{"id":26024,"date":"2019-07-01T09:01:53","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T07:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maritspaperworld.com\/blog\/?p=26024"},"modified":"2022-12-09T13:05:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T12:05:29","slug":"quirky-dutch-summer-2019-4-marit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maritspaperworld.com\/blog\/quirky-dutch-summer-2019-4-marit\/","title":{"rendered":"Quirky Dutch Summer 2019 – #4 Marit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deze post in het NEDERLANDS lezen? Klik hier<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\nQuirky Dutch Summer
\n<\/strong>Do you have no idea what ‘Quirky Dutch Summer’ is all about? Read this post<\/a> first. There is a Facebook group for sharing your QDS work here<\/a>.
\nQDS 2019 runs from June 10 – August 12. There will be an inspiring quirky post up on this blog every Monday during the Dutch Summer.
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For years my father takes his drawing pad, pencils, watercolor and pens with him when he and my mum travel with their camper. Flipping through his sketchbook it’s obvious he prefers to draw small villages in France. Sitting on a mountain slope, chair and table in front of the camper, coffee, wine and refreshments within easy reach, he loves seeing the small houses and characteristic little churches that lie in the distance – and he tries to catch those with his pencil or pen.<\/p>\n

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But also closer to home, a day out with the van is a fun excursion and of course daughter (me!) is invited to come along. We find a place to sit on a dike – watching the ships roll in – or at a lake.\u00a0 I always bring a sketchbook and some drawing materials, but nine times out of ten it stays in my bag while I spend the afternoon chatting, eating and drinking. A day in september 2016; and again I spent most of the afternoon lounging – but by the end of the day I forced myself to ‘do something’ and not again come home with ‘nothing’ (well, a great day out and fun memories is not “nothing” of course; what I mean is ‘at least one drawing’…) The scenery (water, boats, a small town in the distance) was not what you would call ‘Urban’ but I’ll show you the drawing anyway…<\/p>\n

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You can tell from this sketch that I forced myself: there was no focus, no concentration. Quick strokes, harsh colors; this sketch looks rushed and it was! Here’s the first lesson: If you don’t really feel like sketching or drawing, then don’t!<\/em><\/p>\n

So I didn’t. I kept on packing my drawing materials on days out but they stayed untouched.<\/p>\n

However, last month, my former neighbor Frederika pointed out a Facebook group to me: “Urban Sketchers Middelburg.” Frederika is a drawer and painter and goes out – alone or with a group of painters – to sketch. She also visits so-called ‘Sketch crawls’ (which I learned is a meeting of sketch artists who go into a city to sketch.) I told her I would like to make another attempt on sketching and so we had a date: we would go into town together to sketch!<\/p>\n

This time I took it more seriously: I bound me a little sketch book and I did some preliminary research on “Urban Sketching.” And now you can benefit from my research and my experience with Urban Sketching ’cause I wrote this Quirky post about it for you!<\/p>\n

QDS #4. Urban sketching
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What is urban sketching?<\/h4>\n

“Urban sketching is reportage: drawings or paintings created on-site, as a spontaneous response to people, places or incidents. It is the act of placing oneself in a space, attempting to capture and interpret a particular moment in time.” (source: Lynne Chapman – Urban Sketcher<\/a>)<\/p>\n

“Urban Sketching” is all about sketching on location – especially in an urban area. No landscapes and no drawing from a photo or magazine picture. You can of course take a photo after you’ve been sketching, to use as a reference when you want to work on your sketch some more later, but the basic is to SKETCH ON LOCATION.<\/p>\n

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(‘Sketchers in the wild: photo from blogpost National Sketch Day Middelburg<\/a>)<\/p>\n

In my search I found various tutorials, blog posts, examples, tips and tricks for people who want to venture ‘Urban Sketching’ – I collected some ‘basics’ to get you started and at the end of this blogpost I’ll give you links to various websites and information if you want to dive into Urban Sketching and explore further.<\/p>\n

Eeeck….scary!<\/strong><\/p>\n

To sit outside in the open and sketch in public can be pretty scary, even more so if you sit at a spot were lots of people pass by… you are never alone when you draw in an urban environment. Changes are, that people stop and come look at what you are doing. Especially when it is the first time for you to sketch outside, and you are not confident about your drawing skills, we don’t like it much when other’s come look at your attempts – oh, how we worry about what other people think of us! On top of that, we are our own worst critics. I found it scary myself too but when someone approached me with the question “what are you doing, can I take a look?” I said: “I take a class and I was challenged to go outside to draw. It’s the first time for me and I find it pretty scary…” And you know what? People were very nice, gave me compliments and I had unexpected, lovely encounters with bypassers. (and it does help to thing “I am doing this, I am learning, I am trying, THEY don’t!)<\/p>\n

Tips to make ‘the first time’ outside sketching a bit easier:<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Sit in your own front yard or in a corner of a terrace, there’s less public there. (however, sitting in your garden is VERY safe solution and not really ‘urban sketching’)<\/p>\n

– Take a friend or go sketching with a group. Extra fun is to take children with you – especially small children (age 5 – 10) are used to ‘play outside’, they will love to draw with you and it helps to let go of your own nervousness.<\/p>\n

Location and subject<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which location are you going to choose and what subject will you sketch?<\/p>\n

– Make it easy on yourself and pick a location close to your home. Choose a subject (house, building, park) that you are familiar with.<\/p>\n

– Choose a scene or building that you love. Do you like modern buildings or industrial environments – like to draw their straight lines? Go find a place where you can draw that. Do you prefer to draw traffic, or people? Go sit near a busy road or city centre. Like water and boats? Find a canal or port to draw. But remember: you learn what you love to draw by DOING IT. So don’t walk for hours searching for ‘the perfect place’ – pick a spot, sit down and start drawing!<\/p>\n

A\u00a0 sketch isn’t a photo!
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Let me repeat that: a sketch is not a photo. It may seem a truism but let it sink in for a minute. Even if you had the skills to make a drawing that looks as detailed as a photo, would you want that? The fun of sketching is, that you are free to draw messy and playful. Your drawing does not have to look ‘exactly the same’ as the subject you are sketching.<\/p>\n

Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n

You probably have a preference for a certain material. Do you like to create detailed, neatly and precisely? Take ink, fountain pens or macro pens. Do you prefer to sketch fast and less detailed? Take graphite pencils or even charcoal. You can also think of chalk crayons, a box of watercolours or… well, there’s a lot of materials you can choose from. Just don’t take it all with you, make a choice because you don’t want to walk around town with a heavy bag and the more materials you take with you, the more difficult you will make it on yourself.<\/p>\n

I list some materials that urban sketchers use, just so you have an idea. Make your own choice.<\/p>\n