You know urban sketching is a big deal when the mayor of the town where you are teaching a workshop comes out to greet you and reads a prepared statement to welcome you. That’s what Christiane Möller-v. Lübcke, the mayor of Friedrichstadt, did Saturday — I’m the guy in the green t-shirt standing next to her in the center of the top photo.
The moment was a highlight of a wonderful weekend teaching in this super picturesque small town in Northern Germany. Urban sketchers travelled here from several other German cities — including Lübeck, Hanover and the Hamburg area — and also from Helsinki and Venice. Among them were an automobile engineer, a veterinarian, a pastor, an IT professional and a financial advisor, which goes to show you the wide appeal of urban sketching as a creative pastime — you don’t have to call yourself an artist or an illustrator to start drawing your town!
Despite some rain and wind, everyone did a great job documenting the town’s historic architecture, people and canals in pencil, ink and watercolor. I look forward to follow their sketches on social media from now on. A shout-out to Friedrichstadt artist Octavia Zille for co-hosting the event, Urban Sketchers for helping spread the word about the workshops and Stillman & Birn for providing sketchbooks.
Here are some photos from the workshops, including sketchbooks from participants spread at the end of each session, and some of my own sketches in pencil, ink and watercolor.
