Amsterdam - Urban Sketchers Sympoisum 2019

This was my third symposium, and first visit to Europe. I had a great time and it was so awesome!

Amsterdam is such a photogenic city, you can sit anywhere and get a great sketch.

Let the journey to Amsterdam begin. Auckland to Brisbane - and the requisite airport sketch!

Layover at Brisbane airport.

Flying 14 hours from Brisbane to Dubai with Emirates. Luckily the flight wasn't full, and we could spread out over four seats! Even then, there wasn't huge amounts of sleep, so after getting bored with endless movies, I sketched.

Zuiderkerk [South Church] was the hub of the symposium. I think EVERYONE sketched this building. Yes, the lamp post was crooked!
We hit the heat wave this week, and temperatures soared to 40 degrees! Some symposium participants struggled badly and fainted -daily reminders to stay in the shade and hydrate!
600+ registered sketchers from 48 different countries. Plus dozens of unregistered artists joined in to the free Sketch walks each day.

Workshop with Marion Rivolier. Tried to use my markers to approximate the water colour techniques she was teaching.

Workshop with Roisin Cure, goose quill and brown ink - very nice to work with.

Workshop with Eduardo Bajzek. A technique that gives a great moody effect.
Really enjoyed this one, as it bought me back to my roots of pencil work.

Before heading to the symposium workshops each day, I used three cool mornings to complete this sketch of the amazing buildings of Amsterdam. 

As a member of the USK Social media team, I seek out and repost every night to the Instagram account. At the symposium I also did quick interviews of sketchers, which was fun. But in the lead up, we noted that we were approaching 200,000 followers, so we wanted to commemorate this. We sent out a call for involvement #USK200k, then we selected the finalist, and I edited them into a power point to be played at the symposium. It was a fun project, and we got close, but it wasn't until after we got home that we actually hit the 200k mark. Nevermind. I reformatted the presentation into two Instagram videos, and we celebrated from afar.

The silent auction at the final night function -great art donated to fund raise for the USK committee

The final big photo of all 600+ sketchers.
I met up with some awesome old friends, and made some new awesome friends.
So very satisfying on so many levels.

The 2020 symposium was announced for Hong Kong at Easter.. will you be there?!

Following the symposium, I stayed in Amsterdam for another week.

Enjoyed some great food, sight seeing, and more sketching.

And the weather had cooled down to a fabulous 30 degrees!

The unique canal bridges

A visit to the Rijks Museum and the library

A view of Zuiderkerk on  canal bridge

Another canal bridge. I was met by an interested local, who invited me into his 4 story canal house nearby.
It was a great experience to venture into a 400 year old house! He then mentioned I should visit a certain area of Amsterdam for some more sketching...

As recommended - this area of Buiksloterdijk had an amazing array of unique cottages.

While sketching the previous houses,a local resident invited me to sketch his house "The most beautiful in the whole street" He wasn't wrong. And he also invited me inside to see his house. A special day!

A day trip to Haarlem was another sketcher's heaven, but the huge Grote Kerk [Great Church] St Bavo had me sitting for three hours [and a few beers]

No visit to the Netherlands is complete without visiting wind mills. As you can also tell, it was a gloomy and showery day. A big difference from last week's heat wave!

A final sketch from my accommodation's first floor

On the way back to Aotearoa, we stopped for a few days in Singapore - for some sketching and eating!

Lau Pa Sat food court, housed inside an historic building

I joined the Singapore sketchers for a morning session.

AND there you have it. Lots of fun. Amazing experience, Great memories.

USK Singapore 2015

A great time was had by all!
Great to meet and interact with so many talented and like-minded artists from round the world.

Prior to symposium I was traveling through Malaysia for 3 weeks, and post symposium I stayed for a few more days as well - other sketches captured here:  http://erixtuff.blogspot.co.nz/

Sketch walk on Purvis Street, looking towards the National Library

Learning to 'capture the chaos' with tutor Suhita

Inma and Miguel's technique of 'spiral drawing- start in the centre and draw outwards

Narrative of your location with tutors Inma and Miguel

Tutor Lapin showing us how to elongate your lens and  to capture a 180 degree picture

Murray in action

Bynd Artisan workshop - hand stitched our own Italian leather

St Joseph's - I think everyone drew this church next door?!

Final sketch walk - National Museum

Beavers Bar graffiti - I left behind a Dragon

Superb Symposium - Singapore

Nearly 400 sketchers from 36 countries filled the streets of Singapore for three days.  Countries including Bhutan, Israel and Luxembourg.

NZ Expeditionary Force - Dave, Murray, Eric & Scott

(Photo compliments of Eric)

Leaving New Plymouth at a 3C clear dawn

Retro coffee cart at Auckland domestic

'On loan from Middle Earth' - guardian at Auckland International - compliments of Weta

Kiwis souvenirs

We all have a plane pic.  Somewhere over The Red Centre

Temple view out my hotel window.  Icecream sidecar in Temple St

Trishaw before registration

Spotted my first group of sketchers - joined them outside Raffles.  They look very professional with their easels.  They are from Surabaya.

First sketch walk, the 400 are split up and taken in gaggles to different sketchable spots.  We were in Purvis St next to Raffles

Liz Steel's perspective workshop at the Singapore Art Museum - bagging the 'eyeline'

At lunch time we sketch each other

Suhita's capturing chaos - drawing a crowd - down at the flower market in Waterloo St.  I learnt' some new approaches.

Atmospheric water colour demo

Veronica's sketching cookbook - looking at calligraphy, coloured line, marks, shapes and patterns

KK's drawing with a twig.  We sharpened our own sticks, dipped them in a film canister of ink with a pad of gauze within.  Then scribbled the skyline on multiple pages.  The view at the top of the National library from the fly's eye windows was spectacular.  It was here a 'New Paper' online media separated a couple of us out to give a quick interview:New Paper

Asnee, an architect from Thailand took us on an architectural street walk.  In 2009 I bought Asnee's "Architects Sketchbook' book.  This the National Library - he wanted us to draw as we feel it.  I drew the ice-cream cart because it was stinking hot, and I felt like an ice-cream.  Sure enough we were all 'shouted' an ice-cream for our efforts.

These guys guarding the Raffles Hotel entrance had to be sketched.  Sir Stamford Raffles was the founding father of Singapore.  Asnee explained the hotel was once on the waterfront, but it was now a long way away from the sea due to the steady reclamation projects.

Raffles from the South.  Competing concierges from another hotel.

Final sketch crawl

Clarke Quay water taxis, then I got mixed up in the middle of a Special Operations strike by a dozen police pouring out of two ominous - large vans.

Our visit to the Beavers Pub, allowed us to draw anywhere we liked.  Ultimately we had to stand on tables - in this case drawing under a shelf - as customer graffiti was prolific.  Not many pub clients bring their own pens

A tail wind meant only 8 1/2 hrs to Auckland, but it took me a further 24 hrs to get home owing to breakdown, dodgy weather, delays of incoming, hotel fire alarms in the night... But it was all well worth it.  Every sketcher should get to at least one Symposium in their lives.  As it says in early kids stories, we arrived home, 'tired but happy'.