Urban Sketchers

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Urban Sketchers (USk) are a global community of artists who draw the cities, towns and villages in which they live or to which they travel. Her drawings represent a kind of visual journalism that shows life as the artists see it happening before their eyes.

The Urban Sketchers movement was launched in 2007 in Seattle (USA) by Gabriel Campanario and now includes thousands of artists from all over the world. The “Urban Sketchers Manifesto” has been translated into numerous languages ​​and represents a connecting orientation for the loose network of local, regional and national urban sketching communities.

The USk motto is “We show the world, one drawing at a time!” (“We show the world, drawing for drawing!”). This simple central idea drives the Urban Sketchers project to draw the world and to share the work created in this context and the associated activities via blogs and social networks. The movement is integrative, whether professional artist or avid amateur, regardless of ability, everyone is welcome.

history

Urban Sketchers started in 2007 as a group on Flickr , an online photo platform. Founder Gabriel Campanario is a Seattle based Spanish journalist and illustrator . He works as an artist and journalist for both the print and blogs of The Seattle Times newspaper . As more and more artists began to share their work on the web, Campanario founded a group to promote journalistic drawing, which shows real life as it happens every day in the artist's environment.

A year later, in 2008, Campanario started the Urban Sketchers Blog. Participation in the blog is by invitation and is limited to 100 subscribers. The term Urban Sketchers correspondent was coined. The correspondents are invited by Campanario and undertake to regularly show journalistic drawings on the blog. These drawings are supplemented by texts that explain the background of the drawing and how it was created.

The Urban Sketchers blog has been gaining popularity continuously since 2008 and initially attracted hundreds and soon thousands of visitors every day. 100 talented blog correspondents publish a variety of drawings that make the blog content current and attractive to readers. Visitors and readers can virtually travel around the globe and see the world through the eyes of Urban Sketchers.

Urban Sketchers depicts events from everyday life, scenes from big cities, small towns and rural areas. Buildings, people, parks, markets, planes, trains and cars, shops, cafés, everything that can be observed finds its way into the sketchbooks of Urban Sketchers. True to their journalistic standards, the artists create a visual chronicle of their lives. The draftsmen use a wide variety of drawing techniques and materials. These range from simple pencil and ink drawings to various watercolor techniques and the use of digital media on cell phones and tablets . Urban Sketchers use any material for their work and share their knowledge of methods and materials freely and generously in the spirit of the manifesto.

Thousands of illustrators from all over the world come into contact with one another via various social networks: via Facebook , Twitter , Flickr or blogging . Many do not have a common language, but can easily communicate using visual representations. In addition to the original blog with its 100 correspondents, the cartoonists founded further regional blogs, Facebook and Flickr groups, each with a content and local focus. The spirit of camaraderie and sharing with which Campanario started the group remains strong. Wherever a draftsman travels, he or she can contact the local artist and find himself - literally - surrounded overnight by like-minded friends that he or she only knew virtually.

In December 2009, Campanario established Urban Sketchers as a non-profit organization . A governing body was elected. The task of the organization is to increase the artistic, narrative and educational value of on-site drawing while promoting its practice and bringing people from all over the world who practice this type of drawing into contact with one another.

The Urban Sketchers Manifesto

  1. We draw on site, inside or outside, after direct observation.
  2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places where we live or where we travel.
  3. Our drawings are a record of the time and place.
  4. We truly testify to our environment.
  5. We use all kinds of media.
  6. We support each other and draw together.
  7. We publish our drawings online.
  8. We show the world, drawing by drawing.

The activities of Urban Sketchers

Urban Sketchers are usually diverse groups of people, they cannot be assigned to any single category. There are architects , artists , graphic designers , teachers , students , retirees , computer specialists, musicians and writers , with and without training in the arts. The only common trait is their passion for drawing, an activity that is barely influenced by technological change, requires no marketing, requires few rules and opens up countless possibilities.

