Symposium Participant Faye Castle

Sketching has been a part of my life as a record of travels and memories for years. I feel so fortunate to have a husband that sketches as well, and we often head out spontaneously to some place nearby, or not so nearby, with sketchbooks in hand. We live on Whidbey Island, WA and there is much to sketch! This is with a friend, nearly dark on New Year's Eve, looking out from a high Whidbey bluff.

We now have a great group of Whidbey Sketchers that meet weekly getting to know our local businesses and landscapes even better. Much fun!

Several of us will be heading south for the Portland Symposium.

Here are some Whidbey and nearby sites. I love the watercolor and ink combination, playing with color and lines.

The Olympic Mountains from Central Whidbey, and Cultus Bay from one of our Land Trust sites.

Sketchers at a local coffee house.

Roslyn, WA, just across the mountains and Happy Hour at the Brick.

I had a recent trip to Brooklyn and couldn't resist these color spots in front of the Brooklyn Library across from Prospect Park.

Music for the Eyes is one of our Langley shops. Appropriate name.

Symposium Participant: Pascale Steig

I'm Pascale, a self-taught artist with a (non-practicing) background in Graphic Design. I teach community Art classes for adults and children.

Sketching is second nature to me. Although I enjoy immersing myself in a crowd, I usually stand on the perimeter of the action, - a vicarious participant -, observing people, taking in what I see, and chronicling it in my sketchbook.

When I draw, I prefer the precision of ink pens. I never use pencils because they inevitably end up smudging the paper, greatly disturbing the perfectionist in me. My carry-everywhere supplies are simple: my small Bomo Art sketchbook from Budapest and a V-Ball pen (I know, I know, not waterproof...)

I look forward to attend the symposium and to meet other sketch artists. Although I was born and raised in Belgium (and speak French fluently), I've lived in Portland for many years; so, don't hesitate to ask me questions about the area.

You can view more of my artwork on my sketching, illustration and comics blogs, and if you want a laugh, visit my blog about trying to renovate an old farmhouse near Portland...

Symposium Participant: Jay Arrera

My name is Jay Arrera and I am coming to the Symposium from Eugene, Oregon.  I graduated with a BFA in Sculpture in 1997 and and MBA in 2003.  As I think every participant here can attest, life, work and family take a lot of my time.  And sculpture--particularly bronze sculpture is a very slow and time consuming process.  So, I have been using sketching to capture ideas and just to observe.   My motto is, "You haven't really seen something until you've drawn it."  Whether it is people or buildings I find that we so easily filter our visual senses that we take for granted everything that surrounds us.  I rarely have trouble finding something to draw.  My first decision is usually what not to draw.

My decision to join the Symposium was instantaneous.  I have been hosting SketchCrawls in Eugene, and attend life drawing and sculpting weekly.  The idea of being able to carve out time in my schedule just for drawing and learning was very exciting.

I was actually just interviewed by a local radio station, KLCC about my participation in the Symposium. It is really exciting to be able to join so many talented artists from all around the world.

Below are my sketching supplies.  I carry them with everywhere.  I've gotten some funny looks going through airport security with my tubes of paints, and I have to deal with the constant flak for my 'man purse', but I hate the feeling when I'm on a beautiful location with nothing to draw with.  You never know when you will have a spare moment, so I carry it with me always.  I was relieved to see that some of you other sketchers pack more than I do. :-)

You can check out more of my art on my website and my blog.

Inspiration out of the box

The custom Urban Sketchers Moleskine sketchbooks have arrived!

Symposium lectures: From sketchbook to screen, by Jason Das

This is a brief summary of Jason Das' lecture, which is scheduled for Friday, July 30, at 5 p.m. and Saturday, July 31, at 1 p.m.

After you've got your sketches down on paper, the real magic comes when you share your work with the world! The internet has made self-publishing easy. But it can also be overwhelming, and you want to make sure your art looks its very best. We'll discuss technical and presentational aspects of scanning/photographing your sketches, optimizing and retouching them via image processing software, and posting them to the internet via your own blog, popular image hosting services, or social networking services.

Symposium Participant: Chris Kerins

Hi Everyone!

My name is Chris and I'm from Southern Cal. Like many of you, I have a lot of balls in the air. I teach architectural illustration at Orange Coast College where I drag my students off the computer and outside to sketch in their sketchbooks. They whine at first but thank me at the end of the semester. I also design websites and do arch illustrations using photoshop when there is a paying client, which isn't often these days. I've spiraled through design fields: graphic, architecture, set design, illustration, website and so on.

My big secret is that I rarely get to sketch. It used to be a travel thing for me, but traveling has been scarce and my small family takes up all my discretionary time. In my dreams I'm traveling and sketching, which is why the symposium sounds so great.

In high school, my art teacher handed out Berol 314s with with a slice of wood carved off the end to write our names on and I've never really looked back. Good soft fat leaded pencils that can do a full range of lines are what I recommend to my students. I used to always use the black hardbound sketchbooks because I liked the look on a shelf, but now I'm coming around to spiral bound because they are easier to fold back and out of the way.

I can't say I'm accomplished as a sketcher. My goal is to capture the essence with an economy of line but that remains as elusive as ever. Usually I end up over working it.

I'm really looking forward to meeting you all and finding some tasty food carts. Please bring your suggestions for good eats.

See you in a few days!

Symposium lectures: The history of location drawing as a social activity, by Matthew Brehm

This is a brief summary of Matthew Brehm's lecture, which is scheduled for Thursday, July 29, at 5 p.m. and Saturday, July 31, at 1 p.m.

On this lecture, Matthew Brehm traces the social aspects of location drawing over the past few hundred years. Topics include the "Grand Tour" of the 17th through the 19th centuries, architectural "sketch clubs" in the United States in the 19th century and the advent of study-abroad tours for university students in architecture and the arts.