Urban Sketchers-Tacoma

The Birth of Urban Sketchers-Tacoma
One of my very strong art commitments is to urban sketching. The group "Urban Sketchers-Tacoma" evolved from that commitment.

 What is Urban Sketchers-Tacoma?

Urban Sketchers-Tacoma is a group for all sketchers who love to draw the region where they live, work, or visit. Urban Sketches are always done on location, from direct observation (instead of from a photograph, one's imagination,  or memory). Urban Sketching may take place in a city, village, or the country-side while looking out a window, sitting in a cafe, standing at a street-corner, or any other convenient location. Key to an urban sketch is that it indicates a location, no matter what else is the subject matter.

The History of Urban Sketching
The first Urban Sketchers group was created in 2007 in Seattle by Gabi Campanario, a newspaperman who has come to be known as 'The Seattle Sketcher.' The Urban Sketchers blog began in 2008, and then in 2009, the group registered as a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the art of on-location drawing.
What started as a small, local group has now become a global movement.

I attended Seattle Urban Sketchers in its early days. Eventually, I had the idea of starting a local urban sketcher group closer to where I live. So, in the spring of 2013, with the help of several mentors, and fellow founding members (Kate Buike, Mark Ryan, and Rom LaVerdiere)  Urban Sketchers-Tacoma was inaugurated to serve Pierce County sketchers (and those outside of Pierce County who would enjoy sketching with us.). 

What is the Work of Leadership of Urban Sketchers-Tacoma?
I was almost  immediately joined by other committed sketcher-leaders in co-administering this new sketcher group. We took responsibility to choose and preview sketching locations, gain any necessary permissions or invitations, post the information to invite the public to sketch-outs, maintain a Flickr group and a Facebook presence and a blog, and meet the requirements to join, one day, what became, in a few short years, a world-wide organization.  We applied to become affiliated in 2013, and in November 2014, having met all the requirements, became official members of the global Urban Sketchers. This affiliation will benefit our region's members. As part of the inauguration of that affiliation, we began our Urban Sketchers-Tacoma blog.

 Who may become a member of Urban Sketchers-Tacoma?
The group meetings are open to all sketchers, with any level of sketching ability or experience, who would enjoy urban sketching with other urban sketchers.

When does Urban Sketchers-Tacoma meet?
We sketch together the first Saturday, the second Thursday, the third Wednesday, and the fourth Thursday of each month, year round, meeting from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm. We always share our sketches at 12:30 and take a group photograph. Usually we gather at a local restaurant for refreshments, after our sketch-outs. Everyone is encouraged to post their sketches soon thereafter on our Urban Sketchers-Tacoma Flickr site or our Urban Sketchers-Tacoma Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UrbanSketchersTacoma/ (or, both.). It is voluntary to do so. However, one thing global sketchers have in common is that they like to 'share their world where they live, work, and play one sketch at a time.'

 Occasionally, due to special events or opportunities,  we add 'ad hoc' sketch outings to our calendar of outings, on different days and times from our regular outings.

The Urban Sketcher-Tacoma Blog is your 'GO-TO' source for sketch-outing information: Subscribe, so info. comes to your email in-box.
We will post our sketch-outings on the Urban Sketcher-Tacoma blog under the tabs Monthly Outing and Ad Hoc Outing. When you subscribe to our blog, updates for outings will come automatically to your email inbox. There you will learn about local, regional, west coast, and international outings, as well as a lot of useful information for the enjoyment of sketchers.

What does it cost to participate in Urban Sketches-Tacoma?

There is no joining fee or participation fee. (If our sketch-outing is at a location which requires an entrance fee, we try to be sure it is in a location that is equally interesting around the area, so a sketcher may decide whether to pay to enter the venue or not. ex. a zoo or a museum.) When our outings involve a lengthy drive from the downtown Tacoma area, we often arrange for carpooling.

What supplies do sketchers use?

Supplies to use for sketching can be simply a #2 pencil and a sheet of copy paper...or, a variety of supplies that range from inks, various pens, watercolors, water-soluble oil paint, colored pencils, and water soluble graphite.  Comfort, enjoyment, safety, supplies appropriate for the location are always worthwhile to consider.


MY OWN MINIMALIST SKETCH KIT

 
When I first started urban sketching I brought way too many things with me for the first few sketch outings.  I wasn't sure what was 'normal' for an urban sketcher to have with her or him out  in the 'wilds' of the urban setting.

I was insecure about what art supplies I might want to use to sketch, so I brought several grades of softness in pencils, sharpeners, mechanical pencils, extra leads, several kinds of erasers, masking tape, bungy cords (not sure what for), pens, watercolors-and palette-and water jug (a too large water jug), colored pencils, several kinds and sizes of sketchbooks (ranging from tiny to huge). My motto was: You never know what you'll need!

I prepared myself for changes in weather, both in the layers I was wearing...and in the supplemental garments to be found in my sturdy rolling cart. I was ready for wounds, hunger, mapping my journey, taking home my own trash, having a place to sit, a way to clean my  hands, ways to prevent sun burns and mosquito bites...and....the list was longer, but I'm too embarrassed to go on listing items.

My first urban sketcher lesson learned: One's gear will be heavy if one's packing-philosophy is: 'just in case.' 

So, now I try to be a minimalist.(and...often fail.) I decide what supplies I would enjoy using this particular day...no matter where I wind up or what I find to sketch. I try to limit myself to what will fit in my pockets, though admittedly, I have some jackets and vests with large pockets....and also multiple sketching bags of varying sizes. Second hand shops are great for garments and bags like these.

This sketch shows one of my minimalist sketch kits, and includes a black Micron pen, some white gel pens, a mechanical pencil and an eraser.One pen is missing because I used it to make the sketch.