday and had already met and sketched with local and global sketchers before it even began, The following is about the Symposium Wednesday April 19 to Saturday April 22.

Opening Reception

A meet and greet and big Welcome and introduction to Symposium and what to expect over the next few days. Drinks and nibbles and mingling before heading back to the hotel.

Workshop 04 Soaring spaces Stephanie Bower

My first Workshop. I have done this Workshop at Manchester Urban Sketching Symposium and still have a lot to learn. Inside St Paul’s, learning about vanishing points, eyeline, measuring. It was great but very challenging. I was pleased with my final sketch, but it took a long time to get there. And then we added colour with watercolour paints (which I borrowed as I use watercolour pencils) – more challenges.

Sketchwalk at Freyburg Square

Thursday pm .Freyberg Square is in central Auckland and all sketchers gathered and spread out over this multilevel square. Sketchers as far as the eye could see! Everyone is happy for a chat if you moved around them. We then gathered together for a group photo – always impressive. You can see in the photo that the sky is grey – but it was not raining.

Workshop 11 People in motion – marathon for a fearless sketcher Marina Grechanik

Friday 21 April

A whole A5 sketchbook of very quick sketches of people in Queen Street, down near the Quay where is a pedestrian zone. I learned some new techniques of adding blocks of colour first, which I will try to incorporate into some of my sketches. The session ended in one larger A4 page combining what we had learned.

Workshop 08 Sketch is just the beginning: design your own sketchbook spread using different elements Jaoquin Dorao

Saturday 22 April

Last day of Urban Drawing Symposium in Auckland. It rains in the morning, so instead of doing the workshop in the park, we do it indoors at Auckland University of Technology.

Elements include a large scene, taking up 60% of the page, a feature (I chose my pencils), a map, something glued in (in this case, it was the USK stamp), lettering and then text. There is one large bit of text and then shorter words to fill in white spaces.

Demo 21 Writing for sketchers: how to enhance your sketch with interesting narrative Gabi Campanario

Friday 21 April 2023 pm

The Demo is a one hour session (not three hours, like the Workshops), However, I learned so much in this hour, AND Gabi founded Urban Sketchers organisation, so it was great to meet him.

It was damp and we were at Symonds Cemetary a historic cemetery and park in central Auckland, in use from 1842, but not in use now. There is a motorway going over it called the Massive Overpass (that is what is called on the sign), which proved us shelter as the rain got a bit heavier.

The Last Sketch walk

Saturday 22 April 2023

The final sketchwalk was in Aotea Square, which is a large paved public area, which was a regular sketching venue. After the photo it rained a bit and people scattered and umbrellas were brought out. I sketched here too.

Closing reception

Saturday 22 April 2023

I had an amazing time at Symposium, meeting do many old sketching friends, and putting faces to names I had only seen online. I also met Lots of new sketchers from Australia and around the world.

and I have not even mentioned the Drink & Draw sessions, the Sponsors market. Silent Auction and anything else in the time I was there. I hope this has provided you with an insight into my experience at Symposium. I will write next week’s blog on my other NZ sketches. Let me know if you have any questions.

On Sunday I fly to Auckland New Zealand for ten days. From 19-22 April 2023 I am attending the 11th International Urban Sketching Symposium. What is it?

Hundreds of sketchers from around the world gather together to attend workshops and demos and lectures. We connect with sketchers from around the world and meet old friends and make new ones. Read more about it here.

I have registered to attend the following. Each Workshop is 3 hours and will be a steep learning curve.

1. Stephanie Bower – Soaring spaces: about sketching what you see when you look UP
2. Marina Grechanik – People in motion -marathon for a fearless sketcher
3. Joaquin Dorao – Sketch is just the beginning: design your own sketchbook spread using different elements

I have been to two previous Urban Sketching Symposiums – in Barcelona and Manchester. Both were amazing experiences. I am so excited about attending Auckland. It is also exciting to travel internationally again.

I have started my travel journal already. I am taking my usual sketchkit as well as the special supplies I need for the workshops I am attending. I usually sketch the following It helps me prepare.

a map

my sketchkit. I always list my pencil colours. They generally stay the same from year to year, with a few changes.

My clothes.

My packed bags.Sketched the night before ie now

The second part of Auckland holiday is a bit of family nostalgia. My parents lived in Auckland in the late 1960’s and I was born there. I am revisiting places they lived and visited. I have old slides, postcards, reel-to-reel audio tapes (sent home to family) and Super 8 film.

This is old souvenir kiwi they bought home. I want to see a real kiwi when I am there!

Below are two other sketches of old New Zealand souvenirs I did a while ago.

I will be sketching everyday for 10 days, outside of the workshops. There will be sketchers everywhere! I will post to instagram daily at alissaduke1 and you can follow me there.

