Urban Sketching and Beyond: Solid Foundations, Exciting Application

I am very glad to announce that I will be at the Madeline School of the Arts again in July 2025!
This is so exciting! I love the time I spent on stunning Madeline Island, in the charming and cozy environment of the school's campus. 

Cheers to our 2025 course!

Urban Sketching and Beyond: Solid Foundations, Exciting Application

The same team will be reunited: me, Oliver Hoeller, Nina Johansson and Jane Blundell. We had a great time as friends and teaching together. 

Don't waste your time and go check and apply to this incredible course on this link! (there's great gifts if you submit early!)

This time, I will be teaching a workshop titled:

"Visual Reading - Using your Perception to Build Scenes"

The goal of this workshop is to develop tools and approaches to create a drawing of a building and its setting, with character and atmosphere.

It is based on a perceptive approach to perspective, measurement, proportions, depth and tones.

We will be using the school's beautiful buildings for our studies. There is a charming little storage building that is perfect for exploring perspective and visual measurements. Additionally, there's a good-sized barn with great character (where we enjoy our incredible meals!) that will serve wonderfully as the main subject. Of course, the subjects can change, as there are many aspects to consider while on location.

In addition to nature (especially trees, which is the topic for the 2024 season), I love drawing buildings, as well as exploring architecture and drawing techniques.

This time, I will use all my knowledge to help students improve their skills in creating scenes that involves buildings.

This is how my workshop will unfold: 

Morning session

During the morning, we will study, and practice basic concepts related to drawing a scene. We will review the main aspects of perspective both in class and on location, creating small line drawings. Then, we will learn how to measure angles and distances on-site so that we can begin to compose a scene. We will draw some of the charming buildings on the school campus.

Afternoon session

We will start a larger drawing using pencils and/or pens on toned paper. First, we will ensure that the subject fits on the paper and determine how much space will be left for the surroundings. To add character, we will apply white pastel and colored pencils on toned paper to create sophisticated effects.

Below you will find a few examples of this topic. 

The Apple Tree

After tree-hunting, as I mentioned in my last post, I finally decided on the subject for my classes: an apple tree in the school’s orchard. The tree had great character with its expressive branches (sloping, parallel lines, elbows), beautiful foliage, and a bushy ground underneath. Additionally, it was small and offered good views from different angles. My major concern was the sun, but Oliver helped me to move an umbrella around so we could have some shade.

I was glad that I decided on this tree. It was a great subject indeed, although the foliage wasn't so easy grasp and draw - nevertheless, it provided us a lot of information and insights. My students seemed to really enjoy drawing it!

Here's one of my demonstration sheets:

Here's another one, with some notes:

During the days I spent there, I worked continuously in one piece, allowing me to enjoy the subject, while learning from the process and sharing my insights with the students. The final piece was acquired by the school, which have an amazing collection of art by former instructors - this made me very proud.

Next post, I will talk about the classes!

See you soon ;)

Tree-Hunting

During my time in the US, my focus was always on trees, as they were the main subject of most of my activities. 

Following my attempts to find a perfect subject for my classes I went "tree-hunting" around the school premisses (as I told here) and around the island. One subject that stood out was an old weeping willow, by the entrance of the Madeline Island Golf Club. I went there with Jane Blundell to sketch it, but due to the rain, we sketched from inside the car.

The sketch I did there share some similarities with another one I did later in Seattle. I believe this is due to the focus on the branch system. 

In both drawings I used graphite and white pastel Cretacolor pencils and erasers.

The old weeping willow, seen from inside the car

An old tree in the Seattle Arboretum, particularly the branch that extends straight out from the trunk caught my attention - it seemed oddly unnatural.

Tom's Burned Down Cafe at Madeline Island

I believe everyone who steps on the Madeline Island must have a beer or a soda at this funky, hippie bar. Tom's burned down cafe is surviving on the island for decades and has an interesting history behind as you can read in this article.

We went there twice, first on a Friday night, when there was live music and the bar was quite busy. It was one of the funniest bars I've ever been to! I loved the laid-back atmosphere, but what I liked the most was the cool signs! There are dozens of them, hanging around the place, which made me laugh a lot.

We had a great time that night, sketching, drinking and dancing. It was a nice way to relax and sketch, the four of us, together!

Funny sayings everywhere, and lots to sketch

Here's my second sketch, from the outside. The place is so cool to sketch!