The list of materials and equipment used by the draftsman varies from person to person. It can only contain a sketchbook and a pencil, or it can be a full set of outdoor equipment with a field easel . The usual equipment already fits in a smaller bag or backpack. Many draftsmen prefer to be mobile, they draw standing or sitting, park benches or steps are welcome opportunities to relax from standing drawing. Some draftsmen carry a folding stool with them so that they can settle down in any place that promises an interesting sketch.

Tools and materials are often discussed enthusiastically when draftsmen meet in real life or virtually. The nature and quality of the drawing paper arouses great interest, as does different types of sketchbooks, fountain pens , inks and inks , watercolors , etc. Since the draftsmen usually work under any conditions that the local climate offers on any given day, the materials should be adapted to this challenge and at the same time transportable. Conditions can make it necessary to sit on the ground, hike in nature, visit a place of worship, or be exposed to the elements for long periods of time.

The Urban Sketchers communities

Numerous regional communities have formed under the umbrella of Urban Sketchers. Correspondents from the international blog and the Flickr group have called together local artists to form local groups. Other drawing group organizers have reassembled them under the Urban Sketchers umbrella. Urban Sketchers Germany, Urban Sketchers Berlin, Urban Sketchers Switzerland, Urban Sketchers Vienna etc. were founded and have attracted dozens of illustrators. Urban Sketchers Singapore, for example, has hundreds of members.

Regional groups function similarly to the main international group. Almost all of them take the view of the Urban Sketcher Manifesto as the main guideline, while each group cultivates its local and cultural individuality. Many groups have their own blogs, which correspondents are invited to contribute according to local criteria, as well as Facebook and Flickr groups that are open to everyone.

In Germany there have so far been five gatherings of one hundred or more urban sketchers from all over the country: 2015 in Darmstadt , 2016 in Munich , 2017 in Eutin , 2018 in Hamburg and 2019 in Augsburg . The process was similar to that of the international symposia. For three days, illustrators, organizers, photographers and volunteers met to experience things together.

The symposium

Urban Sketchers organizes the symposia as part of its goal of promoting on-site drawing and networking drafters around the world. These are sociable gatherings of participants where they draw together over a period of three days, attend numerous workshops, participate in panel discussions, listen to lectures, get to know each other personally and also draw each other.

International Urban Sketchers Symposia  Map with all linked pages: OSM | WikiMap
f1Georeferencing
symposium date place country
1st International Urban Sketchers Symposium July 29th to 31st, 2010 Portland, Oregon United States
2nd International Urban Sketchers Symposium July 21-23, 2011 Lisbon Portugal
3rd International Urban Sketchers Symposium July 12-14, 2012 Santo Domingo Dominican Republic
4th International Urban Sketchers Symposium July 11-13, 2013 Barcelona Spain
5th International Urban Sketchers Symposium August 27-30, 2014 Paraty Brazil
6th International Urban Sketchers Symposium July 22nd to 25th, 2015 Singapore Singapore
7th International Urban Sketchers Symposium July 27-30, 2016 Manchester United Kingdom
8th International Urban Sketchers Symposium July 26-29, 2017 Chicago United States
9th International Urban Sketchers Symposium July 18-21, 2018 postage Portugal
10th International Urban Sketchers Symposium July 24th to 27th, 2019 Amsterdam Netherlands
11th International Urban Sketchers Symposium called off Hong Kong China

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Urban Sketchers Flickr Group , accessed February 6, 2013.
  2. ^ Urban Sketchers Manifesto , accessed April 23, 2018.
  3. ↑ Berliner Zeitung : Urban Sketchers: Raue Stadt ,very tender , December 29, 2012
  4. ^ Urban Sketchers 1st International Symposium 2010 - Portland , accessed February 6, 2013.
  5. ^ Urban Sketchers 2nd International Symposium 2011 - Lisboa , accessed on February 6, 2013.
  6. ^ Urban Sketchers 3rd International Symposium 2012 - Santo Domingo , accessed February 6, 2013.
  7. ^ Urban Sketchers 4th International Symposium 2013 - Barcelona , accessed February 6, 2013.