December Sketch

We met at Bluff City Coffee for the December Urban Sketchers Memphis Group. It was a beautiful, warm day for December. I drew a few of the buildings on the 500 block of S. Main. I've always loved the Frank James Hotel sign, so I wanted to make sure I included it. The building next door had a cute Merry Christmas banner up. I love the trolley lines in the sketch. I had fun doing this one and I scaled down!!! Yay!

We walked a little bit down the street to draw The National Civil Rights Museum. I got my watercolors out to fill this one in. I love the colors; seafoam green is my favorite.

Group pic:

A few of us went to the Arcade for lunch. I got a strawberry shake + fries. The shake was AMAZING!!! Here's a quick sketch before I had to take a bite:

December Sketch Group: South Main

Thanks to all of the new folks who joined us on Saturday!

There was a little bird hanging out with us.


























500 Block of South Main


















The National Civil Rights Museum


























Lunch at the Arcade Restaurant

great day for coffee and a sketch

I enjoyed seeing a lot of new faces in downtown Memphis today. The weather was great and it was fun dealing with the barricades that they put up for the marathon and tonight's parade. Special thanks to the guy who left his bike:)

Here's what I drew on South Main.

Next Sketch Group This Saturday

Saturday, December 4, 10am
meet at Bluff City Coffee, 505 S. Main

• The St. Jude Marathon is that day, so I suggest taking Southern to Lamar to avoid getting caught in marathon traffic. See the marathon route here, and see a map with the suggested detour below - click on it to make it larger.
• We'll walk around South Main and sketch - bundle up! The second map below shows a few of the great sketchable landmarks. And anyone who is interested can stay for lunch at the Arcade.
• Bonus! The Christmas parade is at 5pm on South Main from Central Station to the Orpheum - if you are interested, meet back up at the same spot around 4:30 for more sketching!

We're Famous!

Check out the article about Memphis Urban Sketchers in this week's Memphis Flyer!

Giveth

Elmwood Doodles

Here's a contour line drawing of a headstone from Elmwood cemetery because I'm a contour line kind of gal. I chose this statue because of the name - Apperson - family name.

The Leatherman Vault at Elmwood Cemetery

This is my sketch from the November Memphis Urban Sketchers Group. I used pencil to do a quick layout & then finished with a Lamy Safari fountain pen filled with Noodler's ink. It was my first time sketching with a fountain pen & I really enjoyed it! This sketch took about 45 minutes.

It was a nice surprise to find out I was sketching Mr. Davidson M. Leatherman's family tomb standing on the first lot purchased in the entire cemetery. He was the founder and first president of Elmwood Cemetery.

Time went by so fast. I look forward to sketching at Elmwood again.

Sketching with Memphis Urban Sketchers at Elmwood Cemetery on Saturday

I took my colored pencils and watercolors, but I ended up just wanting to use my pencil.




















































We went early for the great morning light.


















A few of us went to lunch at 3 Angels Diner on Broad


























Bonus! Matthew sketched Melissa and James in my sketchbook at lunch.

November Sketch Group at Elmwood Cemetery

James and Chandler drawing in the shadows at Elmwood Cemetery





















Mel showing her colorful fall trees





















Melissa's










































Chandler's walnut ink drawing





















Matthew showed us some paintings he did at Shelby Farms

Elmwood Cemetery

Great weather today at Elmwood Cemetery--sunshine and cool weather. I used walnut ink over pencil to make this sketch of a family plot, focusing on the graves of three children. I'm on the fence about the funky way some of my perspective worked out on the double-plot, but really enjoyed working with a brush. I was really attracted to the little stone birds on the scroll, especially seeing how weathered they were. It wasn't until I was almost finished with the sketch that I realized that the barely legible inscription closest to the foreground was LP, my daughter's initials. That was a spooky momento mori moment. I spent about 45 minutes on this--I hope Urban Sketchers Memphis helps me pick up speed in my observational drawing.

September Sketch

I admire people who carry their sketchbooks with them & sketch everywhere. I have also followed blogs like Trumpetvine, Danny Gregory, Wagonized & Andrea Joseph for years. I was so excited to hear Elizabeth was starting a Memphis Urban Sketchers group. This month (September) we went to the Memphis Farmers Market. I haven't drawn much from direct observation since I graduated from The University of Memphis (three years ago), so I was a little nervous. I started my first sketch, but I was being too technical & found it hard to scale down. I'm used to sketching an object but not the whole scene. It will probably take a little while to figure out which materials I like best. This is my second sketch & supplies:

I need to practice more & loosen up. I look forward to the next time. I enjoyed meeting new sketchers & seeing their results. Fun!

Memphis Farmer's Market

I attended the first Memphis Urban Sketchers Group at the Farmer's Market on September 4th. Here's my sketch from the day (top). I was real rusty, and I know it doesn't look like much, but it served its purpose.

I was able to capture the composition and energy I needed to be motivated to keep pushing it into a somewhat finished color drawing (below).

All in all, it was a great experience. I got to meet some new art friends and push myself to finish out a drawing for the first time in a while.

November Group Sketch

Saturday, November 6, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

At Elmwood Cemetery - meet at the entrance

824 S. Dudley
From Lamar/Crump go south on Dudley, which ends at the entrance to Elmwood. If you're taking the interstate to get to Lamar, take 240 West and exit at Lamar.

If you have any questions please leave a comment here.

Welcome to Memphis Urban Sketchers!

Memphis Urban Sketchers is inspired by Urban Sketchers, an international group who share the interest of drawing on location and telling the story of their surroundings. All skill levels are welcome, and participants are free to attend at their convenience. We meet on the first Saturday of every month just to get together to sketch and have fun!

Here are some sketches from October's group sketch at the National Ornamental Metal Museum. Left to right: Elizabeth, Juliet, Martha and Matthew.

Welcome

I'm very excited to see this new Urban Sketchers blog start up.

Thanks to Memphis-based artist Elizabeth Alley for rounding up an enthusiastic group of local sketchers to launch the blog.

Looking forward to all the posts!

gabi campanario
urban sketchers