Besides specific subject matters at each workshop, I learned how to be a better urban sketcher by responding to my environment better through my drawing.
- Be ready for the changing elements: for sun (hat, sunglasses), wind (binder clips to hold down paper, windproof jacket, and especially rain (umbrella, parka/hoodie).
- Experiment with different materials: while I mainly use watercolor, at some point I switched from my usual Uni-Ball Signo gel pen with sepia ink to 4-color Bic ballpoint pen because the gel pen ink was not flowing over the watercolor washes that never seem to dry.
- Try different approaches: line, value, color. Mixing them up helped describe many types of buildings in Manchester: red bricks, Gothic details, and modern glass buildings towering between them.
First morning of the workshops was rainy and gloomy. I'm learning that the weather changes quickly. At LK Bing's workshop, our group sheltered under the arches of Manchester Town Hall corridors. It is challenging to sketch in the rain, but it is a refreshing change for someone like me who live in a dry climate. I had fun combining pastels, water-soluble marker, waterproof pen, colored pencils and watercolors. I did small thumbnails on mat board, and a slightly larger piece in my trusty Stallman & Birn Beta sketchbook. I think the sketches convey the appropriate moodiness.
As luck would have it, my afternoon workshop on color mixing with Jane Blundell was indoors in Manchester School of Art. The soft, even light from overcast sky filtering through the window was ideal for doing color work. A few days later, when the sun came up and people were gathered for drinks at jazz festival happening in Albert Square, I try one of the triads I learned (warm yellow/warm red/cool blue) using using only quinacridone gold, pyrrol scarlet, and pthalo blue green shade watercolors from Daniel Smith. But the air is so damp that color wheel I painted a few days before on the opposite page transferred to the facing page, creating the yellow circle on the upper right. I like the happy accident, though: it looks like the sun :-)
As luck would have it, my afternoon workshop on color mixing with Jane Blundell was indoors in Manchester School of Art. The soft, even light from overcast sky filtering through the window was ideal for doing color work. A few days later, when the sun came up and people were gathered for drinks at jazz festival happening in Albert Square, I try one of the triads I learned (warm yellow/warm red/cool blue) using using only quinacridone gold, pyrrol scarlet, and pthalo blue green shade watercolors from Daniel Smith. But the air is so damp that color wheel I painted a few days before on the opposite page transferred to the facing page, creating the yellow circle on the upper right. I like the happy accident, though: it looks like the sun :-)
The next day I take another workshop on drawing soaring spaces from Stephanie Bower. I was back at Manchester Town Hall, and was looking at grand hallways inside the neo-Gothic building. In my effort to get better at drawing buildings, I try to understand how arches are constructed by drawing a bunch of lines.
That afternoon was drizzly, but I still enjoyed sitting under the bridge to watch Daniel Green's demo on painting reflections. This was in Castlefield, which is a fascinating area of Manchester full of bridge underpasses, arches and canals. I only got to do a note-taking sketch here but would love to explore it more next time.
I continue to take more workshop on architecture the following day at John Rylands Library, this time from Liz Steel. She really explained how buildings have volumes and edges, and her passion about architecture makes me appreciate them and be fascinated by interesting buildings all around me.
I am learning a lot about sketching buildings on this trip. I continue sketching....
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