Happy Belated 30th International Sketchcrawl Day! I hope you had a sketchful day. Here’s what we got up to in Sheffield:

First stop (after stocking up on supplies at Blackwells over the road), Sheffield Central Library, an Art Deco delight. After I’d spent the week reading about the Wiener Werkstatte, it seemed apt:

All that architectural detail of the facade wasn’t working for me in pen or pencil, so I looked the other way. Only nearly got trampled on a couple of times: 
It was a flippin’ cold day, let me tell you. After 20 mins I’d had enough (although I sort of liked the wobbly effect my shivering hands gave my drawing!) so went indoors to find everyone else sketching in the foyer:

Then, after lunch, on to The Cathedral Church of St. Marie on Norfolk Row, very quiet – lovely! Can you spot Lynne sketching in this one?

Plenty of interesting doors here:

Stained glass is difficult to draw:

Finally, to the pub for debriefing! Some brilliant work produced – go and see Lynne’s picture gallery to see what everyone else got up to!
x

Cold day started with a vanilla latte at Starbucks on Devonshire Street and turnout was excellent considering the lingering snow and flipping freezing temperatures. I was immediately concerned I’d not applied enough layers but luckily, apart from walking between venues, we remained inside for most of the day.

I drew a car! I can’t draw cars.

A hop over the road to the Forum cafe. The soup special was cream of tomato and there was a be-hatted man behind the bar.

After I’d collected Dad from outside the Forum where he was sketching on Devonshire Green (mad), we had a quick half hour sketch inside the City Hall foyer – the ceiling is beautiful but too hard to draw ;)

Can you spot Michael, Martin and Bryn? This is shortly beofre we got kicked out for being ROWDY (joking: see Lynne’s blog).

After lunch and chat at Bank Street Arts, we moved up to the Cathedral. You might be able to see the silhouette of my Dad sketching in the chapel in the distance, and a lady lighting a candle in front of the statue of M, J & the baby J.

Some sort of angel/crusader and flags. Lots o’ flags.

Then onto the Grapes for a beverage and de-brief. Managed not to take ANY photos again (gah!), but hopefully Lynne will collect any that were taken over at the Flickr group or on her picture gallery blog :)

The First Sheffield Sketchcrawl went so well last month that Lynne organised us another day out to coincide with the 29th International Sketchcrawl Day on Saturday 16th October at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield.

I don’t know what the official figures are, but turnout seemed at least as good as, if not better than the first crawl. Dad and I arrived at 10.15am to find a gaggle of sketchers chatting over coffee at the museum cafe. This time many of the faces were familiar which was a good feeling, and it was great to catch up with what artistic endeavours they’ve been inspired into since last time!

Lynne had managed to secure us a lockable room to dump our many layers of outdoor clothing (on the special horseshoe of chairs that had been laid out, not near the tables! *slaps wrists*) before we dispersed into the museum’s galleries – most of us opting to mill around the ‘What on Earth!’ room (the one with all the stuffed animals), and most of us drawing the Woolly Rhino at least once.

My Dad and Jane had both brought their iPads so there was a lot of interest in what they were up to! Jane produced some lovely sketches of the rhino (see them on her Flickr stream here) and shared her tips on which apps give the best results.

After lunch we ventured out into Weston Park proper, and immediately got stranded under various trees, shelters and against the museum buildings as the heavens opened! Unwilling to risk getting soaked through, I opted to head back to the shelter of the building while Dad positioned himself right out in the open to sketch the opposite direction. You can (perhaps, how good is your eyesight?) see Dad as the small seated figure in my sketch. You can see my Dad’s work over on his blog, here.

An hour or so later everyone (except Dad, who wasn’t giving up) was wet or freezing cold or both, and had started to congregate back inside the museum, so we spent another half hour sketching more of the exhibits to warm up before heading off to the pub to have a nosey into each other’s sketchbooks and have another play with the iPads.

I’m finding it really interesting seeing how other people work, and the different results. Also saw a waterbrush in real life (I’ve wanted one since seeing one on the DVD extras of ‘Up’ where they’d sent the animators off up a mountain in South America to do some proper sketching – well worth a watch!) so thanks to Ellie’s Mum (whose sketches were also very absolutely beautiful by the way) I am now the proud owner of one. Okay, two.

This one is made by Pentel, has medium sized tip, and is the only type I could find in Sheffield. I was trying to avoid buying one online, but seems I may have to if I want other makes/sizes! Anyway, from the brief play with it I have had so far, I can really recommend it. Just looking forward to taking it out and about now to try it out properly!

You can see the rest of my sketches and photos from the day on my Flickr stream here.

From Ringinglow Road at Hathersage end, I think this is Over Owler Tor on the left and Millstone Edge to the right. Correct me if I’m wrong.

This is a sketch I did on Saturday afternoon to check I could still draw for Sunday! I wanted to include a lot more of the landscape to the right, but I just couldn’t draw any smaller. I had chosen this A6/portrait sketchbook on purpose, to be small enough to fit in my bag and also small enough to hide what I was doing when sketching out and about as I am really self-conscious. This worked brilliantly on Sunday but not so much from the safety of my car – funny how my scale increases with confidence?!

The kestrel was really hovering just there at that moment.

Pencil and watercolour pencil

Spent yesterday out with about twenty other people wielding sketchbooks on Sheffield’s first ever sketchcrawl, organised by the amazing Lynne Chapman and Tim Rose.

I was slightly terrified at first as I haven’t really drawn in front of anyone for about ten years and we were clearly amongst some extremely gifted and accomplished artists, but luckily there were a few other people were in the same boat and the pressure soon lifted.

All brilliant fun and am looking forward to the next Global Sketchcrawl on 16th October! :D

 

Lynne’s Blog
Sketchcrawl Site
Drawings from fellow sketchers on Lynne’s Picture Blog