I was the International Sketch Correspondent at the 13th Urban Sketchers International Symposium in Poznań. During the Symposium, I made drawings of everything that happened: meetings, workshops, lectures, art markets, sketch walks, and more… and I wrote a daily report every evening. Below is a list of all the reports, starting with the one from the day before my departure, August 18th.In the picture above: the booklet with the strict schedule I had created in preparation—my lifeline during the Symposium, because time management was just as important as the drawing itself.August 18Two days to go till the 13th Urban Sketchers International Symposium in Poznań. Many of us are already in the city on our way to Poznań. On the Facebook-group ‘USK Symposium Hub‘ I have followed some of your preparations – visit that page for some extra vibes.I asked some of my dutch fellow urban sketchers if I could share some of their preparation images.This is the backpack of Ellen Schoumacher – organiser of Urban Sketchers Eindhoven (a group in the process to become an official chapter). Obviously, she collects buttons. I am sure she will have some buttons to share or barter with you.Natasha Maurits made these wonderful business cards – I don’t think you can collect them all. It is always a good idea to have things to give away or barter: cards, stickers, stamps, etc.I am sure these stickers will also find many new owners. They are made by Ruud Otten – founder of Urban Sketchers Netherlands and chairman of the local project team that organised the 10th Symposium, in Amsterdam in 2019. I hope he made enough of them!Raul Budusan isn’t dutch, but everyone is welcome at the Sketch Days of Urban Sketchers Netherlands. Raul has participated many times and gave a workshop during our last Sketch Day in June. I have seen that many of you sketchers have been preparing special sketchbooks for the Symposium, but I think it is fair to say that Raul beats us all with the cover design of his sketchbook. He has also drawn his schedule for this week – I suppose most of us have been working on similar time schedules.I mean, I had to puzzle on a time schedule. As a correspondent, I will be in a luxury position to have access to all and everything during the Symposium. The USK Symposium organisation and the three correspondents have made a schedule to attend all worskhops. I made further, rather detailed plans to cover as many as possible of the activities in my daily reports.When you see me, don’t hesitate to ask me for one of my cards… they all have to go before the end of the Symposium. Looking forward to meet you all!Ready to go? I think so!August 19Today, I arrived in Poznań! Checked in, logged in, ready to give you daily reports of the Symposium!It is high time to introduce myself a little bit. I am a professional illustrator, living in Culemborg in the Netherlands. In my work, I make illustrations for educational publications, public information and magazines. I love urban sketching: being outside, drawing what is before me – and: drawing as a group activity. In 2019, I was a member of the local team organising the USK International Symposium in Amsterdam. I am president of the foundation Urban Sketchers Netherlands.Drawing makes me happy, and it is wonderful to make people happy with my drawings. That is why I love my volunteer work for the ‘Tekenen voor Kinderen (Drawing for Children) Foundation’: every other week I make drawings for the children in the Prinses Máxima Centrum – the dutch national center for childrens oncology.Looking forward to the start of the Symposium tomorrow!A quick sketch on Amsterdam Schiphol Airport before checking in.First sketch in Poznań, on the Stary Rynek.Me in Poznań – behind me you see sketch friend Ruud Otten.Extra: not in the original day reportA door in PoznańAugust 20This morning I saw how well organised the team of volunteers in Poznań is. I took a look at the registration desk and I expected to see volunteers working hard on workshop passes and filling goodie bags. But there was no one there: an ocean of quiet – rows of tables with passes in alphabetical order and goodie bags in nice rows against the walls. Well done!Here you see the Faculty Meeting: workshop instructors getting the last infos and working together to get to know each other better. I can tell you these people are eager to start tomorrow!In the meanwhile, the Art Market was set up. Not the serene, calm atmosphere as I saw at the registration desk, but hard work. This was a major unboxing operation.A very quick sketch made during the Faculty Tour. A guide led us from the Cathedral Island to the city center. I discovered that many workshop instructors can draw while they walk. As far as I know, nobody fell or got injured and everyone made it safe to lunch.We lunched at the Bovary restaurant. The brewery is up and