Drawing of a plant, during on-line classes

 I have recently finished a sequence of three classes with my students about the stages of drawing a small plant from either observation or photograph.

The idea was to help the students learn to work in information cycles.

Drawing foliage isn't the easiest thing on earth. It demands a lot of attention, and I believe drawing leaves that come forward in the viewer's direction is challenging. Another problematic aspect is to get the right size of the whole plant.

So, we began by doing a broad, loose sketch. Then we tried to correct some angles and sizes of individual leaves, adding some details and making the values darker little by little (at the same time, we turned the highlights brighter).

I scanned the drawing whenever I felt each cycle was finished.

Here's a tip: when drawing a plant, take a photograph at the end of the first session because the leaves will be different the next day - so you can reference the picture going forward.

'Sketching Haven' at Madeline Island School of the Arts

Great news!!

I am pleased to inform you that I will share my approaches and techniques at Madeline Island School of the Arts, in July 2024!

I will be together with a few fantastic international sketchers: Jane Blundell (Australia), Oliver Hoeller (Austria) and Nina Johansson (Sweden). Participans will sketch with each of us at different new locations daily (check their website and see how impressive the place is!)

The 'Sketching Haven: A Summer Retreat with Four Internationally Renowned Artists' (link here) will happen on July 8th–12th, 2024

"Experience an unparalleled opportunity to enhance your artistic skills with four exceptional instructors. Eduardo Bajzek‘s workshop focuses on capturing trees and landscapes, while Jane Blundell’s workshop specializes in color and botanical sketching. Oliver Hoeller guides participants in telling the story of Madeline Island through sketching, and Nina Johansson immerses you in everyday life in coastal harbor town. With diverse techniques and personalized guidance, these workshops offer a comprehensive learning experience for participants to refine their skills and explore various aspects of sketching and painting. Students will interact with a new instructor and visit a new location everyday."

I will teach the following workshop:

Eduardo Bajzek: Trees and the Island Landscape

Morning Session:

• Discover the essence of incorporating Nature as the predominant theme, exploring its graceful and meaningful presence in crafting artistic compositions.
• Exploring different types of linework, shapes, and edge variety associated with trees.
• Understanding the structure consistency of trunks and branches for a balanced composition.
• Developing the skill to see and sketch tree silhouettes.

Afternoon Session:

• Outdoor sketching session in Madeline Island, combining nature and buildings in unique compositions.
• Demonstrations by the instructor on choosing and framing subjects, organizing layers of tone, and creating depth.
• Participants will create their own landscape drawings, applying the learned concepts and receiving in-person assistance.
• Feedback session for participants to share their work and receive final considerations.

And here's a short description of my fellow partners (see more at Madeline's website):

Jane Blundell: Botanical Sketching

Jane is a member of the Australian Watercolour Institute, Australia’s oldest watercolour society, and an exhibiting member of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales, and a member of the Urban Sketching education committee. She is passionate about watercolour, colour, drawing and sketching.

Oliver Hoeller: Sketching the Story of Madeline Island

Oliver is a skilled sketcher and traveling artist, known for his ability to tell rich stories through his work. Explore Madeline Island, visiting the museum and surrounding areas to gather visual elements that reflect the island’s fascinating history. Oliver provides personalized guidance on arranging elements on the page; presenting demonstrations and giving feedback throughout the day.

Nina Johansson: Everyday Life in a Coastal Village

Nina Johansson, an illustrator and art teacher from Stockholm, Sweden, is a dedicated on-location sketcher with a penchant for capturing everyday life in urban environments. Learn techniques to convey perspective without construction, work from big shapes to smaller details, and create well-composed sketches. Students will grow through individual support and group discussions.

New Zealand Part V - Workshops Preparation

 

Three steps showing the process of the painterly, graphite approach of my workshop "Slow Down, You Sketch Too Fast", which I taught in the 11th Urban Sketchers Symposium in Auckland, New Zealand. (those are not the same drawing, but the sequence represents the process)

As I told in a recent post, I changed my workshop's location a little as the primary subject was a little too hard to draw. I found a pleasant location down the road, with a small open courtyard, with a decent view of the Sky Tower into the distance and a couple of interesting houses near. I started a sketch there and soon realized that was the best location. It was quiet enough, there was some shadow, a good place for the participants to sit and some shelter in case it rained.

I did the same sketch three times: when I teach a painterly approach (with graphite), I like to have prepared at least one advancing step (for each session), so I can show the students a further stage of the process, and work from that on a little more, like in a cooking tv show. I also have a third stage, an almost finished one. This works really nicely, as adds a bit of a surprise feeling to my demonstration - I hide the stages, of course :)

My workshop location - I was pretty happy with it!

