City Shapes 10x10 Workshop with Sue Heston

I know fall is a busy time, but there are still a few workshops coming up in the Seattle Urban Sketchers Fall 10x10 series. Click on the "10x10" tab at the top of the page for the full list and registration details. Meanwhile, here some sketches I've done and a little description of the workshop I will be teaching on November 3!
I like to think of an urban scene as a jigsaw puzzle of interesting and interlocking shapes. What grabs my attention is not always predictable. It could be an unusual shadow shape, or an irregular glimpse of sky between buildings. In this workshop, we will look at ways to use the shapes of the city to create interesting and effective compositions. The class does not require any particular level of skill or knowledge, but you should have some prior experience sketching and drawing. The suggested materials will allow students to use drawing tools they are familiar with.
The class will meet in the lobby of the US Bank building in downtown Seattle. But, if the weather looks promising, we may move a block east to the Convention Center which has terrific views of downtown Seattle and access to the very sketchable Freeway Park.

Bring on the people!

Some people are bothered by crowds. Not me. I love them. Lots of activity, movement and color. Bring on the people and bring out the sketchbook. 

Now that summer travels have wound down, it's the perfect time for more Seattle 10x10 workshops. I'm excited to be teaching two different classes this fall with two variations on the people theme. Sue Heston is also teaching a people class that you can check out here. 

My first class, Sketching People from the Inside Out,  is coming up on Saturday September 15 and just sold out. This class is about people as the focus--standing, sitting, moving--they are the dominant subject, the setting is there but secondary. We're going to start with some very basic exercises to get everyone used to thinking about the insides of people and how we move from the inside out. This isn't a technical class where we learn about skeletons and muscles; instead we're going to work with movement, impulse, anchor points, gesture and mass. 

I've bee warming up this summer as I visit markets and gatherings. 

People in Places

While the first class focuses on people first then the background; the second class we will focus more on the places with people as a part of the scene. We'll look at several examples of different ways sketchers draw people and play with different approaches. We'll work on ways to 'put people in their place' and I'll share some tips on making the scene fluid and believable.

I'm looking forward to having some fun! 

You can find details on how to sign up for any of the Seattle 10x10 classes on Brown Paper Tickets. 

From Afar: an atmospheric perspective workshop

Hey Seattle USkers, I wanted to let y'all know I'll be teaching a workshop in the fall 10x10 series, From Afar (Oct. 20 in Eastlake). I'll be teaching some methods on making your compositions have greater contrast between close & distant objects in interesting and fun ways, using principles of atmospheric perspective. Although the workshop is not for beginners, it's pretty approachable as long as you have some grasp of watercolor techniques (i.e. it's not your first time ever picking up the medium). 

The subject matter will be Queen Anne hill & Westlake as seen from the Eastlake neighborhood. I love capturing the trees and buildings stacked up on the hill, topped by the 3 antennas I never get tired of it. The techniques can certainly be applied outside of Queen Anne views though! And since it'll be in October, we might even get some stunning fall foliage. I hope you can make it to my first official Urban Sketchers workshop, I'm very excited. 

Here are some sketches which show some examples of these techniques - to me, the typical Seattle landscape is a hill with buildings peeking through trees, and I love painting these kinds of scenes. 

Sue’s People From the Outside In

6/2/18 Sue through the donut hole

Sue Heston may have scored the highest weather points of the spring USk 10x10 workshop season this morning at the Seattle Center. Under blue skies and sunshine, her students worked hard practicing Sue’s concepts for “Sketching People From the Outside In.”

As Sue began the workshop outside the Armory, I sketched her through the “donut” sculpture. I hardly had time for this sketch, though, before she moved her students to different areas of the Seattle Center to demonstrate her techniques. In one demo, she got Jane to model for her. During another, I was in the middle of sketching her when she decided to sketch me. Apparently I was a good example as she showed how to determine which leg a standing model’s weight is on – an important element in drawing a convincing figure.

With another appointment to get to, I could observe and sketch Sue’s workshop only for a short time, but it was fun to eavesdrop on her lessons, especially in that sunshine.

Jane models for Sue

Sunshine and blue skies at the fountain!

First Steps into Visual Journaling Workshop is a Wrap!

I went to Occidental Park on Monday before the workshop to see if anything had changed since the last time I was there and to do a few warm up sketches. Oh, and to check out the food trucks.

My warm up sketches in progress on Monday. Sorry, no food trucks on Saturday.

Saturday, May 19,  I met with my students in Occidental Square for Seattle's USK Workshop #8 of the 10x10 Spring 2018 program being held around the world this year. Ten, or so,  instructors in each area are teaching various aspects of urban sketching in the cities where they live.

