Symposium Day 1 - Traveling to Chicago

Since the second Symposium I attended, in Santo Domingo in 2012, I've been sketching maps of places I visit to give me a sense of where things are before I go. As a map it's pretty useless though :)

This was the easiest traveling I've ever done for a Symposium. A one and a half hour flight in the time zone seemed like cheating.

I took the train from the airport to my hotel. Easy peasy.

This was my first site after getting off of the train, as if the city was greeting me.

Symposium Sneak-Peek and Big Post-Symposium Change #1

I did this sketch in Mike Daikubara's workshop Sketch Now, Think Later. Mike's take on sketching is to make the most of your sketching time, which includes not mixing watercolors! I am also interested in doing whatever I can to get myself to put pen or paint to paper. So Big Post-Symposium Change #1 is reworking my watercolor palette (again) to eliminate or at least limit color mixing.

More on the Symposium as soon as I can get two sketchbooks-worth of sketches scanned, as well as more information about (probably) Big Post-Symposium Change #2 and (possibly) Big Post-Symposium Change #3.

(Click for larger images)

Green Memphis

Sketched at Shelby Farms at lunch. I had bigger plans for this sketch but it was too hot to finish, but now I really like the simplicity of it!

Back at Shelby Farms working smaller.

At Beale Street Landing - the green in the background is the bluff.

Catching Up

Some Friday nights we go to Memphis Made and I sketch instead of drinking beer.

Documented my day.

Spent a lunch break catching up on emails and blog posts.

One Week 100 People - Symposium Prep Edition

Well that sure was fun! I sketched 86 people, so I didn't make it to 100, but that is 26 more than I did during the last challenge in March!

(click images to see more detail)

During this challenge I was reminded how important it is for me to make time to sketch, instead of waiting for when I have time. This sketch was done one morning before work. I parked and looked up and there were all these people walking into work. So I sketched them!

And that's something that is so great about sketching - when you are in it, you pay more attention to the world around you than you would otherwise.

This was a good way to prepare for the Symposium, too. I get out of the habit of sketching every day, so this helped me to get back into it.

I get out of that habit because I would just be sketching every day things. But this exercise helped me to see/remember that the everyday stuff is worth paying attention to and remembering.

One Week 100 Cars would be a very easy challenge for me.

In the end this reminded me how much I enjoy sketching people, especially with my fat pen.

Now I'm all ready for the Symposium next week!

Symposium Sketching Supplies! (and Accidental Sketchbook Review)

I am so excited about attending the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Chicago as a participant! For the last several years I've helped organize the Symposium so, while they were all great, there was a lot more responsibility than sketching.

Here are the sketching supplies I'll have with me next week in Chicago...

This is a new bag I just put together of all of the things I like to be able to grab in a hurry.
(left to right)
• watercolor kit made by Peggy Wong and filled with my current favorite assortment of pigments
• Palomino Blackwing pencil
• red/blue Mitsubishi pencil
• Sakura Pigma Sensei C10 chisel pen
• Kuretake waterbrush pen
• Sailor Fude DE Mannen Brush Style Fountain Pen (This is new to me. I bought it for one of the workshops I'm taking.)
• My favorite! Sakura Pigma Graphic 1 (aka my fat pen)

This is my regular purse bag that keeps finding more things in it.
(left to right)
• two travel brushes (The bigger one is new to me. I bought it for one of the workshops I'm taking.)
• another fat pen
• Pentel brush pen (black, and like a fountain pen with a cartridge)
• brush pen filled with diluted sumi ink
• Pentel ink brush pen (gray, and it comes in the brush pen)
• white Uni-ball Signo pen
• Pentel Aquash waterbrush pen filled with Dr. PH Marten's watercolor
• variety of colored pencils, some watercolor, some not
• Palomino Blackwing pencil

• Kuretake waterbrush pen
Also along the top - a water cup, clips, and double-sided tape.

I'll also have a few extra things requested by instructors, like fine-tip pens, 6B pencils, and an eraser.

Sketchbooks... I prefer carrying one small sketchbook at all times, but I know I'll need to make larger sketches and some of the instructors specified watercolor paper, and some specified cheap paper for thumbnails. So I know I'll use the small Stillman & Birn Alpha (top left) for all-day everyday, and probably the Barcelona souvenir Moleskine watercolor paper accordion sketchbook. But, I love the Stillman & Birn Zeta (bottom left) - nice thick smooth white paper. Yum! Definitely the Moleskine Cahier journal that's under the Barcelona sketchbook, for thumbnails and such.

Stillman & Birn and Moleskine are two for my favorite sketchbooks. Stillman & Birn sent me some of the new softcover books to test out. It took me a minute to get used to the different format, but I love that they are lighter than the hardcover, and the paper is as good as ever. The way they open can be a little clumsy - they don't always want to crease in the right place - but that is not important to me. I like my sketchbooks messy as they are part of my everyday life and therefore not precious. The soft cover makes it easier for them to be everyday sketchbooks.

Moleskines are just good all the way around. I use a cahier journal every day - several actually, for different projects. For years Moleskine was my go-to sketchbook, but these days I prefer bright white paper.

My other favorite sketchbook, not pictured here, is Laloran. They are handmade in Portugal with high-quality paper, and are beautifully bound. I buy a few every year and pick them up at the Symposium, so I will have more soon!

Well this post turned into a sketchbook review, but what can I say - I do like to talk about sketching materials! Another reason I'm excited about the Symposium next week - it will give me a chance to share sketching tips and supply recommendations and to learn from all of the amazing sketchers from around the world!

#oneweek100peopleSymposium (edited)

One week. One hundred people. Who's in?!

Liz Steel and Marc Taro Holmes started this sketching challenge in March, and with the Urban Sketchers Symposium coming up in Chicago, I thought we should do this again. I need the practice!

For the week of July 17-21*, I am going to work on making sketches of 100 people and post them** using the hashtag #oneweek100peopleSymposium***. Feel free to join in!

* I know, I know. It's just five days, not a week. But that's how it was structured last time.

** You can find me on Instagram @elizabethalley and on Twitter @alleyelizabeth and on Facebook.

*** Marc suggested changing it to help us get fired up about the Symposium!