World Cup Watch “Party” at Project 9

 

6/24/26 Project 9 Brewery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

With my usual fervent indifference toward all professional sports, I hadn’t participated in any of Seattle’s FIFA fever. Although I hoped that my city would be a good host for this global event, my interest ended there. As I’ve learned from past experiences (see my sketches at watch parties for the Mariners and the Super Bowl), my entry into any subject I have no interest in is always sketching.

Last Wednesday’s noontime match between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Qatar seemed like a good opportunity to give it a shot. I certainly had no intention of joining the massive mobs downtown. Instead, I walked over to my favorite neighborhood watering hole, Project 9 Brewing Company. Maybe my expectations were too high for something called a watch “party.” Or maybe Maple Leaf doesn’t have many fans of the Bosnia-Herzegovina or Qatar teams. In any case, except for one sudden roar, patrons remained quiet. Facing away from the four huge screens available for viewing, a few people kept working on their laptops.

Live video sketches

Enjoying my lunch of Mexican Seoul’s usual tasty burrito bowl with a NA beer, I had the most fun trying to capture a few gestures of close-up action on the screen.

There – I participated in Seattle’s historic sports hosting event. Now, will everyone please go home so that I can go downtown again?

VP Debate

 

10/1/24 Vice presidential debate sketched from live TV broadcast

The vice presidential debate didn’t raise my blood pressure nearly as much as previous debates have (or might have, if I hadn’t sketched). In fact, it was downright civil. Maybe because of that, I focused more this time on trying to capture likenesses. Maybe not so much with Walz, but I thought I captured Vance (at left) fairly well.

Blood Pressure Control

 

9/10/24 Sketched from live broadcast

Political debates can be difficult to view, and presidential ones are certainly among the worst. I find that it helps to calm me when I sketch from the live broadcast. I can still listen (though often I wish I couldn’t), but focusing on capturing the candidates’ likeness (or lack thereof!) keeps my blood pressure down.

Last week’s debate between Harris and Trump was the fourth presidential debate that I have sketched. I think my first (between Clinton and Trump in 2016) is still my most memorable due to my special viewing “seat.” I also sketched the 2020 debacle and the one a couple months ago.

Malarkey

 

6/27/24 Sketched from live video broadcast

7/4/24 Have a safe and happy 4th!

I have no idea how non-sketchers are able to stomach presidential debates. I sketch to keep my eyes from rolling permanently into the back of my head.

Here’s how it went in 2020 and, even more memorably, in 2016, when my sketching room was especially appropriate.

Out of This World

11/18/23 Natalie and a friend performing

 

Last week I was invited to a unique event: an “out-of-this-world memorial service” for a friend. Alive and very well, Natalie (AKA Shambhavi) decided there was no time like the present to celebrate living, and she invited many creative, talented friends from around the world to sing, dance, recite poetry and tell stories on Zoom. Impressed by the performances, I tried to sketch as many as possible as they honored their friendship with Natalie in humorous, creative ways.

It’s Pity Party Time!

 

4/17/23 Uma's Pity Party on Zoom

While actual drink-and-draw parties are ongoing in Auckland, those of us who are not attending the 11^th Urban Sketchers Symposium are finding ways to good naturedly console each other. Uma invited friends to join her on Zoom for commiseration while sketching – a virtual drink-and-draw party!

We all joked about our misery, and I do miss friends that I get to see only when I attend the international symposiums. As the first symposium since 2019, Auckland is likely an extra-special reunion for many. But I’m happy for everyone there this year, especially all the sketchers in the southern hemisphere who are finally able to attend a symposium closer to home. (All but the Paraty, Brazil, symposium have been held in the northern hemisphere.) As I wistfully view sketches and photos that symposium attendees have been sharing online this week, I can’t help but remember with fondness the thrill and joy I’ve experienced at past symposiums. It’s an experience like no other to be among hundreds of one’s tribe and to see that the Urban Sketchers community really does wrap around the globe. I wish all sketchers could enjoy that experience at least once.

If you want a visual taste of what a symposium is like, watch Teoh Yi Chie’s (also known as Parka) well-edited video coverage of the entire event.

