Covid Guidelines for Artists meeting in Groups

Drawing Attention, the official monthly zine of the Urban Sketchers organization publicises sketching meet-ups each month. 

This month it published some very sensible guidelines for those artists and sketchers beginning to meet up again. You can find Drawing Attention (August 2020) on Issuu and the guidelines are on pages 4 and 5.

Well done to Urban Sketchers for doing a good turn and providing a very useful checklist of everything that needs thinking about and attending to! 

Plus a lot of it is relevant to other painting groups aiming to meet up in future e.g. plein air painters.

I've clipped the relevant guidance as it struck me that the more this very sound guidance can be shared, the safer people will be. 

ONE THING: It did strike me that another couple of points:

• caution might be suggested to those aged over 70 or those who have been shielding or have an underlying condition which places them at higher risk - maybe meeting up in smaller groups to start with
• I personally would want to know who harboured young people at home who ignore safety precautions or are too young to adhere to them properly - so I can stay well away from them.

I did also wonder what the scope was for Zoom Sketching Groups!

BOTTOM LINE: As indicated, whoever is running a group and arranging meetings between people from different households should ALWAYS have the health and safety of ALL participants as their #1 priority.

Artists need to exercise good judgement, common sense and integrity

No sketching allowed? Really?

I'm beginning to find it more than a little tedious that some sketchers are turning into the drawing equivalent of the cyclists who always run the red lights - as if the rules of the road are for everybody else but not for them.

Why such an extreme statement you may say?

Sketching in Art Galleries and Museums

Well the fact is that

1. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen mass confusion and diatribes about what a "no sketching' sign actually means.
2. Yet again somebody has seen fit to be alarmist in a newspaper! (See Oliver Wainwright's article in The Guardian - 'No sketching': V&A signs betray everything the museum stands for).  
3. Yet again we have seen guerilla sketchers on the warpath.

The article has one of the most sensational summaries I've heard in a long time.

No visit should be complete without tripping over a skinny-jeaned student clutching a sketchbook. This draconian diktat denies visitors their art education

I'll give Oliver Wainwright the benefit of the doubt and assume it was written by some sub-editor whose pay is determined by the traffic he generates for articles.  Draconian diktat indeed!

So at this point it seems relevant to post my sketches done in the Victoria and Albert Museum of

• Constable's plein air painting "Boatbuilding near Flatford Mill" done at the V&A in 2011 from my blog post Sketching Constable in the V&A.

My sketch of Constable's "Boatbuilding near Flatford Mill"
11" x 16", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

• ...and my 2007 sketch of Kylie's gold hot pants from the Spinning Around video in 2000 - sketched in the Kylie Minogue: Image of a pop star exhibition

Spinning Around in Gold Hot Pants
from the "Kylie Minogue: Image of a pop star" exhibition
at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2007

Note: My pen and ink sketch is of Kylie's infamous gold lame hotpants from the Spinning Around Video which revealed rather a lot and achieved iconic status as a result. They have been on display - in their very own perspex box - at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I popped in and did a sketch on a recent visit when I went to see the exhibition of her clothes (amazing!).

• plus note my Sketches from Victoria and Albert Museum Sketchcrawl!

The Victoria and Albert Museum Policy on sketching

This is a quotation from the Victoria and Albert Museum website (my underlining)

Photography and sketching
Photography and sketching are permitted throughout most of the Museum, except in our temporary exhibition spaces.

and a policy statement Guidelines for Using the Galleries (which, as it happens, is inaccessible on the V&A's new website - you have to know it exists to find it!) which clearly states

"10. Sketching is not allowed in exhibitions"

So that's about 95+% of the area of the museum and its contents which can be both photographed and sketched! The ONLY areas which are off limits are the temporary exhibitions.

Let me repeat that for all those who scan read and miss the point completely

SKETCHING IS NOT BANNED IN THE MUSEUM - JUST IN THE TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS

We continue to support and encourage sketching in our seven miles of permanent galleries!

