USK February Meetup at Olbrich Gardens

It was certainly cold outside on Sunday, but warm inside Olbrich Gardens on the east side of Madison, Wisconsin. Seven sketchers happily took advantage and produced some interesting sketches.

Dave, Becky and Jeanie joined us for the first time - please come back!

We all remarked about the variety of what we saw....

Everyone but me smartly went into the observatory, I stayed out in the common area. I had decided to contrast my frozen deck that morning with the plant I found by the bench I was sitting on.

Next up, Starbucks in Target on the Westside at Hilldale. The advantage is, you can pick up your groceries after you're done sketching!
Stay tuned for more events as we begin to think of warmer weather...outside again.
Stay creative,
Ruth

Urban Sketchers News for February: Drawing Attention

Here's the link for the monthly news for Urban Sketchers.  The format was changed a couple months ago and can be read online as a magazine.  Very cool.  And there is a segment from NBC Nightly News featuring a USK group in Syracuse, NY.    www.urbansketchers.org/2018/01/drawing-attention-february-2018.html

Sketchers Abound at the Memorial Union

Such a great way to start a weekend, a good sized group of sketchers doing what they do best; sharing tools, enthusiasm, and sketching.

I decided to stay at our meet-up spot in Peets Coffee with Mercedes and Mary, but many went off in different directions. The weather was lovely (it's hard to keep track of that in WI this winter). We reconvened as usual for photos and examining our sketchbooks together.

we had to have two photos of sketchbooks, we had such a good showing!

great place to sketch at Peet's Coffee...not to mention good coffee

Stillman and Birns sketchbook, micron  pen and watercolor

Continue to check both our blog and our Facebook page for updates....and if you ever have any great new ideas for sketch meet-ups let us know, we'd love to hear from you.

Happy Sketching
Ruth

Next Sketching Date: Saturday January 27th - Memorial Union

We will meet this Saturday from 10 am to noon at the Memorial Union for sketching.  Meet just inside the main entrance (outside Peets Coffee).  We usually spread out a bit but if you come late just look around and you are sure to find a sketcher at work.

As always we draw what we are seeing around us with the art supplies of our choice.  Below is an old ink and watercolor sketch of mine of a student studying and a frozen Lake Mendota.

Lake Mendota from Memorial Union winter 2012

A Few More Photos from the Chocolaterian on Jan. 14th

Front row left to right: Ben, Ruth, Mike, Mercedes
Back row left to right:  Joel, Gretchen, Louise, Pam

Sarah shooting her cocoa

Left to right: Carolyn, Tsela, Deborah, Linda

Deborah, Linda and Cindy

Waiting for my tune up at Smart Motors

A small sketch to start the weekend. With the warmer weather maybe I'll venture outside to sketch.

Article by Madison Sketcher

Madison sketcher, Vivien Ahrens, had an excellent article about Urban Sketchers published in December on the website Emergent Art Space.  http://emergentartspace.org/forum/50746/  We met Vivien in November when she came to our Sun Prairie Sketchcrawl.  She is from Germany and has sketched with USK groups in Europe and the US.  We are happy to have her in our Madison group!! 

Vivien and Carol at the Sketchcrawl lunch

Sunday January 14, 2018 - Chocolaterian Cafe - Middleton

We had a record number of sketchers today (19) including 3 new sketchers who were most welcome.  The food was great and the staff welcoming and kind enough to take this picture of the group. 

And we now have a Facebook page where we can post photos of people, places and sketches.  Our upcoming events will be posted on Facebook under the Event tab as well as on our Event Calendar on this blog.  The link to our Facebook page is:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/946377982180736/

This link can also be found on our blog under "How to Participate").

Thanks to everyone who came out today to share their sketches and got 2018 off to a great start for USK Madison!!  We will add a another sketch date for January soon and will meet at Olbrich Gardens on Feb. 11th.  Keep warm and keep sketching!!

Great turnout on a cold winter's day!

Cabin Fever

I didn't do near the sketching I had hoped to do this holiday, but one day after the New Year while my daughter was visiting me we declared a state of Cabin Fever and planned an outing. One important part of the trip was a stop at The Shoe Box. I think I should go back there when its warmer to draw it, it's quite the place.
But of course first we had to have lunch.

La Mexicana on Water St. in Saulk City WI

This is the view from the inside as we happily ate burritos. Ignore the shoe if you are a rigid urban sketcher. I drew it from life, but later in the house.

Mostly I wanted to show you our coffee stop in Cross Plains, on the way back from the shoe store. Another nice area to revisit when it's time to draw outside. This was a perfect stop during single digit weather.

Crossroads Cafe, Cross Plains, WI

Both sketches done with micron pens, my little watercolor kit , a few colored pencils , and all on my Stillman and Birns sketchbook.

Stay Creative!

Ruth

My 1st Urban Sketch of 2018

After lunch with friends at the Concourse Hotel (the best salad bar in town!!) I had a latte and sketched  one of the patrons.  I like the Tombow brushpens.  Watersoluble so no odor and they come in lots of colors.  Artist and Craftsman downtown has a big selection and good prices.  

