Meet the Correspondent: Marina Grechanik > Tel-Aviv, Israel$show=/search/label/Marina%20Grechanik


"Sketching is one of my passions. I don't feel comfortable when I leave home without a sketchbook and some pens in my bag. I think that my way to put things in my memory is to draw them. And taking pictures isn't the same thing.

I live in a very dynamic surrounding — Israel is a warm country with warm weather and warm people. Of course, we have seashores, which calm us a little bit. I love to sit in a corner of some Tel-Aviv coffee shop and explore relationships: between people, their environment, between myself. All this unique local mix of cultures, languages and styles is always a great source for inspiration. You need to be fast, because, as I said, everything is very dynamic. But that's why I love it so much.

Sometimes, I look around, and I find some usual items like sugar bags or napkins. I use them in my drawings to show the atmosphere. Sometimes I draw directly on placemats."

• Marina's art on Flickr.
• Marina's website.

Meet the Correspondent: Tina Koyama > Seattle$show=/search/label/tina%20koyama

"The dictionary says that a hobby is “an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation.” Although urban sketching certainly provides both pleasure and relaxation, I don’t think of it as my hobby. I think of it more as a way of life – something that has become such a normal part of my everydayness that it shapes how I view the world.

For most of my life I had both the fear of drawing as well as the desire to draw. In 2011, inspired by Gabi Campanario’s Seattle Sketcher column, I finally decided to overcome the fear. His drawings of Seattle – my birthplace and lifelong home – were of sights that I had seen many times, yet had never truly seen. I wanted to learn to see, and therefore experience, those locations (and any new ones that I travel to) more completely. Part 8 of the Urban Sketchers Manifesto, to “show the world, one drawing at a time,” has a flip side: Sketching enables me to see my own world, one drawing at a time.

In the last four years, it is not an exaggeration to say that Urban Sketchers has changed my life. I have met and sketched with many wonderful people around the globe, either at symposiums or during other travel, because the USk network brought us together. I sketch almost weekly with my local group, sharing sketches, art supplies and friendship. Even when I stay home and enjoy sketches online, I am still a part of that rich network, learning with every sketch about other people’s lives.

In May, my husband Greg and I went to France for the first time, and I sketched the Eiffel Tower. Sketching one of the world’s most famous icons felt like a dream come true – the ultimate in urban sketching. But although I can’t resist sketching world-famous icons whenever I’m fortunate enough to see them, for me, urban sketching is much more than that.

Urban sketching is a tree with its middle chopped away to accommodate Seattle’s ubiquitous power lines. It’s about a couple of women chatting over coffee, or about workers roofing the house next door. It’s about an excavator filling a hole where a cherry tree once stood. Or the Tibetan monastery I drive by frequently that I couldn’t resist because it’s bright orange. Urban sketching is a string band performing at a local farmers’ market – or perhaps in Villefranche-sur-Mer.

Celebrating the mundane as well as the famous is what urban sketching is all about. My sketches are not necessarily about “special” moments; they are moments made special because I sketched them."

Tina has been editor of Drawing Attention since 2013 and now serves on the Urban Sketchers editorial board. See more of her sketches on her blog, on Flickr and on Instagram.

Meet the Correspondent: Pete Scully > Davis, Calif.$show=/search/label/Pete%20Scully



"I am from urban north London, but now live in urbane Davis California. I sketch, I write, sometimes do things and go places and my name is Pete.

When not Davis, I sketch Sacramento, San Francisco, London, or anywhere else I happen to be. I tend to erase people and cars from my cities, but I'm starting to get over this.

Davis: calm, old-fashioned, progressive, quirky, very very hot in the summer. I use micron and copic pens, with watercolour."

• Pete's blog.
• Pete's art on Flickr.

Meet the Correspondent: Suhita Shirodkar > San Jose, Calif.$show=/search/label/Suhita%20Shirodkar

"I was born in Mumbai (Bombay) and lived in different parts of India until I moved to San Jose, California, where I now live.

Travel inspires my art, but, traveling or not, I try to view the world around me as a traveller would; so whether I’m capturing a moment of calm on the banks of the Ganges in India, or sketching over coffee at my local coffee shop, I aim to look deeply, and with wonder, at both the everyday and the exotic, the old and the new.