Each year I draw my Hot Cross Buns.

Clunes Booktown Festival was the focus of my art world for the last few months. Like any event, there are always the post-event things to do. So now my suitcases are unpacked, and unsold books are on my shelves and will be gradually added to my ETSY site to purchase online.

I am working on two commissions in and have not been sketching as much this week. They are both in Draft and have been sent to the people to approve or suggest any changes.

I have returned to my normal sketching. There is a variety here of my sketches. Some are on location, some quick and others more studied.

sketching my breakfast . Vegemite on toast again. Yes, i have sketched this before. Reasons to sketch the same object/scene again: it is relaxing to sketch something familiar, as i don’t have to think as hard. Practice is always good. any sketch is better than no sketch. It is fun !

I had ten minutes to spare before the Library opened for my travel sketching class at East Melbourne Library.

Sketching my boot at my Travel Sketching with Watercolour Pencil class on Saturday. sometimes when travelling you have great plans for a day, and due to the weather, end up staying in your hotel longer than expected. OR like us, staying in Melbourne Library instead of going for a sketch walk. Sketching your shoes when travelling is a good idea. by the end of your holiday you will know them well and either love them or hate them.
Last class until the next session in May and June. watch this space for details !

Clunes Booktown Festival has filled my creative mind and time over the past months. I now have to change focus as I leave in TWO WEEKS to fly to Auckland, New Zealand to attend International Sketching Symposium. Three days of Workshops and hundreds of sketchers from around the world. I am now in New Zealand mode with the old souvenir kiwi.

I have arrived home from an amazing weekend at Clunes Booktown Festival.

We were all so lucky. It rained Friday and Monday (not great for the organisers setting up the marquees, food stalls, etc) but the Saturday and Sunday had clear skies and not much breeze. Perfect weather to throw on an extra layer and wander and explore the streets full of books and listen to author talks.

My stall was in Wesley College (the Old Bluestone building), a block from town. There were seven other stallholders in this building.

I had great plans to take a lot of photos of the interior of our building, full of people, but I forgot.

Louise my good friend, was my trusty helper (table stylist, luggage hauler) for the weekend.

I did not get onto the main street very often, but when I did it had a wonderful vibe.

I had so many interesting chats with stall visitors, including some Instagram followers who came to see me!!!!

There was a steady stream of people throughout the weekend. We talked to people about books (of course), art, watercolor pencils, travel, and sandwiches to name a few topics.

There were people who returned from last year to tell me they had bought one of my books last year! The Annual Booktown Festival attracts locals, from Melbourne, and interstate. Hello to my Queensland friends for their special trip down to visit and to the Adelaide visitors I spoke to.

It was fascinating to hear why someone was purchasing a specific book. The drawing sometime had a personal memory for the person of a time or place in their life. Some were to be given as gifts, framed.

My sketching opportunities were at the opening and closing events for the Stallholders and Volunteers. It was lovely to meet other people involved in the weekend. I sketched when the speeches were on. They were unknown times, so when the speeches ended, everyone moved!

We arrived on the train (two hours from Melbourne) with four large suitcases. We departed from Clunes with three suitcases, selling a quarter of my stock. Very happy.

The plan was to leave the empty suitcase behind, but we filled it with books (for me to draw in for next year) and other purchases from the lovely shops at Clunes.

All of my drawn in books that did not sell will be gradually added to my ETSY online store

This week’s blog includes my sketches and other art projects I have been doing this week. All involve putting pencils to paper and therefore makes me happy.

Tuesday

a quick sketch of sleeping commuters on the tram

Wednesday

I met with Brisbane Urban Sketcher Pat who is visiting Melbourne. We have met and sketched at this coffee shop before. Each time we have sat at this bench overlooking the street and the historic building across the road. Lots of chatting and sketching

Thursday

a commuter on the evening tram. He was eating and had such a strong profile that I really wanted to capture the back and head. He was much more scrunched forward than this.

Friday

Sketching on location at Friday night concert by the wonderful Inventi Ensemble at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library. As I wrote in my notes – books. music and sketching on a Friday night. The perfect start to a long weekend here in Melbourne.

Saturday

My Travel Sketching with Watercolour Pencil” class on Saturday morning involves explaining watercolour colours pencils and other equipment used, and then we go out for a walk. We had lovely weather and everyone had a great time. Booking details here.

All week

It is less than TWO weeks until Clunes Booktown Festival, where I have a stall for my “drawn in” books. The 1931 Pitman’s Commercial Typewriting book is my final book. I now have over 100 to take.

They are spread out over my loungeroom floor. The books are sorted into subjects of the drawings. which is how they will be displayed on the tables. I am also taking my book themed greeting cards. There are four large suitcases to be packed. Clunes is taken over by booklovers for the whole weekend ! It is made for me !

