Sketch Your World

For my dad it was always cigars before he gave them up. Then stem gingers became the default present for birthdays and Christmases. Happily for me – since I started drawing last year – the latest sketching book comes my way on these occasions. I just have to drop a hint as to which one and my partner and children are happy to oblige. Problem solved.

James Hobbs’ Sketch Your World was on my wish list for my latest birthday and, some months later, it still has prime spot on my bedside table. I am still unearthing nuggets of creative wisdom.

Like our very own Simone and Caroline, James is a correspondent on the Urban Sketching main site where he’s described as a freelance journalist and artist. He’s a former editor of Artists & Illustrators Magazine and has been shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize.

I’ve admired his work for some time. One evening some months ago I even took my Sharpie marker and tried unsuccessfully to emulate his distinctive style. Not even close, but that’s how you learn, right?

James’ book works on so many levels: there’s basic stuff about pens and sketchbooks, as well as profiles from a range of contributors all with words of wisdom and encouragement. James writes about everything from learning to look, to how to make your own sketchbook; there’s chapters on architecture and reportage, people and nature.

As you might expect from someone who combines ‘new’ technology with his hand-drawn sketches, there’s a section on digital tools. ‘Drawing’ on the phone or tablet is not for me just yet. So much of my professional time is in front of a screen I really don’t want to spend precious leisure time doing the same. Besides, I’m enjoying the very basics of making marks on paper. Maybe it’s a bit like the Kindle versus the smell-and-the-feel of-a-real-book debate.

Increasingly relevant to me is when James talks about time. ‘How long have you got?’ he asks. And it’s so true. I think a lot of people use a lack of time as their excuse for not drawing. And yet it is easy enough to find five or ten minutes even on the busiest of days. I have a couple of books on the go: a small one for the ‘quickie’ on the bus or train and a larger version for the more considered attempt. Actually I’ve lately taken to dividing a page in the larger book into smaller squares which does the trick too.

One of the contributors, university lecturer, Steve Wilkin talks about keeping up with his drawing by sketching his fellow train passengers on his daily commute: “In all the years I’ve been doing it, nobody has ever come over and asked me to stop,” he says. That’s good to know. His portraits are wonderful and Steve offers encouragement and advises us all to just keep doing it... we will improve. That’s good to know, too!

This book hits the spot again and again for me. It inspires you to keep going, keep looking, try new techniques and it sets you off investigating established sketchers. Better than stem gingers any day.


Sketch Your World by James Hobbs

View on Amazon here and buy online here.

Urban Sketchers Manchester draw at Chorlton's Big Green Happening

Urban Sketchers Manchester were invited to sketch at the 'Big Green Happening' festival in Manchester yesterday. It was at St Clement's church, which is in Chorlton - a leafy cosmopolitan south Manchester suburb, and the event was about promoting sustainability and a greener way of life. Lots of really interesting eco-businness in attendance including quirky craft stalls, delicatessens, vegan food, craft beer, organic wines, bicycle repairs and ethical fashion…and as the website says the event was promoting...'campaigners, makers, doers, growers, educators and builders'. It was a really friendly family orientated event...how nice on a lovely spring afternoon which was perfect urban sketching weather! 

Here's my drawing from the afternoon (too much talking...much of it about urban sketching rather than drawing in my case!) and also a photograph of us with our finished drawings in the sunshine.

Welcome to Urban Sketchers Manchester

Welcome to our Urban Sketchers Manchester blog. Here you will find information about us and our events, the next of which is at Chorlton's Big Green Happening at St Clement's Church, Edge Lane, Chorlton on Saturday 26th April. Meet us outside the church at 2pm. All welcome, no experience necessary, just bring drawing materials. We'll be refining the blog over the next few weeks so please bear with us until we're completely up and running. In the meantime if you wish to contact us please email urbansketchersmanchester@outlook.com

Sketching the BBC Philharmonic.

Caroline had allowed her collage/drawing of Ordsall Hall to be used by the BBC Philharmonic for a poster and flyer of their upcoming local events, and so in return she has permission to spend a couple of days drawing the BBC  Philharmonic Orchestra in rehearsal, at their home in Media City, Salford. I'm her plus one.
For those who haven't attended a performance, the studio is a tall, cavernous white space, large enough to hold  60+ musicians comfortably, with a bank of seating for a small audience. The orchestra are in rehearsal, so the atmosphere and clothing is informal, although there is a tangible sense of  their professionalism and concentration in the air. The conductor, a flamboyant Italian, is an old friend of the orchestra and popular with the musicians. There are fascinating hierarchies at work. Rehearsals begin with short passages, instructions to sub groups flying in a mixture of English and musical Italian.
To begin with we draw from the seating, self consciously nervous of dropping pencils or making loud noises with our paper, but welcoming smiles from the musicians put us at ease. In a break, a kindly violinist, who we've met before, takes us for a tea in the band room, and on a lightning trip in the lift to the top of the building. We look down on the new Coronation Street set, now visible across the Ship Canal. Despite my fear of heights, this would be a great place to sketch from!
Time passes too quickly, and the first day's efforts don't feel like anything special. There is such a clutter of chairs, coats, music stands and instruments that it feels difficult to focus.
On the second day we're aware of the public queuing for recordings of the Jeremy Kyle show in an adjoining studio- from the sublime to the ridiculous! Working on larger paper helps, with the confidence to add some colour, and I move down nearer the double bass players for a different perspective, the power of the music is overwhelming. Yesterday Strauss, today Tchaikovsky.
The musicians make kind comments about our work, and recognise each other in our sketches. I feel that a week or more would be needed to get to grips with such a wonderful subject, and we hope to return at some point.

Alastair Price.