Going Home

My friend and I were on the same flight going home from Chicago so we took a car to the airport and arrived early enough to have breakfast and do some sketches before it was time to board the plane.

These people were sketched by the food court.

These victims...I mean models...were by our gate.

Suzala and I didn't sit near each other. I had a middle seat about 9 rows behind her. I sketched to pass the time on board. I wonder what the people sitting on either side of me were thinking, other than thank goodness she isn't sketching me. lol

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the symposium...can you tell? It was great to meet so many different people who loved doing the same thing as me. 

At the end of the Chicago Symposium they announced the location for next year's symposium which will be in Porto, Portugal. I am hoping to go.

Here are a few of my reflections about the event.

First of all I regret not spending more time with my friend, Tina Koyama. With the workshops and things pulling me in different directions we didn't have that much time together. We will have to make that happen next year in Portugal...if you are reading this, Tina...maybe dinner in Porto?

Secondly, I need to pack lighter. Going to Chicago I made sure all my art supplies and my stool were in my backpack which was coming on board with me. Somehow even when I took some of the supplies out when I got there it didn't seem to get lighter. lol It seemed to weigh a ton and I'm sure part of that was my stool...but I was very glad I had that with me. I was very jealous of the people who had things organized into one small bag that they brought with them every day. I belong to that school of thought "but what if I need this?"

If I go to Porto, Portugal I will need to allow myself several extra days in the Porto itself, as well as visit other locations in Portugal. Flying there will need a time adjustment too, so I will have to go early and stay after the symposium ends. 

I was very lucky to have a great roommate, Mia. We had sketched a few times together in NYC but didn't really know much about each other. By the end of the trip I knew that I had made a good friend. She was not into drama, or complaining, and like me was pretty much able to go with the flow. That is really important! Thanks, Mia, for making things work.

I will have to remember how exhausting the days are when you try to do everything. As much as it was wonderful to do the 4 workshops and watch one demo, I feel like I didn't have enough time to see the city for myself. It would be nice if they had a pass where you could do fewer workshops. But it was hard enough to narrow my choices down to 4 instructors because there were so many good ones. They do offer a Basic Pass which allows you to do sketch walks every day and go to one demo. Many of us were saying that that may be what we will do if we go again...but I know the workshops will be tempting.

This ends my postings about the trip...next I will get back to posting about my normal days. :)

Final Day in Chicago

After the Urban Sketching Symposium a few of us stayed for an additional day. I got up early and went down for breakfast with my roomie before she left for the airport. Then I went down to Dearborn Station which was about 2 blocks from the hotel. 

Before I finished my friends Suzala and Julie joined me.

This area is called Printers Row and the buildings are all quaint. I also did a painting of the Wine Shop while the ladies finished their paintings. I used a bit of the twig painting technique I learned.

 After lunch Julie left us for her flight and Suzala and I headed up to Navy Pier. This is a painting of the only lighthouse in Chicago done from the pier.

Then Suzala and I went up to Riverwalk where we were going to meet Sondrene from Paris and take an architectural boat tour. I had time for a sketch of the DuSable Bridge.

We had a really nice time on the boat tour. 

Of course I sketched a bit on the tour...at least until it got too dark.

The boat tour was a night tour and the scenes were lovely.

It was really a great final day! I regret that we didn't stay a bit longer. There was still quite a bit of Chicago that I would have liked to see.

Ink Sketches from Chicago

In addition to the colored sketches I did in Chicago, I did some sketches just in ink.

This was sketched of the Urban Sketching president, Amber Sausen during her opening remarks at the beginning of the symposium.

Here's how sketchers relaxed at the Hub.

At the start of KK's sketching with twigs workshop I sketched a few of the other artists with my twig while they tested their twigs.

After the closing ceremony a few of us went out for a "drink and draw" at the Exchequer Restaurant and Grill.

Extra Sketches - Part 1

Outside of the classes I was able to do some sketching too. For this one which was done in South Congress Plaza, I used the techniques I learned in the workshop with KK. The twig is fun to use.

Here are my fellow sketchers at work at this location. The contraption with the handle in front of the woman with the blonde, curly hair is Suzala's knee scooter. You can see she has her right foot bandages. She broke it about 2 months ago, and can't walk any great distance.

This sketch was done between workshops. It was a "direct in watercolor" done quickly before I went to have lunch.

This was sketched on Sunday after the symposium was over. Some of us stayed an extra day to be able to sketch things that we weren't able to get to on the symposium days. I believe this is Chicago's only lighthouse sketched from Navy Pier.

Final Sketchwalk

The Urban Sketching Symposium began with an opening sketchwalk and then ended with a final sketchwalk. That was in addition to the sketch walks that were held each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon that were attended by sketchers who didn't have a workshop pass. There were about 575 people who came to Chicago, from 50 different countries. It was so great to be walking along and finding other people with their passes handing around their neck. It was easy to spot us.

The final sketchwalk took place on South Michigan Avenue along the park. There was someone leading it and talking about what we were passing, but I wasn't close enough to hear her and knew I would just rather sketch. So I moved a little ways down the park and found this spot with flowers and two doors. I tried to find out the significance of the doors but had no luck. It was a pretty spot.

Our final meeting place for our group photo was the bronze statue of General John Logan. I sketched there before the photo was taken.

Here is the group photo of everyone. It was amazing to see so many people gathered there together.

That night there was a closing ceremony with music, food, and drinks. Some of us went out afterward to the Exchequer Restaurant and Pub. They were one of the sponsors of the symposium and donated all the food for the closing reception. This was a bit of a "drink and draw."