Big Trip 2010: Urban Sketchers Symposium in Portland - Day 1

And so it begins…

Gabi opening the symposium – so exciting!

Morning Workshop: Urban People with Veronica Lawlor – Powell’s bookstore

First morning of the Urban Sketchers Symposium I was doing Urban People with Veronica. We sketched people in Powells books for a few hours.

I was certainly not in the groove – many of you know that I don’t really like drawing people so to do that session first up was a little brave – plus we had just been given the USK moleskine so I was having a bit of a sketchbook crisis.

I ended up exploring Powell’s – going into each room and do a quick sketch with my Pocket Brush Pen.

Not the best start to the symposium… but I think it was just warmup for lunch!

Lunch

After the workshop, Robbie (a local) suggested we go around the corner to a yoga studio which had a great organic café. While I was sketching my food (as you would expect) he suddenly commented that the Mayor was ordering a coffee.

I didn’t even think – just picked up my brush pen and scribbled this in seconds – something I would not have attempted if it had not been for the fact that I had just been sketching people all mornning. Sam then came over, signed the sketch and posed with Borromini!

So yes, I managed to sketch and meet the Mayor of Portland in the first morning of the symposium!