Blowing in the Wind - Part 2

 The decision of which windmills to sketch last weekend was hard. There were really so many interesting ones that I wanted to include.

When I was in Amsterdam many of my sketching friends went to the Zaanse Schans which is a village with quite a few windmills. I missed the side trip because I arrived a day after they went. From the reference photos I'm really sorry I missed going.

Back in the early 70s I did a summer trip with my sister, Fran which included Greece. Among the places we traveled was Mykonos, Greece. I remember seeing the windmills there, but at the time I didn't do any sketching in public. There were so many good locations that I missed.

To be continued...

Virtual Travel Sketching with Google Maps

For the last few days Mark Leibowitz, who organizes the NYC Urban Sketchers, has been tantalizing us with the following sketch of his. We were given several links to get ourselves familiar with using Google Maps, because that was how we were going to do our weekly sketch event this weekend.

Digital sketch by Mark Leibowitz using Procreate.

It turns out that our destination was Amsterdam, where so many of us had attended the last Urban Sketchers Symposium. For the morning we were given a link to a particular area, but we had the freedom to wander around and pick a view nearby. Imagine my surprise to click on the link and find that I was right outside the apartment that I had rented when I was there. lol So of course I didn't really move around much because I wanted to do that view which included the apartment door, the canal, a houseboat, some typical Dutch architecture and the obligatory bicycles. My apartment is the one on the far right with the planter filled with flowers.

We took a lunch break and then Mark gave us a second link, this time to the area near the Rembrandt Museum. I took a bit of a walk on Google Maps and found this interesting shop.

Sketching today brought back some really good memories of my time in Amsterdam. The only thing I didn't miss was the days of 100 degree temperatures!

Flower Planter

This was also done from a photo of mine taken in Amsterdam. This is for the art postcard project. 

Inktober Day 17 - Bicycle

You would think that after being in Amsterdam this summer I would have gotten over my love-hate relationship with bicycles...but apparently not. To me they are like sketching cars. I have to put a lot of thought into what I am seeing and sketching. This was outside one of the Long Island Railroad train stations.

#inktober

#inktober2019

Workshop with Pat Southern-Pearce

Believe it or not, I think I am down to a final post from my trips to Amsterdam and Paris. I am skipping back to Amsterdam for this double-page spread. The first workshop I took in Amsterdam was with Pat Southern-Pearce. She does these wonderful spreads that usually incorporate sketching, lettering, and writing. They are a very unique style and I am not sure how I can incorporate her teachings into my own work, but I am going to attempt it from time to time. One of the important things about Pat's work is that she uses toned paper. For our workshop Stillman & Birn supplied their new 3 toned sketchbooks for us to use...grey, tan and black papers were included in one sketchbook. It was fun to follow along with Pat. She usually begins with a skyline sketch of the area and then includes small sketches (very often in boxes) to show other details of the area. She has a wonderful font of her own that she uses when doing any kind of lettering or writing. I finally finished the spread that I started in her workshop. Yay!!

Next Stop Paris

My time in Amsterdam did come to an end and I headed to Paris on the high-speed Thalys train. It only took 3 1/2 hrs and then probably that long to find my way to the correct metro stop for my hotel. lol Of course I couldn't resist sketching on the train on the way there. This mother and daughter were sitting across the aisle from me.

My hotel was on the Ile de la Cite, a small island in the Seine. To get to it I had to walk past Notre Dame which has fencing around it. I did take a photo of it from the front. They seem to be doing a lot of work and making progress. From the front, aside from the spire being missing it doesn't look bad. But then again I couldn't see behind the fence and the bottom of the cathedral. There is a lot of scaffolding inside and toward the back. 

I made plans to meet on of the NYC Urban Sketchers who was also in Paris at the time. She suggested meeting at Shakespeare and Company, a famous bookstore there. I went a little early and sketched the top of the restaurant next to it.

There was an artist there painting and selling her work. I did a very small, quick sketch of her and a customer.

After dinner, Lois and I walked around the Ile de la Cite a bit. There were lots of people picnicking along the Seine.

The sun was starting to set over Paris. 

Being that we were both sketchers we did sit down and do an evening sketch.

My first day in Paris was great!

Day Trip to Delft

When the symposium was over we did a day trip to Delft, home of the famous pottery. It is only about 35 minutes by train. Delft is similar to Amsterdam in that it has canals and old buildings but the pace is much calmer since there are really so few people compared to Amsterdam.

My first sketch was of the Old Kerk, or Old Church. It is tilted about 2 meters to the right...doesn't look safe to me but they say it is.

The Deflt kissing girl and boy welcomed us.

Delft has a pretty windmill, the de Roos Windmill.

The buildings were similar to those in Amsterdam, especially the roofs.

We went to a Delft pottery shop and the woman was painting the pottery.

 

Towers of Amsterdam

Amsterdam had a lot of towers as parts of buildings. The main meeting place for the Symposium was  Zuiderkerk which had a wonderful spire. It is part of a 17th century Protestant church.