Tombow brushpens & Stillman & Birn Beta softcover sketchbook

Happy New Year to Urban Sketchers Madison!!

Hope you all had lovely holidays and a chance to do some sketching.  The meeting scheduled for Saturday January 6th has been cancelled due to the severe cold weather which is forecast well below zero Saturday morning.

 Our next meeting will be on January 14th at the Middleton Chocolaterian Cafe from 1 to 3pm.  We have been to the east side location many times but this is our first outing to the Middleton cafe.  It looks very nice and has the same goodies on offer.  Hope to see you then when it will be a bit warmer, too.  Please post any urban sketches you did over the holidays!

The new format for Drawing Attention, the monthly online newsletter from Urban Sketchers has a new format and is like an online book.  I love it!!  The link is here:  www.urbansketchers.org/2017/12/drawing-attention-january-2018.html

Also re: our email list.  It  has been getting longer and a bit more difficult to keep updated.  I want to make sure everyone who wants one is getting an email reminder about meetings, etc.  If you did not get the email reminder I sent Thursday morning and would like to be added to the list please email me at: pwafer@charter.net    Also if you would like to be removed from the list at any time just let me know.  Thanks!!!    Pat

WI State Historical Society

Three sketchers started their Saturday at the reading room of the Historical Society in downtown Madison near the Student Union. There's more than one entrance and of course I went in a different one than Cindy and Dave, but we met up on the second floor and had a wonderfully quiet time admiring the details in that space.

from the left, Cindy, Ruth, and Dave

Cindy even coerced a nice UW student for an official portrait.

This was our final meet up for 2017, but don't stop sketching now...there will be plenty to document during the upcoming holidays.
Enjoy them and look for more plans to sketch together in 2018 on the events calendar.

Ruth

Sun Prairie Sketching - my entry

Our group had such a great time on our field trip - thanks again Pat for this idea - and I came home to a sketch that needed a bit of color. The Beans & Cream Cafe in Sun Prairie had a wonderful display of children's work - autumn trees - rich autumn colors to inspire anyone...

my friends Elsie, Mercedes, Vivian and Deb...watercolor and micron pen

My daughter and her boyfriend joined in the sketchcrawl from Spain, where they live. A visit to a town north of Madrid produced this sketch....

These connections all over the world, united in our interest in showing the world, one sketch at a time, where we live and what we do... how wonderful!

Join us in December when we meet once again in Madison at the Historical Society in downtown Madison - check out our Events tab for more great sketch meet ups in 2018.

And stay creative.

WW Sketchcrawl - Sun Prairie, Wi. - November 11th, 2017

Sketching at the Bean and Cream Coffeehouse

Talking sketching at Market Street Diner

Carol did her crawl at the Holiday Bazaar in Madison on her way to Sun Prairie

We had a great bunch of sketchers come out to Sun Prairie today to sketch for the WW Sketchcrawl.  Our group photo was to have been posted on Instagram today with the others from Urban Sketchers all over the world.  We had a total of 14 sketchers come out and for 4 of them it was their first time so we hope they will come back soon!!  Sketchers came from as far away as Platteville and Prairie du Sac today as well as the Madison area and one recently moved here from Germany and had sketched with Urban Sketchers Munich!  So we really had a pretty international group today!  I think everyone enjoyed having the "party room" at the Market Street Diner so we could spread out our sketchbooks and talk sketching.  It is pretty amazing that our group was just one of many groups and individuals sketching all over the world today.  I was impressed with the level of skill and commitment to drawing our world shown by everyone there today.  Well done, USK Madison!!!

Our next outing will be on December 2nd at the State Historical Society on Library Mall from 10 am to Noon.  (See Events Calendar) The reading room there is a great place to sketch and thermoses are allowed so bring that morning coffee, tea or whatever!

Urban Sketchers Madison with their Sun Prairie Sketches from today's WW Sketchcrawl

WW Sketchcrawl with Urban Sketchers - Saturday Nov. 11th - Sun Prairie, Wi

Saturday Nov. 11th is the date for the 57th World Wide Sketchcrawl and Urban Sketchers all over the world will be participating and posting their sketches and photos of their groups on Instagram.  If all goes according to plan ours will be featured between 2:15 and 2:30pm CST.  Elsie will be posting them for us.  http://www.urbansketchers.org/2017/11/drawing-attention-november-2017.html

We chose to go to Sun Prairie for sketching to avoid the Iowa vs Wisconsin football traffic.  We will meet at the Bean and Cream Coffeehouse at Cannery Square at 11am and have lunch at the Market Street Diner across the street.  There is a nice little park there also but may be too cold to sketch outdoors.  The diner has a nice party room that we reserved with lots of table room.  Hope to see you there!  Cannery Square is just off Main St. in Sun Prairie.

The Southwest

I have been in Durango, CO, and SE Utah.