running apparently – we were offered three large glasses of beers as an aperitive. My neighbor (I won’t disclose her name) showed herself a brave drinker and was able to keep her lines straight and her colours neat. Unfortunately, some of us couldn’t finish lunch completely, because we had to get back to the registration desk.At the registration desk, we wre welcomed by Ada and Patricja. I may have been the first to draw them today, I certainly wasn’t the last.The line of participants waiting for their passes. The Poznań team worked efficiently – by the time I finished my sketch, the line had almost disappeared.A few of the last participants getting their workshop passes.My last sketch of the day: USK president Ronaldo Kurita opens the Opening Reception. After the speeches, I enjoyed a drink and a few bites and of course the company of many sketchers. What a nice sketching family are we!Extra: not in the original day reportView from room 1605 of the NovotelKris and Elisabeth, sketched during the Faculty TourAugust 21The day started with a breakfast with a view on the USK Board. It all looked pretty serious, so I think they were talking about important issues.I attended the lecture ‘Sketching in the arctic’ by Elizabeth Alley. She talked about her preparation for a boat trip to Spitzbergen: for instance, she put her drawing tools in her freezer, to see what happens to them. And of course she talked about life on board and the way her art changed while she worked there.Finally: workshops! I had to report on three workshops today, so I had to draw really quick this morning. My first workshop was ‘Evoking Mood through Colour’ by Shari Blaukopf. I had to start drawing while she explained things about colour choices, palettes and warm and cold colours – my drawing was based on these first instructions.Stephanie Bower’s ‘Look up’ was up next. I was happy to find the location – Stephanie is not only good in explaining perspective, but also in explaining directions. Anyway, participants had to draw a high tower, using three points perspective. Highly technical, but I think it is good to know these basic drawing rules – even if you decide not to use them.When I met Rita Sabler’s group, they were just finished with instructions and exercises and were sent out to make their final assignment. Rita explained to me the goals of her workshop ‘Simple sketches, Big stories’ and I tried to make something about her ‘croissant’ assignment. At the throw down, it was immediately clear that I had missed the instructions… but anyway, you get an idea of her workshop.The Art Market is an artist’s paradise. What can I say about it? There is more to buy than I can afford – the old economic law that governs my life.Olivia Marcus gave a demo how she captures a crowded scene. I can tell you that she has a different approach to it than you see in my sketch. Just take a look at her drawings online and admire them.Sketchwalk 2 brought us to green places in Poznań. You see sketchers sitting next to the statue ‘Peacock’, made by Anna Krzymańska (thanks to my fellow correspondent Anna for the information). ‘Green’ was the theme of the Sketchwalk, and green it was.My last sketch of the day, made at the second stop of the Sketchwalk: a skate park. I love to draw scenes with graffiti, so I forgot all about the ‘green’ theme. Sketching makes you hungry, so I went for dinner with sketch friends. See you tomorrow!Extra: not in the original day reportIce cream car at the Stary BrowarMitoAugust 22 Today I started at the Info Desk. I appreciate the volunteers who run it… there are busy moments, but also very quiet hours. But they are there when we need them. At the Info Desk you can also find all kinds of stamps – go there to add stamps from different Polish groups to your stamp collection.I really enjoyed Rita Sabler’s lecture ‘When photography falls short’. She told us great stories about her projects and how a sketch pad and a pencil helps to establish contacts with other people. Inspiring!Dan Archer’s workshop ‘The word in the street’ also was about capturing stories on paper. I was there during the first part of the workshop, when Dan talked mostly about technical details. Later on – unfortunately, I wasn’t there anymore – he and his participants brought the instructions into practice when they visited a bookbinder’s shop. That must have been an adventure!I went to my second workshop of the day, Farah Iran’s ‘Sketching through the lens of coloured paper’. It took me an hour to find the group, because they had moved to an ‘unknown’ location – it is appropriate that the ‘Lost & Found’ section of the Info Desk could give me the good directions. Anyway, I found them. The group had prepared their coloured papers with stencilled texts and patterns, and were drawing over that groundwork. I tried to catch up, but at the throw down it