After my USK Chicago meet up I was totally intrigued with urban sketching. Initially it was difficult for me to get motivated to sketch. However once I got the hang of it, I started sketching often. Thanks to the extreme winter in Chicago, all my sketches were done indoors, mostly at cafes. I also did a sketch of Trader Joes (grocery store) from my window. I realized the more I sketched the more comfortable I got with sketching on location. I must admit that sketching on location can be a little intimidating especially for an introvert like me. You get a lot of looks, glances and sometimes even small talks. Eventually you do get used to it and not let all of that affect the sketching. Below are some sketches that I did on these months.

Once I started sketching, my friend introduced me to USK Chicago (http://urbansketchers-chicago.blogspot.com )

Its a group of Urban sketchers from the Chicagoland area who meet up once or twice a month at a location to sketch together. I was really looking forward to going to their sketch event. The first USK Chicago event that I attended was the meet up at a very colorful and eclectic place called Catalyst Ranch. This is one of the most colorful and interesting indoor hall that I have ever been to. Sketching there was a little intimidating because everything was really beautiful, unique and colorful. I was not only awestruck with the beauty of that place but also by the wonderful sketches done by the fellow sketchers. I was so nervous sketching in public view for the first time. However the sketchers were very encouraging. So I felt more comfortable. The best part of the sketch meet was the sketches display towards the end. It was so interesting to see the variety of sketches of the sketchers, the differences in them and the way each sketcher had perceived the same object in a different way. Overall I had a great time sketching and meeting the fellow sketchers. I was looking forward to many more sketch meet ups with USK Chicago.

I still remember it was January 2018 and I really wanted to start a new hobby. I was racking my brains as in what to choose and suddenly I remembered seeing my friend Xana’s recent pics that she posted of her sketches. These were Urban sketches which were sketched on location. I decided to join her and start sketching. I asked her what I required for sketching and she gave me a small list of products that I purchased from the local art store. (Waterbrush, Micron pen, Small Windsor and newton watercolor palette and Basic sketchbook) I met her and another friend/sketcher at a local cozy cafe. We ordered some coffee and I decided to sketch my coffee. Well I don’t think it was a great idea to sketch coffee as I feel its difficult to sketch food/beverages for the first time. Anyways I wasn’t focussing on sketching the coffee exact, I was enjoying the whole process of sketching more. It felt so relaxing and I was focussed on that one object. The outcome wasn’t that great but I was certainly hooked to Urban sketching.