For those of you in the northern hemisphere, winter is coming. As luck would have it I am in the southern hemisphere and a hot summer is coming, yay! But in the interests of empathy, I have decided to turn my attention to those of you who dwell in colder parts of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am originally from the UK and while the UK certainly is not the coldest climate, it can be miserable in winter and I have had my fair share of working urban sketching activities around the temperature…and the rain…and the wind…and the general misery…!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you tell I am not much of a fan of winter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hopefully, this post will arm you with some strategies on how to go about keeping warm while sketching in the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your urban sketching time should not suffer just because it is cold outside. Urban sketching is not a seasonal sport. We can and we will do it all year round. Who\u2019s with me?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s easy to fall into the thinking that urban sketching is something you do outside when the weather is favourable or on holiday when you have time but that\u2019s not true, you can sketch on location all year round. In fact, some urban sketchers live in climates that are cold and harsh 365 days of the year…and they still sketch regularly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s take a look at some ideas and strategies that will both enable you and encourage you to sketch all year round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Urban sketching is the art of sketching on location, drawing from life and recording the world around you. This basically means drawing anywhere, any time. You can be at home, at the office, in the pub, in your car, on holiday, in the garden, in the park, in a restaurant – anywhere at all. Come rain or shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not the biggest fan of winter (as we have discussed) but some elements of it can be nice. Open fires, wrapping up in lots of layers and the general feeling of cosiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ability to carry on and urban sketch throughout any season is imperative to me, for both my mental and creative well being. Being open to sketch all manner of things in any location can really help carry you through the darker colder times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is so much to record just around your own house. A lot of people really embraced this throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown during 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hashtag #uskathome<\/strong> sprang up and sketchers took to the activity with enthusiasm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can sketch each room of your house, the contents of cupboards, family members, pets, the garden, the view from the window…the list really and truly does go on. You can also record the same things over time too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more ideas on how to practice urban sketching at home, check out my post here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a few videos on the Youtube channel<\/strong><\/a> about urban sketching at home too, here\u2019s one of me sketching the living room:<\/p>\n\n\n\n