And here's my friend's sketches:

Here's Nina Johansson's sketches of the exterior and the interior. Notice how she suggested depth in the one above, leaving ink contour only on the bar (the bar is that tent and stuff!). She uses black areas in both sketches to estabilize the drawings, creating visual anchors and an arrangement of two-dimensional pieces - a dynamic pattern

This is Oliver Hoeller's sketch. We're sketching side-by-side while having a beer and discussing different approaches to on-location drawing. His drawings always have an animated, exciting feeling

Jane Blundell's sketch shows a beautiful balance between elusiveness and description. The blacks under the tent hold the composition too, and the suggestion of the foliage contrasts nicely with the details of the fence and stuff.

US Trip 2024: Getting to know Madeline Island

Whenever instructors give a course on on-location drawing, we need to scrutinize the place, trying to find its best subjects, points of view, seating places, and shadow availability. That's why I arrived a couple of days before the course began, along with my fellow partners.

We were taken around the island, and I saw several interesting subjects, such as an appealing old willow tree. However, I thought it would be smarter to find a good spot on the Madeline School of the Arts premises, making it easier for the students, close to the classrooms and so on. Oliver and Nina found spots outside, which was part of the general plan, and it worked out very well too - the school took care of the transportation and lunch for everybody.

So, my very first pages filled out in the school were these ones.

I found this group of trees in between two small houses and the windmill. A compelling subject, with interesting things to be figured out and solved. I used my painterly approach with pencils. 

I recognized that scene could be challenging because there were too many objects to arrange. I instantly realized the windmill could be a very tricky subject in itself - a dark, rounded shape with fuzzy edges against the sky! Some things must be graphically assessed to be figured out, don't you think?

In the sketch on the bottom, I solved the problem by taking the windmill out of the equation, allowing more focus to be put on the trees themselves (the main topic of my workshop).

I tried a few other options, then I thoroughly read up on the subject. I discovered that would be a great subject for a composition workshop, but it might be too much for one focused on trees. I didn't finish these sketches to save time, but I added a few notes that could be interesting to share with the students.

I found a nice subject a 10-minute walk from the school buildings, still within view. It was a beautiful tree by a pond (featured above, on the right lower corner). Very painterly, but a little too wild. I couldn't handle the bugs, so I moved on.

US Trip to US: A Special Gas Station

 That was not about 'a' gas station, but 'the' gas station. 

I rented a car just to see it. There was no public transportation options when I had the time do visit it, so that was my only way. I even considered renting a bike, but it was almost 50km far which was way too much for me.

So, I get there, parked my car and was immediately transported to the 1950's, when the R. W. Lindholm Service Station was built - 1958 to be exact - after a design by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). As all FLLW buildings, the sense of originality and unity are remarkable. There are always room for new ideas and exploitation. Here, the framing of the rooftops and the long eaves draw your attention.

I took pictures and found a place to sit and sketch. It was sunny, but not too hot (at least by the time I began). So, I sat at the curb, spread my materials and started. 

I wanted to be as accurate as possible, so I build the drawing carefully, especially in terms of proportions and perspective.

The place was closed due to the holidays, but it is still running. I read somewhere that they receive at least half a dozen of people - everyday! I spent 2,5 hours there, and I can confirm that. A few of them came talking to me - a woman said she worked at the FLLW foundation (I think she mentioned Arizona)! As I gave her a postcard, she reciprocated with two awesome stickers! A man got surprised when I said I was from Brazil - he was so kind! He said the most of the city was burned down in a fire in 1918. As he left, I added him in my drawing.

I sketched for around 2 hours. It has hot when I finished, and I was a little anxious because I needed to check out, return the car at the airport and meet Oliver Hoeller.

US Trip 2024: A cold 4th of July in Duluth

I arrived in the US on 4th of July, the US's most celebrated holiday, in the city of Duluth, north of Minnesota. 

First, I rented a car in the airport for only a day - my plan was vitising Frank Lloyd Wright's gas station in Cloquet, a small town nearby. 

I spent most of the day with a guy I met at the hostel, which was very nice, since he knew most of the city and the good spots for ice-creams and burguers. 

I did a an-hour sketch of the Aerial Lift Bridge of Duluth, a colossal steel structure with gigantic counter weights which impressed me very much. The bridge was inaugurated in 1930.

We got a beer and a hamburguer and moved on to the park to watch the fire-works. It was a great first day. 

 

The next day would be busy, so I wanted to go to bed as early as possible. I would move to Madeline Island, for the so waited week course.