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Hello readers,
It’s only been a couple of weeks since I asked you to support my goals for 2023 and become a paid subscriber. Thanks to many of you, new content is coming to On the Spot starting next week. Stay tuned!
Now, let’s get right to today’s roundup of sketching news.
Marta Fonfara’s live portraits at Le Bon Marché
A post shared by Marta Fonfara | live drawing (@martafonfara)
Paris illustrator and sketcher Marta Fonfara spent three weekends in December drawing shoppers at Biologique Recherche, a beauty products shop in the legendary Le Bon Marché department store. This on-the-spot sketching opportunity came through L’Atelier Lutece, one of many event planning agencies in France that often hire artists to animate events.
“The idea is to draw portraits of loyal customers of a shop during a private party or to thank them for a significant purchase. The portrait is free for them, which for me is ideal — there is less expectation of a perfect result,” said Fonfara via email.
The job is not without pressure. Fonfara said one of her most stressful assignments was for Louis Vuitton in Belgium. The line of people waiting to be drawn was very long, and a customer left unhappy because a drop of wet ink had accidentally ran down the finished drawing. Another time, when using her iPad, a woman asked her to tweak the color of her hair. Fonfara feared everyone would ask for changes.
Her tips for other sketchers trying this?
“One should draw in pretty style, so avoid the big noses, wrinkles and add more blush and mascara. 🙂 I try each time to make it quite real and especially not kitsch.”
Extra! Don’t miss Fonfara’s beautiful direct-to-watercolor sketches of people skiing in the French Alps.
In other news
- The latest print issue of Bouts du Monde, a French magazine dedicated to publishing travel diaries, includes a chapter of sketches and text by Barcelona-based Lapin (see excerpt), who visited Beijing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong after being invited by the French Alliances of China Network. On its website, the magazine encourages sketchers to submit their work: “Come on, it’s high time to get your Moleskine notebooks out of the bottom of your backpacks to publish a travel diary. Don’t believe that your travel stories only interest you, nor that being published is the privilege of a few.”revueboutsdumondeA post shared by Revue Bouts du monde (@revueboutsdumonde)
- Suhita Shirodkar just shared lively sketches of people flying kites in India, where communities across the country are observing Sankranti, a Hindu celebration that marks the end of winter and the beginning of longer days.suhitasketchA post shared by Suhita (@suhitasketch)
- Remember Thierry Chehab’s sketches of World Cup players? The Dubai-based sketcher made the headlines in Qatar’s newspaper The Peninsula, which published an article about his sketching experience at the France-Australia match in Doha.atary81A post shared by Thierry (@atary81)
Grant opportunity
The Urban Sketchers organization is now accepting proposals for the 2023 USk Reportage Grants. Chosen projects are awarded $500 to help sketchers cover costs associated with their reportage project, such as travel and materials. The deadline to apply is May 15. The five projects that previously received grants were submitted by Mathieu Letellier, USk Mumbai, Farah Irani, Rolf Schroeter and Daniel Winterbottom.
Bookshelf
Let me tell you about a book that just arrived from Madrid and is quintessential urban sketching.
When Spanish abstract painter Fernando Zóbel and some of his friends moved to Cuenca in the early 1960s, they became “quickly entranced by the mood, the style and the charm of the city and its inhabitants.” “Cuenca, Sketchbook of a Spanish Hill Town” (Bilingual edition, Fundación Juan March, 96 pages, 2016) collects Zóbel’s record of his infatuation: 40 delightfully schematic ink-and-watercolor sketches, each with its own commentary, that introduce readers to the city famously known for its steep cobblestone streets and “casas colgantes” (hanging houses).
The book was first published by Harvard University, where Zóbel had worked as assistant curator in the Department of Printing and Graphic Arts at Houghton Library. In the foreword, Philip Hofer, who founded the department, writes words that still resonate.
“Why do not more artist follow his lead, and record for us with such vivid imagery other unspoiled beauty spots before tourism has taken its inevitable toll?”
Calendar
In chronological order
Lisbon
Jan. 29
Urban Sketchers Portugal and Clara Marta Moreno will be hosting a special sketchwalk at Lisbon’s Jardim das Amoreiras as a tribute to beloved Portuguese sketcher Eduardo Salavisa, a leading figure in sketchbook art and urban sketching who passed away in 2020.
Montruil, France
Feb. 5
The Carnets d’Hiver festival in Montruil, France, is billed as the first winter sketchbooks festival near Paris.
Provence, France
Feb. 24-26
Fifty-nine travel sketchers are scheduled to participatein Carnet de Voyage en Provence.
Auckland, New Zealand
April 19-22
The International Urban Sketchers Symposium returns for its 11th edition after a three-year pandemic hiatus. The program includes workshops and demos by 20 international instructors, lectures, skit sketches, sketchwalks and plenty of networking opportunities. Auckland University of Technology is the main venue for this year’s edition. Registration is open now.
Intragna, Switzerland
May 18-21
USk Weekend event includes workshops by Claudia Jordi, Javier Alberich, Olivia Aloisi and Mario Leimbacher.
A post shared by Mario Leimbacher (@leimbachermario)
Toulouse, France
May 24-26
Urban Sketchers Tolouse is hosting a three-day urban sketching symposium ahead of the 10th national meeting of Urban Sketchers taking place over the weekend. Guest artists include Pierre Amoudry, Maru Godas, Lapin and Marielle Durand.
A post shared by Urban Sketchers Toulouse (@usktoulouse)
May 26-29
10th Annual Reunion of Urban Sketchers France, hosted by USkToulouse
Chicago, USA
July 7-9
The popular USk Chicago Seminar is also back this year after the pandemic hiatus.
Intragna, Switzerland
July 16-22
4th Urban Sketcher Week, with workshops by Lis Watkins, Nicola Maier-Reimer, Sylvain Cnudde and Ryan Little.
A post shared by Mario Leimbacher (@leimbachermario)