 

Here is a distant view of it from the canal.

I sketched with a group at the Montelbaanstoren Tower.

Bits of Amsterdam

The last sketch walk was up near the Nemo Science Center. I sat outside along the wharf and there were some interesting boats like this one.

One night we went to Vatten Ramen, a restaurant which was overlooking one of the canals. Of course it was a sketching opportunity.

Here is Suzala busy sketching the view.

Cheese and More

I sketched this location of Cheese & More near Dam Square in Amsterdam. I just loved seeing all the cheese wheels lined up so perfectly. This was the back entrance to the shop. I did go in and sample the cheese...even brought some home.

Up near the Red Light District I found this corner just down from the ladies in their windows. The area is a little strange...well a lot strange. No photos of the ladies are allowed and I didn't sketch them either. lol

There was a very popular store there with interesting displays. I will leave it up to you if you want to take a closer look and see what they were selling. 

My favorite store there was the Amsterdam Duck store which sold ducks wearing all kinds of costumes. I did buy one of the artist ducks (second and third rows down, 3rd from the right). 

Amsterdam Here and There

There are so many really nice places in Amsterdam. This is the Aluminum Bridge which was one of my favorites. I went out and took some sunrise photos from it on my first full day in Amsterdam.

This was done at the Sprui area of Amsterdam.

Nieuwmarket Sketches

Yes, I am finally home from my sketching adventures. I will try to go back and post some of the work that I didn't get to from Amsterdam and Paris...and also visit some blogs. All of that is just too difficult when I'm traveling. I spent some time tonight reading the comments you all have posted on the sketches I did while I was away. Even that isn't easy to do on my iPad when I'm gone.

Anyway there was a very nice square in Amsterdam called Nieuwmarket. Most days there were food trucks and vendors so shopping was fun. On Suzala's last day we headed over there only to find that the market area was being used for part of Amsterdam's Gay Pride Celebrations. They were bringing in beer trucks, constructing a stage and there were workmen all over. We decided to sketch there and since it started to drizzle we tucked ourselves under an overhang from one of the beer stands. This building looked so festive with all the pink, white and yellow balloons. It sort of looks like a Disney castle.

Across the street was a restaurant with some colorful green umbrellas.

Porto Day 7

Although the USk Porto Symposium itself was over there were a lot of sketchers who stayed on in Porto. On Sunday morning Julie and I decided we wanted to sketch some of the narrow streets near R de Belmont and R de S Joao. We set ourselves up and let Sandrine from Paris know where we were. She was checking out of her hotel and leaving that afternoon, but she wanted to sketch with us one more time. Her chair was already packed so she stood and painted resting her materials on her luggage. As you can see there wasn't a lot of room to work and still let people pass by.

Here is the painting I did in that location.

And a closer view.

We went out for a relaxing lunch before Sandrine left for the airport. Hopefully we will see her next year at the Amsterdam Symposium.

Julie and I sketched again and heard from Marcy and Shawne. The plan was to meet them at the Monastery da Serra do Pilar which was on the other side of the Luis I bridge. I hadn't walked across the bridge yet so this was a treat...although it was a long walk and then the Monastery was up on a high hill. This was the view from the Monastery.

View of the upper level of the Luis I bridge from the Monastery da Serra do Pilar.

Imagine our surprise when Julie and I got to the top to find our NYC Urban Sketching friend, Mel up there sketching the view. He had the same idea as the rest of us to watch/sketch the sunset from up there.

Mel Barranco working on his sunset painting.

Julie Kessler sketching the view.

Shawne Cooper capturing the scene.

My sketch with the view.

Sunset over Porto.

My double page spread of the sunset over Porto.

By the time we walked down from the monastery we had no luck making dinner reservations on this side of the river, so we crossed back over the bridge and found Canfinho da Se' a wonderful restaurant near the bridge. We hung out there talking for a long time. We said goodbye to Mel who was heading to Madrid to visit his parents and celebrate his mom's birthday. Julie was leaving for NYC in the morning,  and Shawne & Marcy were heading to Lisbon the next day, so it was a night for goodbyes until we see each other in NY.

Porto Day 6

Saturday, July 21 was the last day of the Symposium. I met Julie up near the Se' Cathedral and we sketched the view from around the back looking out over the city.

In the afternoon there was the final sketchwalk which ended at the Plaza da Libertad. The plaza was filled with sketchers as far as you could see. 

This was where the group photo of the Porto Symposium was taken. Can you find me in the photo?

Here are a few more photos taken in the plaza.

Sonia and Marcy were sketching.

We had a small contingent of males from NYC...Jeff, Mark, Alan, and Mel.

Most of the NYC Urban Sketchers who came to Porto.

It is always a bit sad for the end of the symposium to arrive. There was a closing reception that evening at the hub. Prizes were raffled off and there was a silent auction of sketches that were submitted with profits going to help fund the next symposium which will be in Amsterdam next year. I was still looking forward to several more days of sketching in Porto.