Workshop in Newbury - round 1

Last month, I spent one week in Newbury, UK, to participate in a USk workshop called "Pushing your sketching boundaries", held by Isabel Carmona, Inma Serrano and Swasky.

I decided to attend this workshop because I won't be able to go to the Symposium in Manchester this year and, more importantly, because I really admire the work of these artists.

The workshop was built up in two rounds consisting of three workshops each, one with each teacher focusing on one specific aspect of sketching.

My group started with Inma Serrano, who focused on composition. Inma started by teaching us a few basic principles of composition (line weight, colour, layout, etc.), which we later had to put into practice at the local cemetery, in black and white.

It is one of the most beautiful and peaceful cemeteries I have visited so far

The second workshop of round 1 was held by Isabel Carmona, who focused more on watercolour techniques and colour in general.

We started with short exercises where we had to sketch a subject in watercolour only, adding layers until we were happy with our sketch.

We then went to the Newbury Corn Exchange where we had to sketch the same subject using 2 different approaches: one where we used only watercolour for the background and another technique for the foreground, and vice-versa for the second sketch.

Watercolour background and pencil foreground

When working with watercolour, I have difficulties using bright colours and always stick too closely to reality. I asked Isabel for some advice on how to detach myself more from my subject and she just said: just pick a random colour. So I did. And I had a lot of fun doing it!

Watercolour foreground and ballpoint background

I have to say I'm still more comfortable using line than watercolour only, but this exercise was a good compromise between both and I will probably do it again on occasion.

The last workshop of the first round was held by Swasky, an illustrator from Barcelona. He focused on storytelling and on how to add text to your sketches to tell a story.

I rarely think about text in my sketches and when I do add some it's usually in hindsight. Plus I usually never know what to write anyway.

It was an interesting exercise to plan ahead, determining in advance where the text will be later. However, I feel I still have to practice it a lot before it becomes something like second nature.

Swasky reassured us saying that it is normal to end up with a result that has little to do with the initial plan. The important thing is to go through the planning process so in time we can leave the result less to chance.

View over Newbury from the top of the church

Newbury is a lovely town, the perfect place to have my first glimpse of the British lifestyle. Exploring it in the framework of a sketching workshop adds another interesting dimension to it. We were even relatively lucky with the weather!

INCAOS - CASINO

The April Sketchcrawl with the USk Luxembourg took place at the Casino - Forum d'Art contemporain in Luxembourg city.

We were curious to see what the Casino looked like after it had been closed for some months for some works.

The whole ground floor was changed and a cafeteria was added, the one thing I always thought was missing at that museum.

A few of us braved the wind and sketched outside. There was just time enough for this sketch before it started raining.

I like how the letters of the Casino were shifted and spell "Incaos", a remnant from an exhibition a few years ago. It feels like an insider joke.

Sadly I had to leave early, so I didn't have time for more than one sketch. It was great to see a few new faces. Hopefully more regulars for our group.

Overlooking the city

Last Sunday, we met with Urban Sketchers Luxembourg at the Observatoire, the bar of hotel Sofitel.

I had heard that it offered an amazing view of the city, but I had never been there before. I was not disappointed.

Everyone was drawn to the windows and tried their best to sketch the cityscape.

Personally, I am not used to that exercise at all and I found it very difficult, getting lost in too many details at some point.

There was a moment when I realized that I would never get to the kind of result I was expecting, so I just started to try out different things, playing with colour, ink and pencil. It was much more fun this way.

We do live in a beautiful city!

After the difficult landscape, I took a "break" and sketched the beautiful tea set in front of me. It really felt like I was breathing easily again. I'm definitely not at ease with big city scapes yet.

Green tea to get in a more zen mood

It's interesting how a change of subject can help me get much more playful with my sketches. I felt much looser to do a quick detail of one of the main bridges, the Pont Viaduc.

I love bridges

As I mentioned, this was a very unusual exercise for me, but one I think I will repeat in the future. Specially at this location.

Ping...

... and pong!

I should probably say table tennis, but ping pong sounds so much more fun!

Last week, we met with the Urban Sketchers Luxembourg for our monthly sketchcrawl, this time at the National Sports Centre, d'Coque, in Kirchberg.

It is the perfect place to take shelter from the cold, the wind and the rain, and it offers the possibility to sketch a more sportive environment.

That day, a table tennis competition was taking place, a great opportunity to try our hands at sketching a sports event.

At first I tried to sketch one or the other player in particular, but it quickly became apparent that it would be more frustrating than fun, so I focused purely on very fast action drawings.

I have to admit I'm not a particular fan of table tennis, but watching the games was pretty interesting.

After a while, I noticed that most players, even some of the younger ones, have their own styles, some more theatrical than others, specially when serving.

One of our regulars, Denis, invited us all for a drink at the refreshment stalls to celebrate his birthday. Perfect moment to share our impressions and watch some of the games.

In the end, I was so engrossed in trying to capture the action that I didn't even find out who won the competition. 

I did, however, learn that ping pong can be a pretty impressive sport.

More liaison officers

A few more of my liaison officer friends.

We had stressful but fun times and other downright hilarious moments together.

Christiane

Francis

Han

Irina

Isabelle

Luc

Yolanda

Carlo

Liaison officers

In 2015, Luxembourg held the Presidency of the European Council during the second half of the year.

In that context, I had the pleasure to act as a liaison officer for several European delegations during the informal meetings. 

I met many different people from all over Europe ; the Czech Republic, the former Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Poland, among others.

However, the best part was working with my fellow liaison officers during those 6 months. People from different professions and parts of Luxembourg, all motivated to make "our" Presidency as successful and pleasant as possible.

All good things come to an end, sadly, but to end this wonderful experience and show my appreciation to my colleagues, I made a series of portraits for as many of them as I could.

Here are a some of my favourites. I will post more in a separate post.

Mariette

Michel

Monique

René

Theresa

Laurent

Alain

Bruno

And yet it moves

Eppur si muove is the title of the exhibition held at the Mudam when we went there for our monthly sketchcrawl with Urban Sketchers Luxembourg.

The exhibition focuses on the links between the fields of the visual arts and technology, as well as the influence that the history of the sciences and technology has exercised on contemporary arts.

It was the ideal place to take refuge on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

I was immediately attracted to an installation with a vespa, showing its different parts and how they fit together. Like an autopsy of sorts. There was something kind of poetic in the way all the parts were hanging from the ceiling.

Unfortunately I forgot to check what the name of this piece was, but here is my attempt at capturing it.

Imagine all the pieces floating in the room

 Most of my fellow sketchers were more interested in a colourful installation by Jean Tinguely called Fatamorgana Méta-Harmonie IV. A button on the floor activated the machine, which then started making various noises.

Each part had a different colour, though

It was a very popular attraction, with many people waiting to see what the machine would do next.

I was surprised at the number of visitors in the museum, to be honest. Excellent occasion to quickly capture people on paper.

A guided tour was taking place. Unfortunately I was too far to hear what was being said