Amsterdam - Part 6

27th July? At this stage, I'm starting to lose track of time. But it's the last day of the Symposium already. So the day goes like this: workshop, good lunch because you don't know what time it will be before you have dinner, final sketchwalk (where I bump into lots of people I didn't see all week - Amsterdam is bigger than Porto), group photo, Closing Ceremony (where I get to chat to lots more people!), Announcement of the next Symposium Host City, and then it's time to go home (except this year I booked an extra day, so I don't have to pack my suitcases just yet!).

My third and final workshop was with Veronica Lawlor, an artist and illustrator I have been following for a number of years. I did one of her courses on SketchbookSkool, A Drawing A Day. Another wonderfully generous instructor - she assigned us short challenges, all in thumbnails, which made it quite manageable to take in all the information. And when she realised I was doing my best to avoid sketching people, she gave me a special assignment: do lots of thumbnails with people. She even showed me how to sketch necks and chins!

You can see in the pages below the progression from thumbnailing everything to finding something of interest and sketching it from different angles and points of view, before moving to your final large thumbnail where you bring various elements together. In the last piece, you can add colour, textures, detail. And yes, the windows of the University building had taken on the Pride rainbow colours as a celebration of Pride Week.

Then after a big lunch (Italian salad, pizza), I set off for the final sketchwalk, where I continued to practise thumbnails and people. Great opportunity for practising my new skills, as there was sketchers everywhere!

I couldn't find my friends for the group photo, nearly got included in the French group photo - they were quite happy to have me in. Then it was a long walk to the Muziekgebouw (Concert Hall) where the closing ceremony was held. It was a bit messy in that there was a public space and a private space, and these things can take a long time. But I did win a prize in the raffle draw (which included some White Nights watercolours and a lot of HB pencils (4 boxes of 10 actually - given that I am an ink and watercolour person, that's probably a lifetime supply)). I didn't buy anything at the silent auction - the queue was simply taking too long. But I did get to talk to lots of people, which is a big part of the Symposium experience for me! It was after 9 pm before we got something to eat (a delicious burger at the Majestic on Dam square).

And yes, next year's Symposium will be held in Hong Kong!