— V&A (@V_and_A) April 24, 2016

As the article recognises - but way beyond the point at which the scan readers will have switched off....

The V&A has been quick to point out that sketching is still welcomed in the rest of the museum, and that the rule only applies to temporary exhibitions

The article makes the point that the David Bowie exhibition at the V&A in 2012 was the breaking point when it came to sketching in exhibitions.

Long queues or sketching?

Urban Sketching doesn't happen in colouring books

I'm very disappointed in North Light Books.  I used to think they were a great publishing firm for artists. I always used to look out for their new publications and was delighted when I found out my book would be published by them.

The reason I'm disappointed is that North Light Books have put out a Call for Entries for urban sketchers to contribute pen and ink art for a COLOURING BOOK!

the beginning of the Call for Entries
(The referenced sketch is from a VERY different sort of book by Marc Taro Holmes - as you can see from the title
Make sure when signing a book contract that your sketches can NOT be used for colouring books!)

I'm not a fan of Colouring Books. I used to enjoy them when I was a small child. I can sort of see the meditative point of the mandala types ones. However they are essentially for people who like colour and colouring and they are very definitely NOT about drawing and sketching.

The thing is colouring books are selling in the millions.

They are the latest fad. They're keeping WH Smith's bottom line looking good right now.  If you put "drawing" into Amazon, and search for the featured books all you can see is colouring books.   Try it.

It's very, very depressing. People colour in a design and think they're drawing.

Let's be very clear. Colouring books do NOT teach anybody about how to draw or sketch.

It's therefore very sad that a movement like urban sketchers - which does place an enormously helpful emphasis on going 'on location' and 'drawing from observation' - using hand and eye - should in any way be associated with a Colouring Book - irrespective of whether or not they were asked (and I don't think they were).

I've written to Kristin Conlin, the Editor of North Light Books - in response to the invitation to contribute that was sent to me - and told her what I think of this latest 'wheeze'.

Here's some extracts

I take an extremely dim view of what North Light Books is doing with this sort of email.

THE WHOLE POINT OF URBAN SKETCHERS IS TO DRAW ON LOCATION AND FROM OBSERVATION. It's emphatically NOT about colouring books!

I want to emphasise that IMO your book  can in no way, shape or form can be associated with "urban sketching"!
I'll also be writing about this idea on my blog and the London Urban Sketchers Blog and will be emphasising to artists that

• urban sketching is ALWAYS DONE ON LOCATION AND FROM OBSERVATION - and NEVER EVER by copying the work of other urban sketchers

• Colouring books with pre-printed sketches do NOT help people to become better urban sketchers - quite the reverse. 

Sadly, I think urban sketchers who want to see their drawings in print will ignore the underlying philosophy of urban sketching and will grab the opportunity to send in their pen and ink drawings.

I'll be very sad if they do...

If anybody reading the email from Kristin Conlin feels tempted to do this, all I ask is that they reread the Urban Sketchers Manifesto first - and reflect on it.

Maybe North Light Books could do the same?

Our Manifesto

1. We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.
2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.
3. Our drawings are a record of time and place.
4. We are truthful to the scenes we witness.
5. We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles.
6. We support each other and draw together.
7. We share our drawings online.
8. We show the world, one drawing at a time.

This is another extract from my email.

If and when you publish this book, I shall make a point of reviewing it on my blog and on Amazon. I think you can by now guess what I will be saying! I would imagine rather a lot of other urban sketchers might do the same.

So the questions for all urban sketchers are:

• Do you want to get out and about and use your hands and eyes to draw and remain true to urban sketching? 
• Or do you want two free copies of a book - so you can sit at home and colour it in?

What's your view?

Urban Sketchers: Gabi Campanario steps down

A major announcement by Gabi Campanario today - he's stepping down from the Board of Urban Sketchers.