Here you can see a few of the drawings I did on location, laying on my bed's hotel in Auckland

New Zealand Part IV - A bit of Máori culture

On April 19th, the Urban Sketchers Symposium instructor's team had the great opportunity to visit "Papakura Marae", a Maori complex near Auckland, in which the temple (wharenui) was inaugurated in 1990. During the short journey to the place, we learned a song from local organizer Eric Ngan (who arranged the tour) to be sang at the temple as a gift to the Maori people.

We then attended to a beautiful ceremony, with touching music performed by the Maori people. They weren't dressed traditionally as one could imagine as it wasn't a presentation for tourists, which made the moment even more remarkable.

After the ceremony was finished, we had a nice meal and had some time to do a sketch, even inside the temple, where I did mine.

I sketched a carving called Tamatea Pokaiwhenua, a leader navigator who arrived in New Zealand in 950 AD. A hill dedicated to leader is called: 

"Te taumatawhakatangihangakoauaupukepikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu", which means "Tamatea played his flute to lure his young lover to climb the hill without slipping as he waited and prepared a meal for them to share and make love".

Isn't that beautiful?

Later that day, I did a sketch of the city hall. I was a bit distracted by the skateboarders across th street. The weather was changing constantly which was a presage of the rain we got during the symposium. I wanted to make a loose watercolor as I did of the same Queen St. the day before, but I couln't, and I'm not sure why.

New Zealand - Part III: Sky Drawing

On a sunny afternoon, before the symposium started, I went to the Sky Tower, a stunning construction that takes you up to 186 meter high and has lots of attractions. 

I went there because I love being at heights, in first place. I didn't know I would have enough time plus find a good spot to sketch. But I did, even though I had to gave up of a first attempt because someone bumped into me, causing me to make a scratch on the paper - fortunately it was at the beggining! I just turned the page over and restarted...

Anyways, I did a very quick sketch for my standards, with a ballpoint pen. 

New Zealand - Part II: The Flamboyant Impossible Tower

 

Actually, this was the first drawing I did (or start) in Auckland. The Auckland University Clock Tower was one of the subjects entitled to be part of my workshop location, so I went there asap to check it out and do a few sketches. 

I started observing the location, figuring the best spots to sit and draw. Unfortunately, the botton of the building was hidden by renovation works - even if it wasn't, I would have trouble to see it properly due to the cars parked across the street, right in front of me. If I moved a few meters to one side, there was a pedestrian passage; to the other side, a big tree blocked the view. So, I sat down and started - urban sketching is as unpredictable as my cat.

After struggling for an hour, I already realized that subject wasn't the best for my workshop - the building was sooo complicated, with its forms melting into each other (the corners were all somehow disguised). There were dozens of pinnacles in this mixture of Tudor and Flamboyant 19th century bulding. Too hard. I mean, that was an interesting challenge...and as I wrote down on my page : "it's not about the bulding, it's about the scenery".

I also wrote: 

"The pinnacles get all messy" (one couln't easily understand where they did belong to);
"Suggesting vegetation" (so I did);
"Looking for the sillhouete" (the whole body of the building);
"Inside shapes can be open" (so the eye doesn't stop everytime).

The mind wanders and we learn a lot, each drawing.

Eventually, I decided to prevent the parcipants from suffering from that intricate (however interesting) tower.

New Zealand - Part 1

 Last April, I went to New Zealand to join the 11th Urban Sketchers Symposium, in Auckland. That was the first post-covid international symposium. We were all missing them.

I was one of the instructors - it was my fifth time teaching at one of them! Although I gathered quite some experience as an instructor, it seems that it was my first time again - it never gets old! It's a big responsability to teach at a symposium. People are so eager to learn something from us!

Well, I arrived in Auckland 5 days earlier to acclimatize and to get myself well prepared for the 3 workshops plus one demo. I went to my location 3 or 4 times and sketched there in a variety of point of views, trying to find the best spot to do my demos and for the students as well.

Before showing the sketches I did on this location, I will share the ones that are already scanned. There are lots of histories and sketches to come. I hope I can keep up with it.

I woke up very early one day and decided to do a quick watercolor sketch near the hotel. There was a beautiful 3-story building around the corner at Queen St. I sat down and sketched it for 40 minutes, drawing and painting. I thought I needed that - doing a quick sketch, just to prove to myself I could!