Category / Urban Sketchers

by Leonie Andrews

Urban Sketches – Granada

Here is another sketch from the backlog of my recent travel.

We were staying in the older part of Granada and it turned out that we had some interesting views from our apartment. On our first full day in the city I started working on a sketch of the church of San Andreas, built between 1528-42. It was great to be able to open our balcony doors and sit in the cool morning air drawing while hundreds of swifts darted around demolishing hoards of insects in the morning sky. It ended up taking three days to complete this piece. I was trying to make it reasonably accurate so having drawn it one day I had to erase it and start again on the second day and then finish the drawing and paint it on day three.

The bell tower of San Andreas Church, in the Albacin area of Granada. Pencil and watercolour

This building is considered to be a fine example of the Mudéjar style of architecture, which was heavily influenced by the Moorish styles in the years following the ‘reconquista’ when the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand regained Spain for their Christian kingdom.

You can see from the photo the foreshortening in my sketch as I was looking up from underneath the bell tower.

by Leonie Andrews

After Porto

This post was originally written in August of 2018, shortly after I had returned from three months of travel in Europe (France, Spain and Portugal). I have no idea why I didn’t post it at the time, however I am interested to see how I wrote about aspects of watercolour painting, that are now part of my regular ‘style’. I have also included my latest cafe sketch at the end to show what I am doing now. Enjoy!

Reading the social media sites, post the Urban Sketchers Symposium held at the end of July 2018 in Porto, I was intrigued to see the number of people,who are reviewing their sketching practices. They have been inspired by the various styles and techniques of other people that they met at the event.

I too have found the approach of a number of other artists has made me re-consider my use of watercolour.

In May 2018 I briefly met Marion Rivolier at a USk (Urban Sketchers) Paris event at the Rodin Museum, (I can even be seen lurking in the photo taken of the event). Subsequently I have been inspired by her loose expressive watercolours. I went to her painting demonstration at the Porto Symposium to see if I could better understand how she was achieving her results. Marion’s advice included both the practical and the personal:

  • ‘know your colours so you can sketch fast’ – obvious in one way, but by using a limited number of colours and knowing in advance how they mix, you will speed up your process.
  • ‘You don’t have to draw everything you see – select like a stage director’
  • ‘[pencil] drawing at the beginning is like creating a prison for colour’. (Not in a good way).

Marion is especially good at capturing people and movement, so that will be an extra challenge for me.

People practice, sketching figures from photos in the weekend newspapers

Another teacher at the Symposium who was gaining a lot of attention was Maru Godas, with her ‘gouache like a child’ workshop. Maru’s advice to simplify and compress, rather than allowing yourself to be lost in detail. This is something I often need reminding about.

I fully appreciate that both these artist’s style has developed over year’s of practice. So, like I am always saying to new sketchers, you need to get “the brush-miles in” to get the result. I have taken out my bigger brushes to work with (makes painting fiddly detail difficult) and I’m on my way with lots of practice.

View into the front garden, with the Ibis sculpture ‘Gordon’ (found at a secondhand shop)

People drinking coffee.

Sketching the scene at the coffee shop.

My latest cafe sketch from June 2021 is here.

Friends chatting over coffee in the winter sunlight. Watercolour, 11 June 2021

by Leonie Andrews

Urban Sketches – Madrid

I realised that I have a stack of sketches from my travels that I haven’t shared on my blog. My street sketches in Madrid came to a grand total of two. Mainly we spent most of our time in the museums, I will be sharing some sketching from of those visits in other posts.

Early evening, Calle de Zurita, Madrid, watercolour and pencil.

We painted in the Calle de Zurita the night of the first World Cup game between Spain and Portugal. Needless to say there were loud cheers and groans coming from the nearby bars. After sketching we went and joined the locals to watch the rest of the match.

My second sketch was of a building that I thought had an interesting roofline and I also liked the way the date palm appeared out of the courtyard. I was sketching, perched on a security block next to a bus-stop. An older couple stopped to explain that I was drawing the back end of the Cardinal’s Palace. They also mentioned that a famous painter was born there. When I walked up to look at the historic marker I could see that the artist was Claudio Coello, appointed to the court of Carlos II. Coello was born at the in 1642. I have no idea why he was born in the Cardinal’s Palace, but his dad was a sculptor so maybe he was working there at the time – this is purely speculation on my part.

The Cardinal’s Palace Madrid, from the Place Puerto de Cerrada, pencil and watercolour.

The Cardinal’s Palace, the plain end, watercolour and pencil.

by Leonie Andrews

More ‘colour cows’ join the herd

There’s not much that I like better than buying art supplies. Visiting another country, in my experience, is an excellent excuse to explore new brands and our new friends at USk Paris were most helpful in directing us to local art suppliers.

Here are the latest colours, mainly from Schmincke and Sennelier. I also have a new brush, whose name is Leonard no. 3, made by Gerstaecker (a brand I am unfamiliar with).

Down the bottom of the page are some Herbin inks that I also got in Paris at Galleries Lafayette. They come in 10 ml as well as 30ml bottles, all the better to encourage you to buy multiple bottles (see, it works). The most disappointing thing is that these inks are not waterproof. That hasn’t stopped me from using them, but I would be using them a lot more if I could be sure they wouldn’t run.

New colour cows: top row – Idanthrone blue (WN), Cobalt green turquoise (Schk), Delft blue (Schk); middle row – Payne’s grey (Schk), Potters pink (Schk), Light grey (Sen), Brown Green (Sen)

The other day I took Leonard no.3 out painting. He was a very good brush indeed. He holds lots of water and also has a good fine tip. This was the brush I used for the painting/ collage below, on the Canal St Martin.

The lock at Parc Eugene Varlin, Canal St Martin. Watercolour, pencil and collage.

Today I filled my favourite Sailor Fude nib pen with the Herbin Orange Indien and used it in my sketch of the Tropical Glasshouse at the Jardin des Plantes. When used in conjunction with watercolour you can get away without seeing too much ink bleeding.

Inside the Tropical House at the Jardins des Plantes, Paris

by Leonie Andrews

Urban Sketchers Paris

I went out sketching with Urban Sketchers Paris last weekend. We started off at La Monnaie (The Paris Mint). By complete coincidence I had the great pleasure of catching up with friends from USk Singapore and USk Kuala Lumpur who were also visiting Paris. Urban sketching certainly brings the world together!

Inside the mint there were a plethora of things to draw. An exhibition by artist-in-residence Subhota Gupta inspired many. I was struck by the contrast between his glittering and complex sculpture ‘Family Tree’ that was set in the main courtyard of La Monnaie and the 18th century building facade behind it. It was an extremely challenging subject to tackle, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome, (although I subsequently noticed that my building was a bit lop sided).

Family Tree, in the main courtyard of La Monnaie, Paris

After a picnic lunch by the Seine we walked down to the Marais to visit the Foundation Lafayette. En route our host for the day, Xavier, showed us the workshop where architect Renzo Piano has his architectural models made.

Unfortunately a gallery changeover at the Foundation meant that we couldn’t draw where we had planned. Instead we opted for a coffee break and the challenge of sketching each other.

My sheet of sketches of fellow sketchers

Some of us then walked to the nearby National Archives, but our plans to draw in their lovely gardens were drenched by rain. My final sketch of the day was made while sitting under the colonades of the building, looking across to the blown-up (only in size), version of some classic posters, currently lining the inner walls of the building.

Thanks to Xavier for organising and the other sketchers who made it such a great day.