Adventures In Urban Sketching Part 2
Urban sketching is about capturing a moment in time and bringing the stories and observations that you find on location into your work, in a unique and artistic way.
But filming and teaching urban sketching ‘live’ on-location is no mean feat. It takes a whole team of people to plan, prepare, and film each workshop to deliver an on-location learning experience for you.
And that’s before we’ve included Ian, who has the difficult job of sketching and teaching his techniques to camera in some of the busiest locations, while surrounded by the hustle and bustle of daily life.
And when you’re as popular as Ian, it’s only natural that you get recognised and interrupted a lot!
From remote locations, to sleepy villages, and busy towns, Ian has a face (and a sketchbook!) that people just can’t forget.
While filming the Certificate in Urban Sketching in the historic City of Chester, it turned out that even the local town crier was a huge Fennelly fan!
David, the town crier of Chester, approached us (mid-sketch) to proclaim that he’s Ian’s biggest fan from the 18th century and has one of his sketches up on his wall at home!
The town crier had always wanted to meet Ian, and likewise, Ian had always wanted to ring that bell – and what a natural he was!
You can watch all of this entertainment in our Certificate in Urban Sketching Course.
But Ian is not always greeted with such positivity. Well, not at first anyway…
While filming the Urban Pub Sketching Tour Ian was absorbed in teaching how to sketch the Plasterers Arms, when he was accosted by the landlady, who wanted to know what this strange man on a deck chair was doing drawing her pub!
Fortunately, it only took a minute and she was completely enraptured by this stunning sketch of her pub (and Ian’s charm, of course!).
She loved it so much that she immediately offered to buy the original from him, which now hangs proudly behind her bar!
It’s all captured on film in the Urban Pub Sketching Tour.
FUN FACT: The Urban Sketch team are very resourceful. In our first course, we roped in family and team members to make appearances (even the cameraman got his 5 minutes of fame!).
We’ve used a team members house as a featured sketch, a colleague’s back garden. And let’s not forget our Welsh Collie mascot Maizie, who played an award-worthy supporting role to Ian, in Sketch Wales!
Watching Ian in action on-location, observing how he deals with interruptions, and seeing how he takes it all in his stride while continuing on with his work, is a masterclass in of itself.
We could certainly film all of these courses from the comfort of Ian’s studio while he sketches from photos, but we hope you’ll agree that our authentic on-location workshops teaches you more about ‘real life’ urban sketching than any studio-based course could ever teach you, and makes learning even more engaging and entertaining for you.
Keep an eye out for my next email where I’ll tell you all about the biggest challenge we have when it comes to sketching on location and filming our courses.
And it’s not finding the right location or drawing perspective!
I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.
