Sketching news

Sketching and Drawing Workshops
There are some terrific one-day sketching and drawing workshops on offer at Wellington Community Education College this year. Go to the webpages for a full description, but these workshops look perfect for anyone wanting to learn more about sketching and particularly sketching on location.
Sat 9 March, Drawing and Sketching with Kay Paget
Sat 11 May, Visual Diary for Travellers with Margaret Elliott
Sat 19 October, Visual Diary for Travellers with Margaret Elliott
Sat 30 November, Wellington: Energy, Enthusiam and Empathy with Kay Paget

Drawing magazines
International magazines have usually been pretty expensive to buy here in New Zealand. However, now you can download current and backissue copies of most magazines from Zinio, including the magazines Artists & Illustrators, Watercolor, and Drawing. If you are interested in past issues of the Drawing and Watercolor magazines, you can download backissues even cheaper directly from the publisher's website, where you can buy each year's four issues as one digital download package for US$19.

Email Wellington.Sketchers at gmail.com if you know of any courses or sketching news that we can let people know about!

Sketching Meetup: Sun, 10 Feb 2013

British Car Day will be on at Trentham Memorial Park, Upper Hutt. Apparently they are expecting hundreds of British cars, motorbikes, and even buses and fire engines to be on display. I hadn't planned to run a sketching meetup this weekend, but I love cars and couldn't resist this one. It is an annual event, however, I haven't been to it before.
The event itself goes from 10 - 3pm. Entry is via Barton Road, and costs a gold coin donation to Wellington and Wairarapa Free Ambulance. Food and drinks will be on sale, BYO picnic.
I can only make it from about 2pm, so if you are keen for a sketching meetup at this event, then email WellingtonSketchers at gmail.com and we can arrange a meeting place.

Sketching news

In sketching news, Strathmore are running another set of free online workshops. They run three free workshops twice a year on varying topics. Past workshops have included watercolour sketching, sketching people, drawing techniques, and more. To do a workshop, you need to first register on their site, which is a free and painless process. People can sign up for the workshops during February. The workshops start in March 2013, and you get sent links to each lesson, which you can do at your own pace. This round of workshops will include one on Sketching and Drawing with Toned Paper.

An example of the great sketches that can be done on toned paper. This sketch was done by urban sketcher Natalia Li, in Kiev, Ukraine. Natalia started a flickr urban sketching group in Kiev, and says that they will start sketching outdoors again in earnest once the cold winter is over. (Sketch posted here with permission of the artist. Thanks Natalia!)

In other news, if you are looking for a lightweight, foldable stool for sketching outdoors, Kathmandu currently have their brand, the Roamer Tri Stool, for around 50% off ($10 down from $19.95). I am not sure when their sale ends though.

Finally, a reminder about our next sketching meetup: SAT, 16 FEB 2013, Medieval Jousting Tournament, at Harcourt Park, Upper Hutt. Time: 9.45 - midday. Meeting place: Hill overlooking the jousting. Click here for more details

Worldwide Sketchcrawl # 38

In sketching news, the Worldwide Sketchcrawl # 38 happened on the weekend. 

What is a sketchcrawl? It is like a drawing marathon, where you set aside a day (or some of it) and just move around your city or town, recording what goes on around you in your sketchbook. The idea was started by Enrico Casarosa in San Francisco in 2006, who has turned it into a worldwide event, which sketching groups all over the world join in.  

The sketches, using all sorts of mediums and done all around the world during Sketchcrawl # 38, are displayed on the Sketchcrawl website. I think you may have to join the forum to view the pictures, but joining in free and painless. You can also view most of the sketches from previous sketchcrawls there too.

As it was Wellington Anniversary, I was away all the weekend, so I didn't organise a sketching meetup for this event. But we are all set to join in the next Worldwide Sketchcrawl, which will be number 39, on Saturday, 13 April 2013. Further details about this April meetup will be posted on our blog closer to the time. Any thoughts or suggestions? Email Wellington.Sketchers at gmail.com.    

Wellington Harbour

Sketching in public

The Sketchbook Challenge, which is one of the international sketching websites that we follow, has a theme that is really relevant for us this month: artist dates and sketching in public! The challenge they have chosen for this month is to set some time aside for yourself to sketch, preferably with friends. Perfect for Wellington Sketchers!

Tracy Bunker writes, "An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist."

Well, Wellington Sketchers doesn't meet quite that often, but we'll see if we can squeeze in a sketching meetup or two in January, in honour of their sketching challenge. Details here.

During January, the Sketchbook Challenge website will be uploading posts about artist dates, and advice on sketching in public. Here are a few they have posted already about outdoor sketching: Drawing in Public: the Abstract Way by Carol Sloan, and Working in Public by Tracy Bunkers.

Sketching Meetup: Sat, 16 Feb 2013

Wellington Sketchers will have a sketching meetup at the Harcourt Park World Invitational Jousting Tournament. 

This medieval fair and jousting weekend is run biannually by the Order of the Boar, which is New Zealand’s own medieval equestrian and jousting historical re-enactment group. Jousters, supported by medieval re-enactment clubs from throughout New Zealand, will be taking part in a weekend of full contact jousting, foot combat battle displays and competitions, archery and “living history” activities in a medieval tent village supported by food and craft stalls. Lots of great people, things, and scenes to sketch at a really unusual and fun event!

When: The event goes for the whole weekend, but Wellington Sketchers will be sketching there on Saturday, 16th February 2013, 9.45 am - midday.

Where: Harcourt Park, Upper Hutt. Click here for a map. There is plenty of parking in the streets around the event. There are public toilets in the park. Once you have entered the fair, you'll see the main jousting arena with a hill behind it, where people sit to watch the events. We will meet on this hill, around 9.45am, and then move around the fair to sketch as we like. We won't be hard to find, since we will no doubt be the only people at the event sketching! There are food stalls at the event (including medieval themed ones). We will finish around midday and just grab a bite to eat together on picnic rugs, if people want to.

Cost: Entry to the fair itself costs Adults $10, Children $5, Immediate Family Groups (2+2) $25. This covers one day entry only. No Dogs Allowed.

What to bring (aside form the usual): Spectators generally sit on the grass on the hill: a picnic rug comes in handy. 

Wet weather arrangements: If the weather forecast is really bad, we will cancel the sketching meetup, as there are few indoors options for sketching at this event.The call will be made the night before, so always check this blog on the morning of a sketching meetup for any changes / cancellations due to weather. Note that the jousting tournament itself tends to go on regardless of the weather, unless it affects the horses.

Leave a comment below or email Wellington.Sketchers at gmail.com if you want to rsvp, or if you want to get a mobile number (to text us, in case you can't find us on the hill).  You can meet up with us at the event without rsvping, but it is very helpful if you have rsvp'ed so that we can keep an eye out for you.

Here are some photos from previous years, so you know what to expect!