Dear fellow urban sketchers,

Since setting up the Urban Sketchers nonprofit in 2009, I've been quite involved with most operational aspects of the organization, from filing government forms and dealing with bank accounts to setting up blogs, organizing events and recruiting volunteers.

As Urban Sketchers has grown and thrived, many others have contributed their time and efforts, and we've built a solid and sustainable nonprofit. That level of shared commitment and belief in our mission is why I feel comfortable that we've reached the point in our natural evolution for the founder to take the back seat. After my term expires in December, I'll no longer be part of the Executive Board.

But I'm not wandering off too far. I have offered to serve on the Advisory Board and plan to continue contributing as a blog editor and correspondent.

I'm very proud of the work we do as a nonprofit, organizing an exhilarating international Symposium every year, promoting workshops and publishing blogs.

It makes a difference in the way people see the world and connect with each other.

I hear it all the time: "Urban Sketchers has changed my life!" people tell me. And I reply the same way: "It has changed mine, too!"

Gratefully and respectfully yours,

gabi

Gabi Campanario has given so very much in terms of time and effort to Urban Sketchers that it seems remiss not to try and mark this change in some way.

Below I've got a timeline - and a few images and links - which those of you who came to Urban Sketchers late in the day may well find interesting, while the rest of us reflect on just how long it has been since Gabi had a very good idea!

Urban Sketchers Timeline - a Gabi perspective

• 2007: Gabi begins the Urban Sketchers story - and creates a Flickr group for those interested in urban sketching.  This is the original group.

In 2007, a global community of urban sketchers began to form when Seattle-based journalist and illustrator Gabriel Campanario created an online forum “for all sketchers out there who love to draw the cities where they live and visit, from the window of their homes, from a cafe, at a park, standing by a street corner... always on location, not from photos or memory.”  Our history

•  2008: The Urban Sketchers blog was set up by Gabi - who invited others to join. I feel very privileged to say I was one of the original 100 who joined Urban Sketchers in the very early days. Here's a link to Gabi's introduction as a correspondent - Meet the correspondents: SEATTLE > Gabi Campanario - dated 29th October 2008. (The following day I was introducing myself!)

The Big Draw - October 2015

This is the 16th year of The Big Draw - which takes place throughout October in various countries across the world as well as across the UK

Last year 414,000 people attended over 1800 events by more than 1000 organisers across 26 countries! Now that's BIG!

The theme is announced via drawing

Key facts for anybody interested in drawing 

....or knows children, young people, adults or older people who like to draw

Big Draw Map of  Events across the UK

• There are events all over the UK throughout October. They include a drawing event, exhibition or workshop. You can: 
• Find out where these are on the Big Draw map (much better this year!)
• You can even locate International Drawing Events which have registered with the Big Draw
• Sign up to our newsletter to receive alerts whenever a Big Draw event arrives near you.
• This year's theme is Every Drawing Tells a Story
• There's a BIG Draw Competition - inviting you to design a logo
• The Big Draw’s first Architecture Drawing Day will be launched in partnership with the RIBA (10 October, London). This includes a series of workshops to encourage different approaches to drawing buildings and places, including  RIBA Explore and Draw, Drawing through a lens and more.
• On 11 October there is Drawing the World Sunday 11 October, 11 – 4 pm at Granary Square, King’s Cross. There will be activities all day - including a lot particularly suitable for children. More details here on the blog.
• There are also  lots of resources for encouraging Drawing in Schools
• These are the nice people who provide the facilities and funding which makes this all happen.

Plus allied to the Big Draw is the Ruskin Prize art competition - which I've written about previously. See The John Ruskin Prize 2015: Call for Entries - Making a Mark (29 Jun 2015) Overview of the Call for Entries for the John Ruskin Prize 2015 - on a theme of 'Recording Britain Now: Society'. Deadline: 23 November 2015

Urban Sketchers UK - all the events on one page

I've noticed on every London Urban Sketchers sketchcrawl that I've organised that we always seem to get people coming along who are temporarily visiting London.