I love color. My sketch kit consists of Extra Fine Sharpies (the fact that they bleed into the paper as soon as they touch it works really well for me—it forces me to work super-quick), a small set of Prismacolor pencils and a little watercolor travel set".
• Blog
• Flickr

Meet the Correspondent: Omar Jaramillo > Berlin$show=/search/label/Omar%20Jaramillo

"I was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where I studied architecture. I moved to Kassel (Germany) in 1999 to accomplish a master degree. Although I have always drawn and paint, it was not until I started studying in the Uni-Kassel, that I started keeping a travel sketchbook. I had a teacher there who used to do a lot of sketches when he travelled on university excursions. When he retired, I helped to organize an exhibition of his sketches. He brought a huge box full of sketchbooks he had filled since he was an architecture student. I spent a whole day selecting the most interesting drawings. It was a wonderful experience that opened my eyes to a new world. In the last 10 years I have the feeling of being in a long journey. I like to discover the cities where I live, to understand why a place is the way it is and what makes it different and unique from others. Drawing is for me a way to learn to love a place, to become part of it. I like to draw architecture but I am more attracted to urban scenery, portraying how people live in the city. Since I’m a foreigner, everything that locals find normal and taken-for-granted, for me is exotic. I always carry a small watercolor travel set from Windsor and Newton and my sketchbook in my bag. I always thought that drawing was a solitary experience until I found Urban Sketchers. It was amazing to find so many people doing the same thing. It is a great place to share!" • Omar's blog. • Omar's art on flickr. • Omar's website.

Meet the Correspondent: Luis Ruiz > Malaga, Spain$show=/search/label/Luis%20Ruiz

USK Workshop: Swing & Sketch in Prague - with Inma Serrano and Celia Burgos - CANCELLED

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Dear Sketcher,
As the coronavirus continues its march through our communities, we see the need for us to participate in its eradication in every way possible. This, of course, includes making a decision about our workshop in Prague scheduled for July 2020.
In view of the quarantines across Europe and other parts of the world, border closures, and general restrictions on people’s movement, coupled with the uncertainty of when these restrictions will be eased, we have decided that the safest, healthiest, and most responsible course of action is to cancel this workshop.
Over the next week, we will start refunding the payments you have made. Please check your emails and Paypal accounts on or after April 1st. If you haven’t received your refund or an email from us by then, please send us a message at either of our email addresses listed under our names below.
We intend to present this workshop in the summer of 2021 if possible. Before such a workshop is announced publicly, we will offer to you the priority option of reserving your spot again.
This has been a difficult decision for us. We were very excited about celebrating this workshop with you in Prague, but under the current circumstances we feel that cancelling it is the best decision.
We hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy, and avoiding opportunities for this virus to spread.
The more seriously we take this crisis right now and the more drastic our steps in the short term, the sooner we will be able to sketch together again.
Keep sketching at home. And keep sharing your drawings on social media to make our wonderful community grow with the same energy and enthusiasm. We hope we can see each other and celebrate sketching with you in 2021.
Thank you for your support and patience.
All our best wishes.
Inma Serrano & Celia Burgos
This urban sketching workshop will focus on incorporating the city’s rhythm and movement into drawings that are highly dynamic and urban in character.

Urban sketching, like swing dancing, starts with a fixed musical score but then gradually introduces new notes inviting us to improvise, engage our imagination, and discover new ways of sketching. This adaptability is a powerful tool in sketching when everything can change in a second.

Participants will learn to capture the calmness as well as the movement offered by the beautiful city of Prague. They will learn ways to adapt to the ever- changing aspects of the city: from calm and quiet to messy and chaotic.
Sketch by Imna Serrano

Sketch by Celia Burgos


What, Where, and When 

Workshop: Swing & Sketch in Prague with Inma Serrano and Celia Burgos
Hosted by: Urban Sketchers Prague
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Dates: Friday, Saturday, Sunday - July 10th, 11th and 12th, 2020

Registration 

Levels: All levels from beginners to experts are welcome
Participants: 20 attendees maximum
Fees: 260 EUR per person
Registration: Please email info@urbansketchers.cz

There will be no refunds for cancellation requests received after June 10th, 2020. Attendees will be responsible for their own travel, lodging, and food.

