Urban Sketchers Madison: USK - Madison Meeting at MPL

Last Sunday USK Madison had it first informational meeting among it's members but was also open to the public and one or two people stopped by to see what we were up to. Those of us who went to the annual symposium in Chicago in July discussed our experiences there and some of what we learned at the various excellent workshops we attended. Elsie said she had been in contact with a board member and they said they will be working to make registration easier next year as well as making an effort to be more mindful of and helpful to sketchers with mobility issues. The Drink & Draw events in the evenings were a highlight for some of us and I think we might have those on occasional in Madison, too.

We also discussed places we might go sketching in the future and for the November 11th International Sketchcrawl. I will also be looking into how we post our work on the Urban Sketchers Sketchcrawl site and will share that info with everyone next month. Because there is a home football game with Iowa that day I suggested we go somewhere to the east with our sketchcrawl and because a newer member from earlier in the summer suggested the main street in Sun Prairie might be a good place I will check that out next week. We could avoid football crowds and traffic there.

Several members discussed the importance of USK in their artistic lives and how they feel they have benefited from participating in group sketching and doing more drawing on their own. Everyone agreed regular sketching from life makes for a richer life in general. Some of us brought sketchbooks from our travels this summer which were so much fun to see. Ruth's "maze sketchbook" was really amazing. She's been making one every summer for a few years and capturing great family moments in them. She said it was made out of one 22 x 30 sheet of 140 lb cold press watercolor paper folded and torn so that is makes one accordion like sketchbook. Then she attached it to decorated mat board at the ends for a great looking customized sketchbook. I can't wait to try one for my travels this fall.

I think we enjoyed having a block of time to talk to each other about many sketching related topics while not simultaneously trying to produce sketches. I think it is probably a good idea to have a membership meeting at least annually. So many people had great ideas and great sketches to share and we don't always have time for that when we are working away in our sketchbooks. Thanks to everyone for coming downtown to the meeting and see you all soon. Please feel free to add any comments below!!