Day 3, for me, started with a Sketchpedition with Sanjeev Roshi from India. He said sometimes in the interest of speed and traveling light, a fun way to record memories is to prepare random colorful washes on paper. From those, work with the form and create calligraphic marks that could be pleasantly surprising. Here we prepared some paint for laying out the washes.
Jane was one of the participants. Here she was standing and really being so free putting splashes on paper that her trousers got torn! She pulled out her shawl and wore it on her waist for the rest of the day :) Shawne was also having a great time putting her random brush marks.
And so were Jessica and Khoo Cheang Jin who was fanning his works dry.
Here are some sketches from Albert Street which were done on the prewashed sheets. The exercise was to weave some sketches into the forms and add calligraphic elements. Sanjeev said sometimes they work, sometimes they don't just like sketching in general. However the process of exploring the possibilities was definitely one happy trip!
Sanjeev signed one of my prewashed sheets on the left. Thank you!
Walking around the vicinity I caught Marina Grechanik and Ea Ejersbo's workshop (Portraits of the City through its Inhabitants) at Bugis Village. This whole stretch is a bustling, buzzing place that's famous for its shopping stalls, market, coffeeshops and a sea of people passing through.
The workshop was about drawing people and doing it blindly. The speed helps to capture gestures, expressions and the stories. Here's Lapin drawing some folks and the crowd behind him kept changing from store sales ladies, uncles on a smoke break and of course the instructors.
At the same location was an activity conducted by Delphine Priollaud (Less is More). A big crowd was around her as she talked about her tools which were mainly brush pens and black and walnut ink. She said drawing is like a dance and she moved around freely to be able to define the spaces in it. Under the hot midday sun she demonstrated how she captured light. It was mainly working with the shapes around the light so everything around it became negative space.
The crowd sat through under umbrellas for a bit of shade.
Went back to National Design Centre to catch Luis Simoes from Portugal who has been traveling and sketching the world for 5 years! He shared a video about how he decided to embark on this adventure along with his parents who initially thought it was crazy but it became an adventure for his parents too who traveled with him for 9 months together in a camper. One of his best moments was traveling with them with a separate set of GPS beside each other!
He shared his sketches from the destinations that were life changing for him. Luis loves people and his sketching trip has opened him up to experiences he wouldnt have said yes to. Most people ask hm about the financial part to fund his trip. He said whatever he owned kept him away from his dream of where he wanted to go, so he let go of all that and became free! He hope to publish a book when he finally goes home which we don't know when that is! Safe and happy sketch travels, Luis.
Up next was Gabi Campanario who is a Seattle Times columnist and the founder of Urban Sketchers.
He shared about his experiences in being a sketch journalist and what topics could be of interest and relevant to his readers. As you can see form the sketch notes it spans from unsung heroes, personal experiences, the changing landscape, hidden places, artists, lifestyle, history and the topics keep growing. It's definitely a whole lot of adventure!
Khoo Chean Jin from Penang did a masterful demo on Atmospheric Expressions in Watercolor just outside Singapore Art Museum. The timing was the golden hour and the light was perfect for this exercise. He did a quick sketch, laid out washes to capture the tones and then add the details at the end.
Before Rob Sketcherman ever picked a stylus to draw on an iPad, his mantra was "More is more." Liek most of us, he had an insane pile of art materials too. But being someone from Hong Kong, space was an issue and he had to look for alternatives!
He shared his current set of tools and his worksflow and why he picked them. He also gave tips on how to get an organic feel in his digital drawings by creating personal brushes in his app of choice. He said one will never know what may come up when you sketch so be open to the doors it will open for you.
The last thing for the day was a lecture by Stephanie Bower called Good Bones. It was an interactive and a serious look into the world and magic of perspective. By sharing a solid process of laying down the structure before she does her line work and washes, she gave a powerful tool that every sketcher out in the streets can put in their arsenal.
Everyone got the hang of using pencils to get exact units of measure.
Here's one last quick sketch after dinner drinks when we were rounding up to leave. With such a fun big group out for a drink and draw, it's a natural sketch high and there's a few minutes to pen some lines before we call it a day!
Can't believe tomorrow is the last day. Time flies when you're having fun!
#usksingapore2015. Maria Regina Tuazon
