Sketching sketchers in Strasbourg

One of my favourite things in any USk event is definitely to meet people - old friends and new.

In all, there were around 200 sketchers over the weekend. Plenty of opportunities to socialize and sketch people.

Sketchers are among the best subjects to draw, as they are usually so engrossed in their work that they don't move much, so I was able to catch a few of them in action.

You might think that most of them look slightly grumpy on my sketches. But in reality it's their "in the zone" faces. So actually they're really happy faces.

Denis studying his subject

Georges had wonderfully colourful sketches

Gérard is the master of perspective

Lolo, one of the USk Strasbourg organizers. Can't thank them enough for this amazing weekend!

Dinner at Brasserie de la Bourse was great. I sat at the Luxembourgish table with a few sketchers from Paris (Marion and Christine) and one from the Netherlands (Rene).

If sketchers sketching are great subjects, sketchers eating are much more challenging. As a result you get funny looking portraits.

That floating partial face is supposed to be Tula, a friend I met in Barcelona :D

Rene, all the way from the Netherlands

Great food and great fun all around. The most difficult part, as usual, was to say goodbye.

Looking forward to the next USk event!

Oldies but goldies with the USk France in Strasbourg

Last weekend the annual national Urban Sketchers France meeting took place in Strasbourg. It is only 2 hours away by train, so of course I had to be there!

This time, Luxembourg was quite well represented, with 6 sketchers in total, Tessy, Aniela, Arnaud, Jean-Paul, Sandra and I!

The organisation was flawless. There were 2 different sketchcrawl routes to choose from every day, an official meeting place (Café Atlantico) and even a dinner on Saturday evening.

On Saturday, most of us decided to go on the "belles carrosseries" route. It was dedicated to places where we could find old cars. The day was a bit rainy, so we stuck to the 2 garages that were on the programme.

We stopped first at H.H. Services, where we stayed the whole morning until early afternoon.

There were many beautiful cars being repaired, like this Mercedes 300 SL...

Even without its "wings" it was beautiful

...or this MG PA 1935.

I wonder if it used to be a race car. For some reason, it looks like one to me.

Do not ask me any details on the cars. I am a total noob when it comes to cars.

The atelier was full of sketchers and there were many interesting subjects to choose from. The atelier was invaded by sketchers, so the tricky part was to find a spot with a clear view of the chosen subject.

Sketchers sharing their drawings everywhere

After H.H. Services, we went to l'Atelier de Jojo, which specialises in repairing old 2 CVs and other old Citroën cars.

Is there a more iconic French car than the "deuch"? I don't know, but I can't think of any.

Such a fun atelier!

I only had time to draw one car before we left for the "headquarters" at Café Atlantico, where I saw some old friends like Tula and Marion, for example.

Dinner was next, with an evening of Flammekueche or tarte flambée, miam!

More on that and the rest of the weekend in my next post.

PS: "Oldies but Goldies" is the title of one of Lapin's publications. Check it out on his website. It is really great!

Sketchcrawl in Limpertsberg

Last Sunday we met at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg and went out sketching from there to the area of Limpertsberg.

Limpertsberg is one of the residential areas around the city centre and is particularly known for the many highschools located there.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of new faces, people who seem eager to sketch on a regular basis.

As we were by the Grand Théâtre, we decided to sketch it, too. I find the building a bit tricky with all its slanted windows, but it was fun to try and I also found an interesting looking fire hydrant which served as a nice break from the building.

There was a party the previous day

All fire hydrants should be this original

It turned out the cycling Tour de Luxembourg was passing through Limpertsberg, so we had time to see a few cyclists rushing by before we headed out in search of a nice café or pub.

We found a nice Lebanese restaurant (L-Bey) that only served drinks and sweets at that time. Perfect for a short drink & draw break.

The people there were very friendly and even offered us some cakes. I definitely recommend this place.

Old and new sketchers :)

Time flies and we only had time for one more stop after this. Leen took us to a small park at the top of Limpertsberg where I saw these interesting trees (I think they were birches) through which cars and houses were peeking.

Levels are still tricky...

Our little group is getting bigger and more regular, which I'm very happy about. Plus, we are soon going to become the national USk chapter for Luxembourg, so that is very exciting news.