There and Back Again – From Southeast to Northwest

© Favian Ee

[By Favian Ee]

I love England. Maybe it has something to do with hailing from a former English colony in Southeast Asia. There is something distantly familiar about the architecture, the language (English is our main language in Singapore), British spelling, English manners, driving on the left side of the road (the right side!). I’ve been to England three times before this trip, but never with 400 other sketchers, and never to give a lecture. This trip promised to be special from the get-go.

My plan was to arrive a few days early and hit the ground running, visiting Chester, Liverpool and Edale, but after a 16-hour flight, I decided to give Chester a miss and instead met up with Maria to stroll around Manchester. We bumped into a group of early birds at John Ryland’s Library, where we decided to join in the fun and do some sketching.

John Ryland’s Library

© Favian Ee

The next couple of days were spent visiting Liverpool and Edale in the Peak District:

Liverpool Cathderal

© Favian Ee

Rambler Inn, Edale

© Favian Ee

I was also fortunate to have been taken to a tiny Irish Pub in Manchester’s Northern Quarter by my AirBnB host to enjoy an Irish session! Now, if only I hadn’t left my pennywhistles in my friends’ room…

Session at the Jolly Angler

© Favian Ee

The Symposium started soon enough with a pre-symposium sketchwalk at Castlefield’s canals. I managed to find a quiet pretty spot behind Deansgate station to soak in the breeze, the red-brick buildings, and the boats in the waterway, before it started getting late and cold. For someone who lives in the tropics, it took a moment to realise that the sun set past 9 pm in summer instead of at 7 pm.

Castlefield Canals

© Favian Ee

The next few days were spent in Manchester giving lectures, attending workshops, and getting to know sketchers from all over the world. It was a pleasant surprise to have people tell me that they followed my works [1, 2, 3], and an even greater encouragement to hear that they enjoyed my lectures. It was probably the first time a lecture on using the comics medium in a urban sketching setting had been featured in a USk symposium, and I didn’t quite know what to expect. The funny thing was I somehow had the impression that my lecture was to be for 2 hours instead of 1, and I was wondering why I was running out of material after an hour and why people started to leave! That was totally my bad, and I’m thankful that those who attended my lectures were so patient and interested. One participant even came up to me later to show a comic page she had done! I can’t wait to see more sketchers use this medium for visual storytelling.

Sketching Stories lecture

Photo by Kai Siang

I gave my lecture twice, and the day between the two sessions, I had time to attend Jim Richard’s workshop and Jenny Adam’s demo. I decided to use that opportunity to create a comic page to show my second class a real-life example of an urban-sketched comic (first image right at the top).

My time spent in England was too short. There were many things I wanted to see, many people I had not yet met. But thankfully the urban sketching community is active all year round, and with the help of the internet, we can stay connected, and even get in touch with one another during our travels. In fact, after returning to Singapore, we had the privilege to host Judy Salleh from Australia for 2 days of sketchwalks on her way home!

Judy Salleh sketching with Tony Chua and USk Singapore

after the Manchester Symposium

© Favian Ee

So if any of you are popping by Singapore, do give us a shout and we’ll be happy to take you around our Garden City and sunny island set in the sea. Just remember to take along your hat, light clothing, and sunblock!

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