Urban Sketch at the Tavira Tile Exhibition
Day Fifty-Eight of Sketching People
Day 58 of my #Kick365 sketching challenge to draw people in ink and watercolour. A busy day at the museum sketching people and tiles.
Sketching Meet-up in Tavira
My perfect Valentine’s day – urban sketching in Tavira. The Algarve Urban Sketchers group had arranged a day at the Tavira Municipal Museum where there was an exhibition about the evolution of Portuguese tiles. It’s been a while since the group has ventured over to the East Algarve, so I grabbed the opportunity to join them today.
Tavira Rooftops and Washing Line
We were due to meet up outside the museum at 10am, and because I didn’t have far to travel I had som time to kill before we went inside. In that part of town you can see iconic churches and parts of the castle walls, and lots of roof tops, but what attracted my attention was a nearby washing line.
I’ve been so focused on sketching people recently that I haven’t sketched many buildings, so it was fun to sketch some tiled rooftops again. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not a building sketcher – unless there’s something quirky about the scene. A washing line will get my attention every time, and it’s an ideal subject to sketch in this whimsical illustrative style.
Sketching at the Tavira Municipal Museum
The tile exhibition at the museum is on for a limited time, and cover the history and evolution of the Portuguese tiles. I learned that in the 1670’s the Portuguese tiles were influenced by the Dutch, and the traditional polychromy tiles evolved into tiles with blue and manganese decoration on them. Coincidentally, I recently removed Cerulean blue from my palette and replaced it with Manganese blue because it’s brighter and more vibrant. It’s great for skies, and I love that there’s a connection between the blue in my palette, and the history of Portuguese tiles.
Sketching Sketcher’s at the Museum
There were about a dozen of us sketching today, and for a while we were all clustered around the start of the exhibition, and this first sketch was of the USk Algarve organiser João and three other sketchers. I sketched what I saw, really just to capture the moment. But later when I was sitting down I painted the scene, and the story I wanted to tell, unfolded. The three women sketchers all had large bags of art materials (no judgement – I had one as well), but João had left his bag at the reception desk and was just carrying around a small pack of oil pencils and a small square sketchbook.
I hadn’t thought about this as the story when I was sketching this scene, but when it came to painting the scene with watercolour the story evolved. I made João the focal point by colouring his clothes differently, and then painted the bags and his art materials in the same lime green, so they became the story.
The more I’m thinking about composition, layout, and identifying stories, the more I’m realising that there’s not a one size fits all approach to sketching stories. I’m going to have to delve into this concept a little more deeply in another article.
After this sketch, I wandered around the tile exhibition for a little bit, before finding a seat and sketching people who ventured into my peripheral view.
I took a few liberties with the designs on the tiles because they were very ornate, but the patterns and displays I did capture were indicative of what was actually there – especially the tall narrow display I sketched, which was also being sketched by another urban sketcher.
From the layout tutorial I’ve been doing recently – placing your subject/focal point in the middle of the scene creates a boring sketch, but I actually like the composition of this sketch, maybe it works because there’s so much negative space. I guess all rules are there to be broken.
Sitting next to me was another of our sketchers, and so I took the opportunity to sketch a portrait, seeing as I’ve been practicing so many of these recently, with all the speed sketching sessions I’ve been attending.
I don’t often sketch double page spreads, but I wanted to make sure to get the whole figure in (and to make sure I didn’t miss off the feet) because I really liked the pose and position of the legs.
This urban sketcher was actually sketching a different tile exhibit, but I really liked the layout of the cross on the neighbouring wall, so used that one instead for the tile exhibit. I think it’s a more interesting version of reality, but still captures the essence of the scene.
As we were waiting for the group to reconvene to leave for lunch, I sketched a couple of our group. I’ve played fast and loose with the colours I chose for the clothing and bags. I don’t know why I used to have such a desire to replicate reality, when creating my own version is much more interesting and rewarding. This sketch was a little bit of a race against time, so the lines are extra wobbly, and the composition isn’t that dynamic, but the perspective and postures have been captured.
Outside the museum we had a group photo (taken by Urban Sketchers Algarve, and posted on their Facebook page).
I love it when urban sketchers go out to lunch, there’s always an array of art materials on the table, and sketch books out. I’m so used to it being me at the table sketching alone, and it’s good to be in like-minded company.
Uber Ride Home and Sketch
After lunch I took an uber back home. The drivers seem to be getting younger and younger! LOL! I don’t know what it is about these uber rides, but I keep wanting to sketch the drivers small, and the car oversized. Playing with proportions makes these sketches more interesting. I always start these driver-views with a sketch of the person, and then build the car around them.
On my ride to Tavira this morning, I did one of my photo booth quick sketches. As well as capturing people I’ve encountered, I’ve realised I’m also capturing a snapshot of the weather.
I took way more art materials than I used, but it’s all good practice for Toulouse, and the next Urban Sketchers Symposium.
