Calgary Urban Sketchers

Saturday, June 6 – 11:00 to 13:00

Our first adventure out since March.  It will be nice to sketch as a group again 🙂

https://www.sait.ca/alumni/alumni-news/2016-1-19-heritage-hall

Arrival: When you arrive find a spot that is 2 meters (approx length of a bicycle) from another sketcher and start sketching.

Inclement weather: Event will be cancelled and rescheduled on June 20.  Website and Facebook will be updated.

Please stay home if you feel unwell, uncomfortable or are exhibiting any symptoms. https://www.alberta.ca/guidance-on-outdoor-activities.aspx

1921 Jan 18 construction began.  Heritage Hall was unique in its design for Calgary in the early 1920’s.  Its classic Collegiate Gothic look, featuring twin towers with parapets, gothic arches, and gargoyle stoneworkings, was distinctive.

Last month, at the peak of the stayhome era, I went through our travel photos, nostalgically, and found some scenes to re-create as well as to do some watercolour practice.

Anna in that beautiful village!

Ah Vicenza!!!! With more time I might have sketched this scene.

Kyoto had so much beauty!

This was my favourite,  a Sunday morning in Tokyo!

April was a bit cool but I managed to sneak in two Calgary sketches.

We shall meet together again….soon!

Rod

Admittedly not directly relevant to urban sketching, but just in case self-isolating is starting to get a little monotonous, there is a free Strathmore workshop starting on May 4. It is called “Drawing portraits” and can be found at http://www.strathmoreartiststudio.com

The actual site address begins with “https://” but WordPress didn’t add the “s” and you can ignore the “&#8221”

Signing up is optional, but is required if you want to post your work to their site as you follow along.

There is another workshop called “Creative watercoloring” coming up in September, but hopefully we’ll be back to normal by then.

Looking back six months ago, it is catastrophic how much the world has changed and how much we took for granted.

These are my sketches in and around Venice.

Sitting anywhere but the cafés was not permitted so I sketched quickly and coloured up later.

Vicenza is a small city full of Palladian Architecture, and a delightful square where you can sit and sip Spritzers while you sketch!

Every house in Murano ( a traditional fishing town near Venice ) is washed in a distinctive colour. A watercolourist’s delight.

It was a wonderful view and an enduring memory.

Rod

Last October we visited Ontario and I was able to sketch three buildings, one in Toronto, a second in Waterloo and a third in Kitchener, my home town.

The Gooderham building is an iconic flatiron landmark inToronto.

The post office building is seen duplicated throughout the small cities and towns of southern Ontario clad in stone or brick or as here in combinations of both.

The Market Square building sits on the site of the old Farmer’s Market where as a kid my family would shop for fresh produce and summer sausage from the Amish farmers and their horse and buggy wagons.

Last October on a visit to Toronto I noticed these urban sketches framed and mounted and on display in the subway cars. Maybe, when the world returns to normal we can approach Calgary Transit about doing the same thing.

Rod