The Urban Sketchers' Symposium is an annual event that brings together sketchers and artists from around the world to celebrate the art of urban sketching. This year's symposium was held in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, from Wednesday 19th to Saturday 22nd April 2023, and it was sold out with 450 attendees.
The 11th International Urban Sketchers Symposium in Auckland, New Zealand
“Hundreds of urban sketchers will come together in Auckland ... in what could be the single biggest gathering of artists ever seen in Aotearoa.”
A city in your pocket article by Alister Whelan from Stuff online
The event included workshops, lectures, and sketch-walk sessions held in various locations around Auckland. Attendees had the opportunity to learn from some of the best urban sketchers in the world.
I was humbled to receive a Symposium Scholarship which meant I could attend three workshops, any lectures or demonstrations, as well as the reception evening on the last night. Thank you so much to the organisers for their generosity.
The workshops I attended were run by Marina Grechanik, Delphine Priollaud-Stoclet, and Angir Sudarman, respectively.
Marina Grechanik is an Israeli artist who is known for her colorful and expressive urban sketches. She ran a workshop on drawing people, capturing their motion, and being fearless in the pursuit of expressive sketching. It was a wonderful and challenging workshop. She gave us all individual attention and direction as we sketched the passers-by in downtown Auckland. Learn more about Marina by reading her blog and following her socials.
Delphine Priollaud-Stoclet is a French artist who hosted our workshop about using existing features in our vista to create frames within our work. These frames can be used to draw a viewer’s attention, emphasise part of our work, and tell the story we want to tell. I learned so much - and even though I think I was “kind of” using these techiques, only I know were the “frames” in my artwork was so - might just be a bit more intentional and obvious from now on. Learn more about Delphine’s work.
Sudarman (Darman) Angir is an Indonesian artist who specialises in sketching buildings and architectural details. He ran a workshop on using wet-on-wet techniques to paint moody underpainting to our sketches. It was a humid day in Auckland for his workshop so our paint took a long time to dry, but he encouraged us to go in with other media such as charcoal, watercolour pencils etc to work in details as it dried. Check out Darman’s work on Instagram.
The symposium was an invaluable opportunity for attendees to meet other sketchers from around the world, share their experiences, and learn new techniques and approaches to urban sketching. I honestly spent most of my time talking and listening to other people — they were all so interesting.
It was also a chance to explore and capture the beauty and diversity of Auckland's urban environments. We have a very sketchable city!
If you missed out on this year's symposium, don't worry – the next Urban Sketchers' Symposium is already planned to take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October 2024.
Keep an eye on the Urban Sketchers' website for more information about how you can become involved, and where your local chapter might be sketching next.