To read about my own symposium experiences, see these posts: 

Barcelona, Spain, 2013
Paraty, Brazil, 2014
Manchester, UK, 2016 (This symposium was especially significant to me because I served as one of four sketch correspondents covering the event.)
Chicago, USA, 2017
Porto, Portugal, 2018
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2019

Gabi on the Reportage Experience

 

2/16/23 Gabi on Zoom talking about sketch reportage

Since last summer, Gabi Campanario has been publishing a Substack newsletter called On the Spot, which focuses on reportage sketching. His first Zoom presentation exclusive to paying subscribers was all about his decade-plus of weekly reportage experience for The Seattle Times.

Although we think of the art in the forefront of reportage illustration, he stressed the importance of writing, which supports the sketch in telling the complete story. Using three specific reportage examples, he shared in-depth details about how he got the ideas and how he planned and conducted research before sketching. “It’s not sketching in the park with a friend,” he said. While covering the story, “you are always ‘on’,” working in sometimes intense or rapidly changing conditions that require flexibility. He also offered practical advice to wannabe reportage artists, such as knowing where to find a restroom when you need a break. He often spent as long as five hours at a time on location covering a story or went back a second day to finish the work.

As a journalist, he can’t cover a story just because it’s interesting to him. He must always be aware of why the story would be of interest to his readers. To be newsworthy, a story must also be timely. He continually asks himself, “Why should readers care? So what? Why now?” He keeps that focus firmly in mind while he’s on location because it’s easy to get distracted.

Using the example of the historic Elephant Car Wash sign, he said the story was not just a sketch of the beloved, iconic sign itself. “I’m always looking for the context.” In this case, it was about growth in the South Lake Union area and the car wash’s closure.

More than 30 of his worldwide paying subscribers joined what he called his “brown bag presentation” (around lunchtime Seattle time). Based on their questions, some were already working sketch journalists themselves, while others hoped to bring their urban sketching to the next level. Still others, like me, simply wanted to learn more about sketch reportage while supporting Gabi’s latest ventures. (Of course, I had the ulterior motive of a portrait practice opportunity.)

As a long-time fan of his weekly Seattle Times column (who was very sad when he finally retired the column a couple of years ago), I was impressed to learn that he had published a total of 989 columns during The Seattle Sketcher’s career! That’s a lot of reportage!

Gabi plans to offer monthly presentations to his supporters on various reportage topics.

Derwent Lightfast secondary triad

Palette notes: What do you think of the secondary triad I chose for this portrait of Gabi? I’ve used a more saturated “summer” secondary triad to sketch portraits in the past, but this time I thought I’d try a more subdued trio using Derwent Lightfast pencils: Olive Earth, Mars Orange and Violet. It’s similar to the “winter” secondary triad I’m using now for urban sketching except the green is warmer. I started to use a bit of the green on his face, but I pulled back when I didn’t like the mix (and I think the orange and violet alone made a vibrant neutral for facial tones). Next time I might go with a cooler green and see how that works on faces as well as trees.

Process notes: I think this was my first opportunity to sketch someone live on Zoom (I don’t count my selfie) since I started practicing portraiture last fall. A moving, talking person is not as easy to sketch as a reference photo, but I realized that all the practice I’ve done from photos certainly helped a lot. I’ve gotten used to eyeballing proportions without measuring (which is hard to do when the model is constantly moving his head), and I knew where to look for key facial planes to block in the face quickly. I don’t know if Gabi’s wife Michelle or his mother would agree, but I think I captured some likeness. (Well, I may have given him a few extra pounds. Sorry, Gabi.) Ideally, this is the way I’d love to be able to sketch any portrait: From a live model who isn’t necessarily posing but maybe just talking naturally as I sketch. After all, that’s how a reportage sketcher would do it.

Expressive Portraits with Veronica Lawlor

 

2/11/23 Exercise from Life Drawing Symposium's "Expressive Portraits" mini workshop

New York reportage artists Veronica Lawlor and Melanie Reim are offering mini online versions of their popular Life Drawing Symposium workshops this year. On Saturday, I took one on “Expressive Portraits” that I hoped would fit well with all the portraiture study I’ve been doing. (Unfortunately, Melanie was still recovering from complications from COVID, so Ronnie taught it alone.)

In the first exercise, we studied hands, an important part of human expression, and then the head by drawing them as structural, geometric shapes. Ronnie broke down all the parts in her demo and showed us images of masters’ drawings in which the artists were doing the same thing in their studies.