Smiley Cafe is a Depression Era Middle and High School in Durango, now very popular as a cafe and office/studio space. Watercolor in Stillman & Birn sketchbook:

Sand Island campground is at the southern edge of Bears Ears National Monument.  Bluff, the nearest town, has about 320 population and was founded in 624.  These are cottonwoods as they are just turning to gold in early Oct:

This sketch is in watercolor in a Moleskin notebook.  The paper doesn't take watercolor easily, but it can be coaxed.

Back at Olbrich Gardens

USK Madison met today, Sunday, at Olbrich Gardens and none too soon; several of us remarked on the much needed sense of peace and calm the garden gave us, both inside and out. What a wonderful day.

We had 10 people turn out, including new member Sally (gosh I hope I have that name right Sally) regardless, she had a good time and said she would be back. A few brave souls (Louise among them of course) braved the cold, most of us stayed inside with the canaries and orchids and soaked up the warmth.

Jean sketching the indoor tropics

Cindy shows a very cool bag she bought....I forgot the name - "Darcy", perhaps?

The Crew show off their sketches

My watercolor, Stillman & Birns, micron pen and paint

A great way to spend the day...see you in November for World Wide Sketchcrawl day!

UW Arboretum Saturday October 7th

I think there were at least 4 of us at the Arboretum on Saturday.  I came late but did sit outside under a tree in the wind long enough to sketch this with watercolor pencils.  There is an article about it in this week's Isthums.  The clouds parted for a few minutes for a glimpse of blue sky.  Hopefully next week we are due for more sunshine.

Arch created by Mike Burns for the Horticultural Gardens

Liquor Store Signs

There are so many amazing liquor store signs in Madison (hey it's Wisconsin...) that I decided to do a sketchbook series of some of them. I have 5 picked out to do so far, my first I did a week or so ago near the corner of Regent and Park, aptly named Regent Liquor.

My always favorite Stillman and Birn spiral sketchbook and some watercolor paint.

Next up, University Ave.
Stay tuned

It's that time of year again - Inktober!

This is NOT an official Urban Sketcher activity but it is fun and I am going to try to do the list above with various pens.  If I do any that are actual urban sketches I will post them.  As always please feel free to post any urban sketching on our blog whether you use ink or not.  Happy Sketching!!  (See website attached for more about Inktober):   http://mrjakeparker.com/inktober

Urban Sketching in Spring Green and Wausau, Wi.

This month I went to Spring Green to see a play at American Players Theatre and also to Wausau for the annual Birds in Art exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum.  Had a great time at both and thought how lucky we are to have these wonderful things in our state.  Birds in Art was great this year and I also enjoyed seeing many paintings in their permanent collection that I had not seen before.  A new wing was added a few years ago and now they are rotating many of the works collection that they did not have room for in the past.  I highly recommend seeing this show which mostly is paintings but also sculpture and some amazing wood carving.  I love staying at the Stewart Inn which is a great B&B not far from the museum.  The owner said the best rates are to be had on Sunday nights as fewer people stay over on Sundays.  My favorite room there is actually the smallest and least expensive one.  All the rooms have gas fireplaces and that felt good this morning.  I also swam at the Wausau YMCA which has a great lap pool.  I went downtown and had a latte and did the sketch below.  Perfect fall weekend!!

La Prima Coffee Shop, Wausua, Wi

Patio at House on the Rock Resort, Spring Green, Wi

USK - Madison Meeting at MPL - Sunday Sept. 17th

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!!

Elsie demonstrating her new sketchbox from Geurilla Painter

Ruth's "Mazebook" front cover

The Mazebook open - every page filled with great sketches

From left front clockwise: Elsie, Deborah, Tsela, Jan, Cindy, Ruth, Gretchen, Louise and Chris.

Sketch from Deborah's summer travels

Cindy's Amsterdam sketch

The Biergarten at Olbrich Park - Saturday Sept. 9th

Jean, Rebecca and Mike on the shores of Lake Monona

My sketch with Uni Posca paint pens on Stillman & Birn Zeta softcover

It was a beautiful day so the Biergarten was open for business and quite a few people were hanging out in the perfect late summer weather.  It's a great place to sketch on a warm day and we will go back for sure.

USK Madison Share This Weekend

Hey I'm pretty excited, we're headed to the downtown Madison Library for a group share this weekend. Fall completely energizes me (yes I know it's technically summer, but I've moved on.)

I'm hoping those who were able to get to the BIG Chicago International Symposium will be sharing details of workshops, materials, and of course LOOONG walks. The weather was great though.

softcover Stillman and Birns, watercolor

I remember as I was at my own personal "Satellite Symposium" (well, my daughter came along) that same weekend. I'll bring that sketchbook along to share.

6 x 6 inch cover, corrugated cardboard with acrylic paint

Also coming is my annual Summer Sketchbook, one I make, family focused.

Slow summer for sketching? Bring your materials along and let's see what you have in your sketchbag...nothing better than seeing what you might have that I haven't seen yet. And, as always, there will be plenty of time to draw outside or inside at the library.

Sunday Afternoon, Downtown Library, first floor conference room....see you there!

Ruth