Plus we also have a large group of people from around the UK (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, Northampton, Southampton) who regularly come to the sketchcrawls in London

It struck me that maybe other Urban Sketchers groups in the UK and other sketchcrawls run by these groups could also have more visitors if maybe our sketchcrawls got a higher profile and were shared around more.

Example: I'm off to a sketchcrawl at Magdalene College in Cambridge next weekend because I found out about it from somebody who came to our one in London on Sunday!

Especially as all sketchcrawls are FREE and open to all comers!

They are certainly not reserved just for those who belong to a group - and people are welcome to joint the numerous groups around the UK - and we need to get that message out!

So I've decided to run an experiment for the next two-three months.

I've set up a new Facebook Page called Urban Sketchers UK - Events. The aims of the new Page are as follows:

• highlight the Sketchcrawls run on a regular basis around the UK by various Urban Sketchers Groups
• make the number of groups - and how to join them - more accessible to people around the UK and visitors from overseas - see List of Urban Sketchers Groups in the UK (accessible via the Facebook Page)
• highlight official urban sketchers group exhibitions and approved workshops to a wider audience
• if successful - provide support for the people visiting the UK next year for the Urban Sketchers Symposium 2016 in Manchester.  Three of the urban sketchers groups will be supporting the activities of the symposium run by Manchester Urban Sketchers and planning events in their own areas.  They are:
• London Urban Sketchers (which I belong to)
• Birmingham Urban Sketchers and 
• and Urban Sketchers Yorkshire

What's on "Urban Sketchers UK - Events"?

On the new Facebook Page you can

• check out event listings which replicate those in the host group - all in one place (see the events tab on the top menu). They tell you the date, the venue, the timings and what's on offer.
• find out How to set up an event on "Urban Sketchers UK - Events". 

In other words it's just a single point of contact for all the listings.

It's not talking over the events created by the host groups. Indeed no event will be included unless it already has a listing on the host group!

The big question is how to keep it up to date. One of the ways I hope to do this is to get input from "Editors" appointed by the different groups who contribute and update the page for their events as and when required.

But you don't have to be able to use Facebook or set up an event in order to get one listed - you just need to leave a comment on the Page and tell me the link on wherever you post information about your group's sketchcrawls and other events.

Please note I only started this last night(!) and don't yet have all current sketchcrawls on the new Facebook Page - but you can see a sample of them for next weekend below.

UK Urban Sketchers Events - this is what is accessible via the events tab.

Click the link to see event details.

Click the link on that event page and go straight to the host group.

Your input

I'd be very interested in people's comments about this initiative - which took off last night when I wanted to see if I could make it work - and how it could maybe be improved. 

• So far we have c.50 people who like the idea. Will you be one of them?
• What do you think might make it better?

Links: 

• CHECK OUT the urban sketchers groups in the UK! 
• London Urban Sketchers Sketchcrawls - this page on the blog lists the planned sketchcrawls (dates and venues) for the next four months up to the end of 2015

How to draw and sketch in an art gallery or museum #1

This is the first in a series of posts about drawing and sketching in art galleries and museums.

There are rules which are generally applicable for what you can and cannot do when wanting to draw or sketch and, below, I highlight what these are.

I've also reviewed all the public (ie on the website) statements about rules relating to drawing and sketching in the major art galleries and other museums in London.

These have enabled me to highlight a number of interesting conclusions - not least that a number of them have no public statement about what's allowed re. drawing and sketching inside the gallery or museum.  Lots about copyright, lots about photography and zilch about sketching!

Drawing and Sketching in Art Galleries and Museums

Below are the general principles observed by most art galleries and museums.
So if you want a quick checklist of what rules are most likely to be applicable read on!

They're interspersed by sketches I've done in London.