Next our model/actor Laura portrayed various emotions with her facial expressions. Each pose was only 30 seconds, so we had to capture the essence of the expression with just a few key features. Although eyes and mouths are always important in revealing feelings, I found that the shape of the eyebrow is also a critical component of expression.

The last exercise was the most fun as well as the most useful for real-life sketching: Laura improvised a character spinning a yarn about famous actors she claimed to know. Our task was to draw her as she told her tales, capturing as many expressions as possible. Occasionally Ronnie would ask Laura to freeze a pose for a few seconds, giving us more time to draw, but in general, we all had to keep up with Laura’s continual movements. It was a challenging but realistic exercise coming from a reportage artist. Ronnie packed a lot into two hours!

Mark, Kristen and Ilyaimy

12/7/22 Sketched during livestreamed video performance by Mark, Kristen and Ilyaimy

 

During the first pandemic year, my niece and her husband gave me several opportunities to sketch their taiko performances on livestreamed video. For Fourth of July and Labor Day that year, they gave concerts to friends and neighbors from their front yard in Maryland. Last week Kristen and Mark joined the Baltimore “folk/rock/acoustic grunge” band Ilyaimy for an eclectic, dynamic mix of music and taiko. The venue, called “The Lair,” looked to be someone’s garage, which had surprisingly decent lighting for a change, so it was easier to sketch than previous concerts had been.

For the finale, Mark, who is a professional taiko instructor and composer as well as performer, turned into a rabbit. The number they performed had something to do with rabbits. I didn’t quite get it, but it was obvious that the musicians were all having a good time, and I certainly had fun sketching them as they performed.

Seattle’s Mayoral Candidates

10/28/21 Lorena Gonzalez

10/28/21 Bruce Harrell

I find that I listen better and retain more when I sketch people as they are talking. Last Thursday Seattle’s mayoral candidates had their last opportunity to publicly debate critical issues in our city such as homelessness and police reform. It was also a good opportunity for me to sketch them on TV.

Since I hadn’t yet done my Inktober blind contours for the day, I warmed up with those first. I especially like the one of Bruce Harrell (on the right, just in case you can’t tell). I was only halfway done when the camera cut to his opponent, so rather than wait with my pen point stuck to the page, I simply stopped. I like the unfinished, minimal quality. Many questions that evening were left unanswered by both candidates, so it seems fitting.

Please vote, everyone! It’s as important now as ever.  

The Many Moods of Shawna

 

4/3/21 Shawna, bullfighter, 30-sec. poses

Shawna was at it again – this time as a bullfighter, pixie, carpenter, petting zoo visitor, cook and bowler – and all while dressed in a bikini! I wasn’t feeling my usual groove this time, but Shawna’s imaginative poses are always fun to sketch.

Bullfighter, 30-sec. poses

Pixie, 1-min. poses

Pixie, 1-min. poses

Pixie, 1-min. poses

Carpenter, 2-min. poses

Carpenter, 2-min. poses

Cook, 3-min. poses

At the petting zoo, 5-min. poses

Bowler, 7-min. poses

Zoom Faces

 

3/25/21 A few Facebook friends on Zoom

The last time I sketched a Zoom social gathering, I was disappointed that I couldn’t seem to break out of the Brady Bunch grid. This time when the same group gathered, many of the same people were present, but I focused on sketching only those I hadn’t sketched before. This helped me to avoid the grid and try for a more organic composition. It’s nothing radical, but at least I am trying to break out of the box.

The other thing I attempted, which is an earnest goal, is to draw quick portraits like these in a more cartoony style. I still want to capture the person’s essence and some degree of likeness, but in a less literal way. Which lines are essential in describing the expression and character? Identify those and leave the rest out. Some faces are easier to do than others in this way. If a face is side-lighted, I use that to help me leave the lighted side unstated. I think I captured Dianna best in the cartoon style that I am attempting.

While sketching, I am also listening, which is easy, but the huge challenge is talking! I admire art instructors who can speak while they give demos because I find that part of my brain shuts off when I’m trying to draw!

