Porto

I was looking forward to this big event of the urban sketching symposium in Porto since months. 800 sketchers from 46 countries gathered in Porto to sketch the city, to take part in workshops, to share their work and to get to meet each other in real life. 

Porto was a wonderful city for this event. Every corner offered us something beautiful to sketch. You can still see that Porto had some difficult years but nowadays many houses are being renovated - and by that I mean in a good way. The old style is preserved, so the overall picture of the city will not change. 

I love drawing houses and I couldn't get enough from the charming colorful narrow houses with their small balconies and different windows. Many of them are covered with old blue tiles, which was difficult for me to express in the drawings. 

Porto is also famous for their many towers. 

 

The streets were full of people - many of them tourists,

music all over,

and of course with lots and lots of sketchers. 

Inma Serrano's demo

about the big black spot

It was an amazing, very intense week. I explored the town with my sketch book, met some old and new friends and had a very lively week with nothing else than sketching! Thank you Porto. See you next year in Amsterdam!

A sketcher's dream - eat, drink and draw :) 

 

Always smiling 

And here we are! Cannot find me? I am standing in the last row at the left side :)

The german sketchers

Here is a nice film with good memories

Rhythm, Light & Colour in Cádiz

Rhythm, Light & Colour was the name of the workshop from "Pushing your Sketching Boundaries" held by Isabel Carmona, Celia Burgos and Swasky. Although I just came from three weeks of holidays I decided to join it. The workshop was about exploring the city and its people during the week of carnival. The carnival in Cadiz famously transforms the city to an open-air theatre with its singing men group (chirigotas) which are performing on big stages and in narrow streets.

We were 18 men and women, young and old, from different countries. We were divided in three groups and each group had two workshops with each tutor. It was a great combination. Working was different with each one of them but "rhythm, light & colour" held the sessions together.

As Celia lives in Cai Cai (Cadiz, Oldtown) we had the great opportunity to spend some hours on her rooftop terrace and sketch the amazing view. 

A day later Isabel took us even higher on the Torre Tavira, where we worked on capturing the impressive panorama in different exercises. 

With Swasky we explored the central market of Cadiz, which is a meeting point for locals and tourists alike - especially during lunchtime. 

Usually all of us spent the lunch breaks and the evenings together in some bars or restaurants, sharing our sketchbooks and sketching of course.

 

My personal highlight was the big carnival procession on saturday. We stood with our sketchbooks among all people experiencing this special atmosphere. On each wagon was a group of (mostly) men, dressed in special costumes singing these beautiful songs (chirigotas). I was really touched.

I had a great time and enjoyed every minute. These five intensive days were just about sketching in very good company
lead by 3 wonderful tutors.

Natalie captured me...

Isabel is keeping an eye on us :)

Sherry, fried fish and a sketch book

holding and showing our sketch!