was clearly visible that I missed a part. But still, I hope my sketch will inspire you to try out coloured paper in your drawings.A sketch of the Old Brewery. You might notice there are no sketchers on this drawing. I had a little moment of free time, waiting for the afternoon workshops. And free time or not, I draw.I had a lot of fun with Peter Rush’s ‘Boxes of Energy’ workshop. Peter likes messy places and he gave the proof of it when he hugged a dirty lamppost. Need I say more? Better not, I think.I rushed to Olivia Marcus’ ‘People Everywhere’ workshop. These days in Poznań it is ‘Sketchers everywhere’. I had to hurry my sketch a bit because of the Sketchwalk group that was leaving, so I kept to the basics of Olivia’s workshop.This is the view on the city hall from the Castle, the endpoint of the Sketchwalk. I was hungry, cold and tired. A Polish snack and a warm hotel bed will solve my problems. See you tomorrow!Extra: not in the original day reportSomewhere in PoznańSketches made at the end of the SketchwalkAugust 23Oh no, the last day of the Symposium already! I recognised everything Andrey Shmatnik told us in his lecture ‘How urban sketching changed the way I see sketches’. Like him, I am happy to have a waste bin or such a rental toilet in my sketches. Not quite the touristic view of things.I had a ‘first’ in Fred Lynch’s workshop ‘Hunting & Gathering’. Fred explained the purpose of his workshop: making vignettes. As he was talking, I was sketching and suddenly he took my drawings board to show it as a good example of what he meant to say. Thank you, Fred!When I went to Inma Serrano’s ‘Pencils, lines and Rock ‘n Roll’ workshop, I had the time to make two sketches. First was an exercise to create a ‘viewing path’ with two colours, the next one was one to use colour to guide the eye of the viewer in a sketch made by a black pencil. The participants could use a generous set of materials sponsored by Cretacolor.Usually, I use only drawings in my day reports, but today I will use some photos. This is Stephanie Bower and me. Stephanie wrote the magnificent ‘The World of Urban Sketching’ and she want to ahve her copy signed by all the sketchers that are featured in the book. I met her in The Hague last September, but she forgot her book, so we had a new chance this Symposium.In the Atrium of the Stary Browar, I sketched the stall of Renesans. They had some wonderful art materials for sale. I bought a great travel brush with two brush tips on one shaft – a marvellous thing.When I arrived on Liberty Square for the group photo, the square was rather empty. Time for a sketcherless sketch.This is a group photo of urban sketchers from the Netherlands. As I am president of the Urban Sketchers Netherlands Foundation, I know all of them. I was at work here in Poznań, but I really appreciated to meet you for lunch, dinner or at workshops. And they urged me to go to my hotel room early enough to get some sleep after finishing my reports. Thank you!The last Sketchwalk was a cold one… The wind blew these sketchers to a place that was not so picturesque.If I may say so, I have had clever plans for my correspondent work in Poznań. Except for this last evening: I wanted to draw all speakers during the Closing Reception. Did I know that so many speakers would be on stage, for about 30 seconds? Anyway, you see that my drawing got worse and worse.My last drawing of the Symposium: the announcement of Toulouse as the place to be next July. I hope to be there and see you again!Here you see three (of four) correspondents: Anna, me and Rapha (not on the picture: the correspondent for USK Poland, Kamil). We started in the early morning, sketched or filmed all day, wrote or report or edited the movie – we will sleep after the Symposium.In a way, all urban sketchers are correspondents, we all recorded the life in Poznań this week. When I was chosen to be the ‘International Sketch Correspondent’, I felt I became the ‘correspondent of correspondents’ – it was like winning An Olympic gold medal.Before the Symposium I thought being correspondent was the best job of the Symposium – now I know it.Thanks to the USK organisation, the USK Poznań organisation team, all the fantastic volunteers, my fellow correspondents, the workshop instructors and to all participants for four wonderful days. See you in Toulouse – and I hope to meet Miss Croissant there as my successor.Extra: August 24The day after the Symposium… despite the late hour I finished my report, I still woke up early. I decided to take a short walk before breakfast and the trip home. I made this drawing in the park behind the Stary Browar.A street corner in Poznań.The last drawing from Poznań: the view from my hotel room – number 1605 of the Novotel. The post Full Symposium Report of International Sketch Correspondent Roger appeared first on Urban Sketchers.