First entry. Thanks for inviting me.
Sketched this with pencil while standing in the surf at Sunshine Beach, Queensland to get the angle up the beach that I wanted. Added the colour wash later…
Sketching the World 2
Hong Kong, for me, is an urban sketcher’s treasure trove. It’s intense urban density is squeezed between sea and mountains. Where centuries old traditional chinese shops sit next to 21st century skyscrapers it is a modern city in an ancient culture.
Chun Yeung Street is a daily street market with a tram running down the middle. 
My wife’s ancestral village gate, now surrounded by the city sketched during an ancestor’s festival.
Lei Yue Mun, some of the freshest seafood dining in Hong Kong. It is a former fishing village with a view of Hong Kong Island across the harbour.
A shop on a slope with goods stacked to the ceiling.
Marching into Spring
by Peter Norman
Hey sketchers. Here is an idea that may help us get to the spring thaw, an activity to keep us busy until the temperatures warm sufficiently that we can stay alive to complete an outdoor sketchwalk. Marc Taro Holmes, a major figure in the international urban sketcher organization, has issued a repeat of last year’s challenge to sketch 100 people in one week. It was tremendously successful last time and I’m sure it will be again. This year’s dates are March 5 – 9.
While it sounds daunting it need not be. The sketches can be as simple or as detailed as you like. The awful picture at the right shows the first few I attempted for last year’s challenge. I realized quite quickly that the sketches deed to be much simpler if I was ever to complete the task. It was great fun and great practice. For information and ideas on the challenge check out Marc’s Citizen Sketcher site here. You can follow the challenge as sketchers post their work and even add your own. Take a look at some of 2017’s results here
I need a locater beacon
by Peter Norman
I’m told that in 2017-18 Calgary has received the most snow ever recorded. That would probably why it has been suggested that we put avalanche warning signs on the snowbanks. This one is in the parking lot behind my office. I approach my vehicle with caution, and very quietly so as not to set off a slide.
This sketch was done in short sessions, ducking out he back door for a few minutes at a time, with frequent dashes to the indoors to thaw my fingers. It takes awhile but it works. Nevertheless, I am looking very forward to spring and more pleasant sketching.
Winter Urban Sketching
Last summer I was able to take advantage of the sunny warm weather and do a series of sketches on the Stephen Avenue mall, some of which are posted below. Last November, I was fortunate enough to be in Hong Kong where the subtropical sun made outdoor daily sketching a pleasure. I shall post and describe those sketches in a another blog.
Back home in Calgary, in the cold and the dark, I wondered if it was possible not to mention practical to do the same in our northern winter. Here is what I found out!
On January 14, the forcast was plus 6 degrees, I grabbed sketchbook, pencils, pens and watercolours and headed to Olympic Plaza. Nothing says urban winter like skating.
On January 30, I was less brave and sought out an indoor yet mostly public and still urban in a sense. Taken from the fourth floor food court where coffee is available.
On February the tenth, my courage returned and I headed over to the old courthouse. At minus four degrees my fingers got cold after 30 minutes and its hard to draw details with gloves on.
Did the water-colour later, at home!
February 13, Chinook conditions, have sketchbook will travel, Stephen Avenue.
My conclusion about winter sketching is that it is quite possible, best above plus 5 degrees. Dress warm, have a hot drink and a seat pad or stool because benches and concrete steps can sap your body heat afer a time. Looking forward to meeting everyone on a future sketchcrawl
Sketch meet up – Feb 10, 2018
This was my first sketching session with the local sketch group in Calgary. Here are few sketches from our session. We met at the cafe at Indigo bookstore in Dalhousie station. It was a busy morning and the cafe was packed. We managed to find a small table for the group, overlooking stacks of books. 
Sketching the World
Vietnam was a pleasant surprise! I began only 2 years ago to carry my sketchbook with me when I travel so while on a rather intense tour of Vietnam last October I was ready when we had free time to make a visual record of our visit.
The first sketch is of an historic storefront in Hoi An Ancient Town across from which is a comfortable coffee shop serving that delicious thick Vietnamese coffee.
This one was sketched from another coffee shop ( my favourite condition for sketching ) in Ho Chi Minh City.
I started this one on the street trying to capture the vendor ladies but finished it later from my photos. The bustle of the street life, the colours and diversity were a challenge to capture.
Hidden In Plain Sight
I have often found Calgary to be a city which is very underestimated in its beauty. Living at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, it’s easy for it to be overshadowed by the majestic natural vistas that abound just an hour away from the bustling city. But if you’re willing to take the time and explore, there are countless beautiful urban scenery and details to be discovered right in our own backyard. I wanted to share some of my favourite sketches of my home from the past few years.
The first is the view from my old desk at work towards the Bow Valley Square buildings, downtown. Each of the four highrises in the building are situated on a corner of one city block, so from my vantage from the 12th floor across the street, it always seemed like looking out through a tunnel.
I confess that this next one was done from a photo, but it was such a chilly day! I caught this shot over lunch in Chinatown, with everyone rushing to get indoors.
Winter sketching outdoors is actually enabled every few weeks when the warm chinook winds blow in! This was finished over couple days during a particularly warm January.
Magnificent Stephen Avenue
by Rod Zillman
The pedestrian promenade that stretches for several blocks in Calgary’s downtown core provides ample opportunity to the urban sketcher who wants to sit at a local cafe enjoying a cappuccino, or grab a seat on one of the many benches and sketch any or all the numerous classic buildings that adorn the strip.