The PLUS Points

• In general, art activities are encouraged and supported by art galleries and museums.
• It's a traditional activity of students wanting to learn.
• Many art galleries and museums encourage people to draw from paintings
• However that support for drawing and sketching is expressed in different ways
• Many art galleries and museums provide free sketching stools. These aren't always obvious and sometimes you have to ask where they are. At weekends and other busy times it's not unusual for them to go very fast!

Wallace Collection - Judy and the horses
11.5" x 17", pen and sepia ink in Daler Rowney Sketchbook

The MAJOR Concerns

• Artworks MUST be protected. Hence here are some of the usual rules:
• Dry media only - pencils and coloured pencils are fine (but charcoals and pastels can be messy and some galleries don't like then)
• Liquid/wet media is very often banned. Hence paints, marker pens and bottles of ink are very often not allowed in museums - mainly because these have more scope to cause permanent damage very fast if used/thrown on a painting or sculpture
• Do not lean on the artwork
• Some museums won't allow backpacks
• Health and safety of ALL visitors is very important
• It's essential to be considerate of others and advisable to be polite to the security people
• Keep the floors clear of obstructions which people might fall over
• If you're in a high traffic area (such as a popular temporary exhibition) you might well be prohibited from sketching or get moved on

TIPS for safe sketching

I've been sketching in art galleries and museums for years and years. I've learned a few things in that time about how to sketch effectively and without comment and not get thrown out!

A new exhibition by Urban Sketchers London

You can catch up on my latest exhibition over on my travel sketchbook - see
Urban Sketchers London - new exhibition at Timberyard (Old Street)

Below you can see a video I took this morning - and one of these days I'm going to remember to switch on the HD before I start the video on my iPad Mini!

2014 - the year of very many books about Urban Sketching?

Each year, I update a website about what seem to be the best of the new books published about drawing and sketching during the course of the year - see 20 NEW Books about Drawing in 2014.

It would appear that the continuing success of The Art of Urban Sketching has generated very many different takes on this topic. My current listing - which will develop as the year progresses - includes a number of new books on this topic.

Sketch Your World: Essential Techniques for Drawing on Location - I've not only got this book by my good friend and fellow urban sketcher James Hobbs, I've got a profile in it!

Urban Sketching: The Complete Guide to Techniques - by Thomas Thorspecken - you can read Thomas's blog in Analog Artist Digital World. I'm going to be doing a more detailed review of this book once mine has been handed over to the designer!

Hello, New York: An Illustrated Love Letter to the Five Boroughs by Julia Rothman - I like the idea behind this book, one woman recording the city where she lives. This woman is an illustrator and does not blog and doesn't seem to publish her sketches, although I could be wrong about this

Citysketch New York: Over 100 Creative Prompts for Sketching the Big Apple - by Melissa Wood who is an illustrator and architectural planner. I'm less impressed with this book, it seems to be targeted at those who also like to doodle (which is the other big theme of 2014 and one which I'm ignoring!).

Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Storytelling in Color - by Felix Scheinberger. You can see his sketches on his website. This one I'm looking forward to seeing and reviewing as the man actually has a major track record of travelling and sketching.

CitySketch London: Over 100 Creative Prompts for Sketching the City on the Thames by Melissa Wood - I've only included this one as I'm totally intrigued as to what possesses any publisher to commission an American to do a book about sketching London.  Speaking, as I do, as a founder member of the Urban Sketchers London group!

The Art of City Sketching: A Field Manual by Michael Abrams. This chap is the co-ordinator of the Interior Architecture Program at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. This seems to have an aim to become some sort of set text for students in higher education. Looks very techie - just at the point where the theme of urban sketching seems to be becoming more about how to enjoy drawing buildings more in a less techie way!

So - did I miss any?  Are there any more out there?

[P.S. I am aware of the Chinese book which is copying the "The Art of Urban Sketching" title. I've been invited and am ignoring this - it's just plain disrespectful in my view. This is Gabi Campanario's blog post about the book which is trying to copy his book - see Dopress book not my project]