Essential Workers

 

3/21/21 Life Drawing+ organizer and host Agata wears a big straw hat to talk about the
challenges of offering online life drawing. (5 minutes)

For many years, Life Drawing+ offered open sessions and classes with live models in a traditional Manchester, England, life drawing studio. When the pandemic closed the studio, organizer Agata wasted no time in moving the models to what may have been the first life-drawing program on Zoom: It began only a week after the UK’s lockdown a year ago. While life drawing online has become commonplace during the past year, the Life Drawing+ program is still the most innovative and creative that I have participated in. Some of my favorite sessions have included dramatic lighting, a lesbian couple, and a drag queen with elaborate accessories.

To commemorate the weekly program’s first anniversary, Agata presented a variety of first responders and other essential workers from the UK. Instead of modeling in the traditional sense, they were interviewed by Agata about how the pandemic has profoundly affected their lives and livelihoods. They dressed in uniforms or held props of their trades as they told stories of courage and resilience.  

First up was Agata herself (above), who talked about the challenge of helping models continue to earn a living by putting them on Zoom instead of up on a studio platform. How much easier it was, Agata said, to simply invite artists to come to the studio instead of having to remotely teach models how to use video in the best ways possible.

Amanda is a volunteer at a vaccination site. Wearing a high-visibility neon green vest, she talked about how she reassures vaccine recipients and makes sure they wait at the facility the required 15 minutes after vaccination in case of an allergic reaction.  

Amanda, vaccination site volunteer (5 minutes)

Alan, who normally delivers produce to restaurants and stores, suddenly found himself many times busier once the pandemic hit. Suddenly food became difficult to buy in stores, so individuals began calling him to deliver produce directly. He said he appreciates the contact with customers, many of whom are shut-ins who have told him, “You are literally keeping me alive.”

Alan, food distribution (10 minutes)

Organic farmer Lindsay also found herself much busier when the pandemic hit. A seller at a farmers’ market, she had initially panicked when the market was closed, but then she started receiving “a hundred emails a day” from customers asking if she could deliver produce directly. When they couldn’t buy produce easily from stores or markets as they had in the past, they became more aware of where their food comes from.

Lindsay, organic farmer (15 minutes)

Helen, a teacher, had to face the enormous challenges of learning how to teach teenagers online. She talked about how difficult it is for young people to have only their families for company and not to have social interactions with peers.

Helen, middle-school teacher (15 minutes)

Unlike food producers and distributors who suddenly found themselves in greater demand, Steve, an emergency room nurse, had the opposite experience. He said that some people who needed urgent medical care became hesitant to seek help because they were afraid of catching COVID at the hospital. Part of his work has been to educate patients about how they still need to take care of themselves and seek medical attention if they need it.

Steve, emergency nurse (5 minutes)

An art director, Alan found many of his income sources drying up. To supplement his dwindling income, he became a parcel courier (my impression was that the retail service he worked for was similar to Amazon). As retail customers began buying more and more products online, the need for couriers expanded rapidly. Paid by the parcel, not the hour, he had to learn very quickly how to make deliveries at a fast pace. He eventually came to enjoy some aspects of the job, such as the relative flexibility and the small interactions he has with customers.

Alan, courier (15 minutes)

A surprising “model” in the session was Elizabeth, who designs and builds bicycles. She has built more than 50 bikes. Her small business has boomed during the pandemic. In addition to the many commuters who started bicycling to avoid public transportation, others sought the “liberation” biking provided – fresh air, an opportunity for fitness, feeling free when so much of life felt oppressive.

Elizabeth, bike maker (15 minutes)

The last “model” of the session was Elaine, a microbiologist working in the field of infection prevention and control and specializing in children. She chose to hold a COVID testing swab as her prop because it best represented what she has been studying the past year – and she has tested herself numerous times. Part of her work has been to figure out how to conduct COVID testing in countries that may not have reliable access to electricity, computers or other technology. Elaine also talked about the false impression many have that children do not catch COVID easily or that they don’t have symptoms. In fact, although not many children die of COVID, many do suffer serious, long-term consequences.  

Elaine, microbiologist (15 minutes)

This session was probably the most meaningful sketching I have done during the pandemic. I was moved by their stories and felt honored to sketch them in recognition of the work they do so that people like me can stay safely at home. And many thanks to Agata for making it possible for artists around the world to draw them and hear their stories.

Proceeds from this session, which are normally paid to the model, are being donated to two international charities nominated and selected by the essential workers and the artists who participated.