(This was more than three weeks ago - that's how far behind I am on catching up with the blog!)
We haven't had an Urban Sketchers Symposium since Amsterdam, July 2019, was it? So when the opportunity came to go to Lille for the Urban Sketchers France gathering, I had to seize it!
A few of us from Dublin decided to go and we had a ball. The weather was a welcome change from Dublin. Apart from one day with rain, we had gorgeous sunshine and warm temperatures. I had forgotten how good it feels to sit on a street corner and sketch, without the need for coat, woolly hats mittens, umbrella, etc.
The sketchbook I used the whole time is a Clairefontaine, watercolour rough, 180gsm, 20.5x16cm. I wasn't sure it was going to work for me, as I normally sketch in an A4 sketchbook, but I wanted something portable and versatile and I have to say it worked out well. I am planning to order another one!
I did tests with watercolour and pens and pencils on the first two pages and felt it didn't buckle, that the colours were true to the pigments, and also, it was smooth enough for the pen to glide. The only thing to be aware of is that the recto and verso have a different grain, one is smoother than the other. Which would be really annoying if you were doing a delicate watercolour. But the way I sketch, it really doesn't matter.
Everything went well with our travel. We had to get up at 2:30 am to be sure to make our 6:30 am flight. The airport was busy, and we queued 50 minutes to get through security. But the airport management had messed up so badly the previous weekend, with huge delays and people missing their flights, that they had brought in extra staff and contractors to address the issues. There was a luggage handler strike in Brussels when we landed, but it only delayed my suitcase by half an hour. We had allowed plenty of time to get to the TGV (French fast train) at the Bruxelles Midi station. So we even had time to sit outside, enjoy the sunshine and eat some frites.
We got to Lille around 2pm. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we joined Pat, who had arrived a day earlier. He'd already done 9 sketches, and I felt the pressure, so I picked up my pencils and got to work! Café terraces are something that is so French. And even in Northern France, they have the weather for it, in the summer at least. Perfect setup to sketch people!
Lille is a beautiful city, so many interesting buildings. I was told it was the most Flemish of French cities but the Place Charles de Gaulle is very French. To my eyes at least. And when the late afternoon sun hits that yellow stone, it's magic!
More people sketching, actually the same woman twice. She switched with her husband, so I've got his teeshirt and her head. And a sun symbol in the building behind her.
The sketches without the text so you can have a better look.
And a few photos from our travels (masks are no longer compulsory for travel around Europe, but we decided to play it safe!)
Look at that sunshine! Even when the sun shines here in Ireland, it's a completely different light! I want to go back already!
No comments:
Post a Comment