Geared toward beginners, my workshop "First Steps into Visual Journaling" gives some easy, basic touchstones of urban sketching to those who are new or those who just haven't picked up a sketchbook in a while.

New urban sketchers, all smiles at the end of a First Steps into Visual Journaling Workshop with Michele Cooper

I couldn't have asked for anything more: Here I am on a beautiful Seattle Saturday with my enthusiastic students, ready to take their first steps into urban sketching. See Jane Wingfield's review here on Seattle Urban Sketchers blog.

Pens, pencils, sketchbooks, coffee and quiche in the Grand Central Arcade building. Photo credit: Jane Wingfield

We had a fantastic venue, rain or shine, with pretty much the entire indoor arcade and huge wood tables to ourselves for the first part of the workshop. Due to the 9:00am start time, we even had the bakery and coffee shop easily accessible without the usual long lines typical of the late morning and lunch crowd. Many used the Grand Central Bakery cards as part of the collectible ephemera incorporated into their visual journals.

There's always something interesting going on in Occidental Park.

There is a plethora of "street furniture" in the neighborhood to sketch.

Standing, sitting or on the run, sketchers are busy capturing their day in their visual journals.

The street gets busier as the morning progresses. The students progress as they get busier!
We even shared the sidewalk for a while with a large tour group.

A savvy urban sketcher in "secure" sketch mode while a tour group stops by.

I managed to get some photos of my students at work on their assignments.

 Photo left: Getting the sky shape


Following are a few of the visual journal pages from the workshop generously shared by some of my students. Aren't these new sketchers (and a few more experienced ones) fantastic!

PS. I wanted to give priority to my students in this post but I am working on an article with my sketches and some images of my illustrated pages from the workshop. I will post that one soon.

Even practiced sketchers are welcome at the "First Steps" workshop. Nice work!

The shadows of our tree-lined park with all the identifiable elements of this particular urban scene.

Choose simple subjects when trying out new materials. This student combined all her 10x10 classes so far on the right hand page.

Plaques, signs and conversations overheard while sketching can be used to inform the narrative of a visual journal.

This page has a couple of mini photos taken on the spot and info overheard from a tour group that paused nearby.

This spread is well composed with all the elements of a visual journal.

Each individual makes this a visual journal that is uniquely their own, a record of their personal experience and reportage of their on location observations.

Line, shape, form and texture all expressed simply and beautifully with a water soluble ink pen and waterbrush.

This spread aptly documents the experience of being in Seattle's first neighborhood on a beautiful May morning.

Thanks for coming, everyone! Thanks for giving me permission to post your journals. I had a blast teaching, sketching, and sharing the day with you!

Thanks to Jane Wingfield for covering the workshop in your superb article and review. Read it here.

Lively First Steps Lead to Fun-Filled Workshop

Michele Cooper’s quick wit and lively banter made her Seattle 10x10 workshop: First Steps in Visual Journaling a really fun way to spend Saturday morning. Grand Central Bakery Arcade again served as a perfect meeting place with indoor tables and relatively few early morning customers.

After sharing a few tips about sketching in public, collecting and using memorabilia, and selecting sketchbooks, Michele started with first things first—something everyone could feel comfortable with: letters. “Lettering can be expressive” according to Michele, it’s another opportunity to play and express yourself. She introduced 5 basic styles as seen below.

Next Michele reviewed different tools – pens, pencils, erasers, different sharpies, fountain pens, water brushes, showing how to use each one and allowing students to try out those that were new to them.

 

“Your sketchbook is your guilt-free zone; a place to play” Michele told students guiding them to select something simple as a second step. “Stay away from  the “P” word (perspective) to begin with. It complicates things too much.”

Michele demonstrated her “six steps to drawing people” using a water brush and crayon d’arche water colors- a simple yet effective way of  drawing people. 

Michele led everyone outside to have students choose items in the environment to create montage drawing. She reviewed the environment pointing out interesting architecture, signage and shapes. She also demonstrated drawing sky shapes to get the basic shapes of buildings in the surroundings.

A bit later, Michele demonstrated “thinking within the box” to draw a car. To wind up we pulled together four turquoise tables, laid down the sketchbooks while Michele pulled out scissors and glue sticks for students to use and gave tips on how to pull the pages together with lettering, memorabilia and color.

Winding up with a group photo at the end, the students, all smiles, laid down their drawings as evidence of what they has soaked in from the fun-filled morning.

And her's my summary of what I learned - simple objects, memoribilia, 6-step people and pulling it all together.