Symposium at Barcelona - Workshops

Urban Sketchers are meeting each other as every year. This one is for Barcelona, Go ! (Thanks a lot to Swasky and his team for the organisation, bravo!)

We're about 300 drawing the city. There are also workshops with great artists from all around the world. I help as translator for Veronica Lawlor's one (New York drawing teacher). To sum-up her workshop, she says : "just play !"

We'll draw in front of Gaudi's blue house and other buildings. Wow, they don't really match with each other, that's why this corner is so-called la discordia. For each building one drawing, with a different style, no need to be realistic. Madre mia!  

Let's use the parallel fountain pen which is all happy coincidences in the drawings ! Workshops are also a great moment to meet sketchers and speak about styles. For example Celia Burgos plays with black ink and bleach. Awesome !

During the afternoon, it rains (quite a lot !) but we don't mind. We might be the only workshop happy about it : something more to play with ! All the tourists run away while we laugh at the natural splashes we get from the sky. Let's try my new pentel color brushes...  

There are workshops during three days. In the morning I stroll about Barcelona's labyrinths to join the sketchers. Every morning the same scene : and the best part is "Good night darling, you'd like a beer ?" when it's 8 am. "Well, no thanks, not tonight !"

Coffee always at the same place too, a good way to feel home while travelling. I enjoy making me a little family around the world ! And here again the same scene every morning : baguettes gently cooking, the waitress smiling, the woman having brandy. 

Vamos, let's go ! 2 more workshops to do, astonishing (and also splashing !)

First one with Shari Blaukopf from Canada (and Vincent Desplanche, 2 great aquarellists). Big constraint : only 3 primary colours, from tubes, making first thumbnail value drawings. You've got 3 hours. Well, I'll change for tubes soon, colours are full of pigments, miam miam !

Second one with Paul and Tia from Singapour : pour coffee in your sketchbook, spread it out with your credit card, do your sketch's hair done (let's grab the hotel's comb). A bit of salt, some chinese ink lines with the chinese stick, splash watercolour with a teethbrush (let's grab it too !)... It's like a trip to childhood, without thinking (too much)... 

Wow, someone doesn't know how to draw anymore, it's rushing out !

Above all if someone's had some vermouth...

Little by little, someone's head comes back...