I am just relaxing after a big first day of my 2 day Sketching Lucca Workshop.

I arrived in Lucca on Tuesday at 1.30pm and spent 1.5 days scoping locations and sketching as much as I could. It is a stunningly beautiful town but it has been quite challenging to find perfect locations for sketching as it is hot, the sun moves a lot and there are limited shady spots for a large sketching group. Also the streets are narrow and pedestrainised, but cars still drive through – so there are no pavements that are safe from the occasional car.

I spent most of my prep time roaming the streets and tracking the sunlight and shade…getting to know the city in the process. It is lots of fun to prepare for an urban sketching workshop – you think you have a great location and then turn up the next day to find that something has changed – markets, construction etc. All part of what makes urban sketching so special.

I have an amazing group doing the workshop made up of 10 nationalities. Australia, USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Beligum, Swtizerland, Netherlands and Romania. They were really great today doing lots of new stuff… and I am looking forward to tomorrow very much.

Here are some photos and sketches:

And finally a morning warmup sketch before day 1 of my #sketchingluccaworkshop

I am staying with Katinka and Robert in the hills above Lucca at their gorgeous place. They run an Airbnb – Il Gallo. Airbnb.com/rooms/938523. A very special thanks to Katinka for inviting me and making it all happen.

Here are scans of my sketches