They came, they saw and they sketched our city! Finally after a 2 year wait the 4th USKUK Annual Event took place in Leeds from the 9th to the 11th of September. The event was sponsored by Leeds Inspired and Leeds City Council with generous additional support provided by some of the biggest names in the art materials market. The weekend was organised by myself and Louise Garrett with help from Mohan Banerji and Gina Glot.  And there was quite a lot more involved in organising than I originally thought including sponsorship, venues, insurance, risk assessment, health and safety, social m ..read more

Happy 10th Anniversary Urban sketchers London! Combine three days of glorious sunshine, over a hundred sketchers, some from around the world, and iconic landmarks and you have the perfect way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Urban Sketchers London. Arrived in London at 9.30 and headed for Regents Canal and Coal Drops Yard for some warm up sketches before heading to our first meet up at Gabriel’s Wharf. Lots of catching up with friends I haven’t seen for the last couple of years. Drew Len Grant, his Royal Sketchiness on his ‘throne’. Time for more chatting and another sketch before our fi ..read more

Oh buoy! I’m in the book. This year London Urban Sketchers are celebrating their 10th anniversary with a weekend of sketchcrawls, workshops and talks from the 22nd to the 24th of July. They are also publishing a book with sketches of London produced by various artists and I’m pleased to say that one of my sketches was selected. This sketch of Lightship LV95 at Trinity Buoy Wharf was done during a very enjoyable sketching weekend in London that included a sketchcrawl with London Urban Sketchers at Trinity buoy Wharf. I have always been intrigued that there was an actual lighthouse in London ..read more

Going underground In June I organised a rather unique sketch crawl for Urban Sketchers Yorkshire. Following on from my visit to the National Coal Mining Museum for England for their birthday celebrations I arranged for us to sketch 140 metres underground in the coal mine itself. We had great guide BJ and though the conditions were challenging, ie sketching in the dark, with the help of our mining lamps we got some great results. Above ground also provided plenty of sketching opportunities too. Here are my sketches from the day. If you’d like to see some of the sketches the group produce ..read more

Celebrating 30 years of mining history Last weekend saw a milestone for the National Coal Mining Museum for England as it celebrated 30 years since it opened its doors. Originally called the Yorkshire Mining Museum it opened on the site of Caphouse Colliery in June 1988 and gained national status in 1995. Since then the museum has gone from strength to strength offering a family friendly educational and fun day out for families from near and far.     On Friday BBC Look North created a world first with a broadcast from a deep mine. The weekend offered plenty to keep everyone entert ..read more

Leathers and Parkas in Sowerby Bridge May Bank Holiday weekend saw the 5th Rotary Club of Sowerby Bridge Classic Bike and Scooter Show. The amazing and it must be said unusual Bank Holiday weather brought out the crowds, don’t know how anyone in leathers didn’t melt. Finding something to draw wasn’t a problem. Finding somewhere to sketch from was. My usual solution in those types of situation is to literally get my back against the wall. This time this just wasn’t an option. So I just had to stand my ground, take the occasional buffeting and blocking of views and get on with it. Maybe t ..read more

Not a traffic jam, but a Classic Car Show Visited the Classic Car Show in Wakefield recently. I expected a few cars in front of the Cathedral. Boy was I in for a pleasant surprise. There were cars, trucks and bikes everywhere! The whole of the town centre. In fact as a sketcher it was quite a dilemma. What to draw? After having a wander around the streets I found the fabulous Nash Metropolitan. It was like a miniature version of those 50s American convertibles. Beautiful. And it was shouting ‘draw me!’. I also had the opportunity to chat with John and Dave, two friends who’d both built AC Co ..read more

One Drawing at a time: Salford and Manchester Started 10 years ago by Gabriel Campanario, Urban Sketchers has gone on to become a global phenomenon, with chapters in virtually every country. The aim of Urban Sketchers is to draw on location, indoors and out, capturing what we see from direct observation and telling the story of our world one drawing at a time. As part of the celebrations of 10 years of Urban Sketchers Salford Museum and Art Gallery December saw the opening of an exhibition of sketches of Manchester and Salford produced by members of Manchester Urban Sketchers, including ..read more

Sketching ‘The Living War Memorial’. One of the more memorable sketch crawls from 2017 was when Yorkshire Urban Sketchers joined with local people and artists on Western Road to sketch the trees under threat of being chopped down as part of Sheffield council’s controversial city wide action on so called problem trees. The trees along Western Road were planted in 1919 to honour former pupils of Westways School who didn’t return home from the Great War and were recognised as a living war memorial by The Imperial War Museum. What was particularly poignant was that the event took place on Armisti ..read more

Last Stand for the South Stand Friday the 18th August, Leeds Rhinos versus Saint Helens, saw the last Rugby League match to be played in front of the historic South Stand. First opened in 1931 the South Stand has been the backdrop to many a memorable game and magical performances by the greats of Rugby League and the South Standers, as the fans who fill this section of the ground are called, have provided the passionate soundtrack to the clubs success. A new 21st century stand is to be built as part of the ongoing stadium development. Here are some sketches drawn over a period ..read more