Location Details 

The workshop will be held at various locations around Prague, Czech Republic. All locations will be conveniently accessible by public transportation and within walking distance of the city's center. The exact locations will be announced to registered attendees.
Sketch by Inma Serrano

Learning goals  


  • Pushing you out of your comfort zone. From beginners to more confident participants, we will aim to teach you something new and push your boundaries, helping you experiment and develop. 
  • Conquering the fear of drawing people 
  • Discovering new ways to record time and movement in our sketches 
  • Experimenting with various techniques and methods of approaching a live environment and, helping you find your self-expression. 
  • Getting comfortable with various media - line drawing using pens and pencils, colour using watercolours, brush pens, coloured pencils, crayons, etc. 
  • Using colour and texture to effectively represent what you see and feel. 
  • Helping you develop your own style of visual expression. 

Sketch by Celia Burgos


Supplies 


  • Mixed-media sketchbook 
  • Line drawing tools: pencils, pens, markers of various thicknesses, fountain pens 
  • Brush pens with colored inks or liquid watercolours 
  • Bigger brush (for large coloured areas) 
  • Colouring media: wax crayons, watercolour, colour pencils (water- soluble and waterproof) 

Contact Information 

Please email info@urbansketchers.cz for workshop registration information and sponsorshop opportunities.

About the Instructors 

Sketch by Inma Serrano

Inma Serrano 

Inma is a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Seville, specializing in Painting (1996) and Design and Engraving (2000). For the past sixteen years, she has been involved in art education, and has taught courses in Applied Creative Photography, Painting and Drawing. She has made presentations and workshops related to “travel diary” and “drawing in location” for the University and for many organisations and groups in and out of Spain. As a teacher, she has led sketching workshops for Urban Sketchers Symposiums in Santo Domingo (2011), Barcelona (2012), Singapore (2015) and Porto (2018). She currently works at a Secondary School in Sevilla where she teaches Visual Arts and Drawing. She has also worked as an assiduous illustrator for various journals. Inma’s artistic interest focuses mainly in the field of illustration and graphic diaries. She has participated in national and international art exhibitions. Sketching in the streets is essential in her life because it allows she to zoom, in an ingenuous and almost childish way, the people and the things around. 




Discover Inma’s work at:
http://inmaserrano.es
https://www.instagram.com/inmaserranito/
http://www.urbansketchers.org/2012/09/meet-correspondents-seville- spain-inma_11.html
https://www.facebook.com/inmaserranito

Sketch by Celia Burgos


Celia Burgos 

Celia is a graduate of Fine Art from the University of Seville. She currently lives in Seville and works as an Art and Drawing teacher in a public secondary school. She combines her art teaching with Urban Sketching and Illustration. She is an Urban Sketchers Spain correspondent, a co- founder of Cadiz Bay Sketchers Group, and an associate of "Garabattagge", a collective of Illustrators from Seville.

Her sketchbook or graphic diary has become an indispensable medium to relate to everyday life and an inseparable companion which has led her to participate in various local encounters, national, and international meetings. She has published several pieces about urban sketching and has participated in exhibitions and Travelbook Fairs in France. In recent years, she has taught several workshops and has done presentations about urban sketching throughout Spain and Portugal. She has also coordinated and been a part of the “Pushing Your Sketching Boundaries” workshops in Cadiz and London. She has been an instructor and a coordinator at the 10x10 Urban Sketchers educational programme in Seville and Cadiz, and a coordinator of the Drawing Educational Programme for Cadiz University. She has done illustrations and reportage pieces for various entities and events (TED, ACHNUR, OxfamIntermon, Generalitat de Catalunya, Palau de la Música). She has participated in editorial publications and exhibitions both about Illustration and sketchbooks in and out of Spain.

She believes drawing on location is
"a way of understanding life, of enjoying it and a way to understand what is constantly happening around us. It ́s a way of living our daily life more intensely."  



Discover Celia's work at: 
www.celiaburgos.com
https://www.facebook.com/celia.burgos.31
https://www.instagram.com/celiaburgosromero/

Discover USK Prague Chapter: 

Website: http://www.urbansketchers.cz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/urbansketchersprague
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbansketchersprague

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