This past Saturday was my first Travel Sketching with Watercolour Pencil class since March 2020. I was excited but nervous leading up to the event. I decided to keep the same format as I had in the past, mainly for my own comfort.

I have listed four Saturday mornings for a two-hour class. I had two people at the first session and it was really like a lovely long chat. Christine and Sandra could ask questions along the way.

We meet in a room at East Melbourne Library and I explain the equipment.

The weather was sunny. so we next go for a walk a block away and stop for 15 minutes for the first sketch. Then walk a block for another 15-minute sketch, then move on to another before heading back to the Library for a final chat.

I have another class next with six people registered. I also offer a sketch kit for purchase. It is amazing how many people already have watercolour pencils at home and want to know how to use them. Hopefully, this class motivates and inspires.

Booking and details on Eventbrite

Thanks for your patience as I learn to use Eventbrite!

As promised, here is another timelapse video of me sketching with my watercolour pencils.

This one worked out better in theory and in the practice session than when I filmed it but it lets me explain some approaches I use.

It begins with what I use- a Pacific Black Duck feather, two small paintbrushes, Dark Sepia Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencil, Black FaberCastell Polychromos (coloured ) pencil, Staedler sharpener.

I will walk you through what I do. HINT – you can change the speed of viewing by clicking on the three dots. Change Playback speed from Normal to .025

1. For feather drawing only, I start with a Black coloured pencil. This is the only time I use a coloured pencil and not a watercolour pencil. I draw in the spine (rachis) of a feather. Once I have mark this on the page, I don’t want it to move, which is why I use the coloured pencil. Other watercolour pencil pigment is added and I will move the pigment around on the page, sometimes over this mark.
2. I block out the shape, notches and major area of the feather in the colour I am drawing in (ie not HB pencil ), which in this case is Dark Sepia. I just used one colour in this example in the hope it shows the basics. Blocking out the shape also makes sure it fits on the page.
3. I add more colour (ie more pigment) to the darker parts of the feather.
4. I use this pigment to sweep the colour across the feather. It will get lighter and paler.I use this to get a light colour close to that spine.
5. Colour and detail are built up on top of the colour that is on the page. It involves waiting for the page to dry before more can be added,
6. The fun bit is the plume at the end of the feather. You can go a bit wild here,
7. Usually, the final marks are to define individual fine barbs of the feather, the darkening of the darkest colour areas and the hard line of an edge.
8. I sharpen my pencil a lot when drawing feathers – lots of fine details.
9. You will notice I also take colour off the tip of the pencil. This is a way of picking up pigment to add to the page. The pencil tip will get soft this way, so allow time for it to harden and then sharpen again.
10. Controlling the amount of water on the page controls the spread of colour, All learnt through practice.

In this link have “work in progress” photos of drawing a feather from 2010.

I have a series of feather and nest drawings available on my ETSY website.

happy sketching. Let me know how you go.

After a busy week with an art commission, organising my upcoming Travel Sketching with Watercolour Pencil classes, and working full time, I had a long weekend away. It was a whole weekend of sketching with no distractions. After over three years I returned to the lovely Port Fairy. My original connection was through the annual Blarney Books and Art Biblio Art Prize, which I now enter each year. I visited a few times with Angela, a Melbourne sketcher with local connections, and have had an exhibition there.

Port Fairy is four hours by train/bus from Melbourne, so it is more than a weekend visit, which is great because I have to have a long weekend!

I visited Port Fairy to sketch and it kickstarted an idea that Jo at Blarney had been mulling on. And so with three days’ notice, the Port Fairy Sketch Club began and nine people turned up to sketch with me on Saturday. Hopefully the start of regular sketching sessions for locals. It is such a creative community. It was a great opportunity to put sketching in the diary, talk art and just relax. I will join in when I visit, maybe a few times a year.

We only walked one block before finding a suitable subject. Our group spread out over the four corners of the street and the traffic island. Port Fairy is very historic and very sketchable.

I also spent much of my time sketching on and wandering along the different beaches of Port Fairy. Below are some of my on-location sketches. I also collected and drew (on the spot) things found on the beach. I have about six pages of these studies, which are probably a blog of their own.

I have to sketch the lighthouse when I visit.

After a long morning in the sun walking and sketching out to the lighthouse, I spent the afternoon inside Blarney Books and Art. I sat on a comfy couch and sketch the shelves., listening to the bookshop murmuring and saying hello to friendly dogs This is still a work in progress as I add more colour to the books.

My next visit will be in the second half of the year, as there is a lot coming up on the calendar.

I am so happy to announce that my Watercolour Pencil Sketching classes are back after three years. In person in Melbourne!

Book here on Eventbrite

That is my news for this week. It is a big step forward for me. I am looking forward to sharing my passion and knowledge of travel sketching and watercolour pencils.