Sketchcrawling in Manchester

SCBWI BI North West held its first sketchcrawl day event last month at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), Manchester.

Children's book illustrator/author Lynne Chapman led our group of 12 people, including illustrators, designers, teachers, students and writers. We had the use of MOSI's wonderful Learning Loft as a base on the top floor of the Great Western Warehouse. 


Lynne started filling sketchbooks on train journeys on her way to school visits, and went on to become involved with Urban Sketchers. Lynne sketches in a variety of small easy-to-carry hardback sketchbooks, sometimes with grey paper and sometimes in a concertina-fold format. 

The contents of Lynne's small black sketching bag: 

*Wrist sweat-band (to replace a cloth, for cleaning brusheswhile painting on-the-go). 

*3B pencil & other b&w mark-making stuff incl graphite stick, white chalk, sharpening tool 

*Watercolour pencils (Inktense by Derwent) 

*Calligraphy pen which gives lively lines (cheap Sailer) with waterproof writing ink (Noodlers) 

*Variably coloured pencil (Koh-i-Noor) 

*Small pan set of watercolours 

*Clips (to hold down paper) 

*Waterbrush (brush with a small water reservoir) 

*Blu-tack with 2 plastic hairspray tops (to stick to surface and fill with water, but too messy to use inside museum) 

*Hairspray fixative

We had 4 sketching stops in total, about 1 hour each, spaced throughout the day. The first was at the Air and Space Building, with planes and roadster cars. 

Katie Weymouth

Pattie Callaghan

Jonny Wood

 The second sketchstop was at the Power House, full of moving engines and very challenging to sketch.

Lucie Golton

Pattie Callaghan

Lynne Chapman

The third sketch stop was in the Castlefield canal basin area in the sunshine (yes, it came out specially!). Some of us also recorded writing on signs and overheard snippets of conversation.

sketching & writing in sunshine

Adelina Pintea

Anna Violet

Eleanor Boyle

The fourth sketch stop was the view from the Great Western Warehouse (top floor or ground level). 

Heather Dickinson

Celia Hume

Lynne Chapman

writing by Gill James

 At the finish, we had great fun sharing our sketchbooks and writing. Being part of a sketchcrawl group made many of us feel more relaxed than sketching alone in public places. The event also gave the challenge of drawing industrial scenes and machines, out of the usual comfort zone for most of us there. Gill James will post a further article about this event from a writing angle in Words & Pictures Network News. 

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Anna VioletFreelance Illustrator www.annaviolet.co.uk 
annavioletillustration.blogspot.co.uk

Illustrators Duel it out in Norwich: Central East SCBWI Day!

Benjamin Scott

Writers and Illustrators took over the Norwich and Norfolk Millennium Library for a day to celebrate the opening of the SCBWI BI Illustrator Exhibition in Norwich, organised by Central East Network Coordinator John Shelley. On Saturday 27th July, with the Pride Weekend in full swing outside, 5 illustrators and 4 authors flew the flag for SCBWI British Isles and the Central East Network with sessions aimed at a range of audiences, from children to adults.


Norwich got its first taste of sketch-duelling with two quick-draw matches. Paeony Lewis gave the audience a sneak preview of a work-in-progress picture book, while John Shelley and Mike Brownlow sketched against the clock to illustrate the story. Despite their protests about struggling to draw horses, they created a series of entertaining and expressive spreads of father’s struggle to bring the perfect gift to his daughter. 

First Sketch Duel: John versus....

...Mike

Later in the day, Annie Neild took us into the world of a young panda trying to find his special talent in her picture book work-in-progress with three illustrators (Bridget Strevens, Mike Brownlow and John Shelley) bringing it to life before our eyes. It was revealing how hearing the book aloud and seeing the illustrators tackle the texts gave both the authors and the audience a new perspective on their work. Both Annie and Paeony talked about what they might change from their experience. 

Second Sketch Duel with Mike, Annie, John and Bridget

Although we were hoping for more children to attend the event, there was plenty to keep the curious adults who had come along. John Shelley talked about his career in Japan and the processes involved in researching and creating his forthcoming non-fiction picture book, Stone Giant - Michelangelo's David and how he came to be. 

John with proofs of his new book

Benjamin Scott shared his involvement in space based adventures as a ghostwriter for the Star Fighters series with a talk about book packaging, school visits and an interactive space-based quiz with tasty prizes at the end!

Benjamin tackling alien monsters!

Bridget Strevens-Marzo revealed how she brought pre-schoolers into the world of her book Mini-Racer using cut-outs and a clever road tape, and discussed how each illustrator has their own unique voice. 

Bridget and Mini-Racer

Mike Brownlow shared the journey of how Little Robots was developed and became a popular children’s television programme – he also treated the audience to a reading from his new picture book, Ten Little Pirates. 

Mike Brownlow

YA wasn’t forgotten as Alex Ivey read a gripping extract from her current WIP, sharing teenage girls first visit to an old people’s home.  

Alex Ivey

There were plenty of hands-on workshops for the artistically inclined with Julia Groves taking participants through her journey as an artist to find her voice in her work. Emma Graham led a group to discover their character designs.

Emma's character workshop

Throughout the day, there was a book stand offering work from all the participating members, including books, postcards and prints – with special thanks to Paeony’s daughter who helped out! 

Paeony at the book table, with part of the Illustrator's show behind

Everyone who attended had a great time, especially experience a blend of disciplines, as one of the audience remarked, “I am mostly interested in writing but it was very interesting seeing the illustrators at work. I feel so privileged to be given the opportunity to attend events such as this.”

With lots of positive feedback, John Shelley is determined to hold more events in Norwich soon, as well as support other members in the Central East network to do more on their doorstep. John wanted to thank everyone for taking part and helping with the event and the fabulous display cases – and everyone who took part wanted to thank John for all the effort in making such a great day in Norwich!

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Benjamin Scott is a writer and a former SCBWI-BI Assistant Regional Advisor. He loves talking to audiences of all ages about writing, reading and books. 

Getting back to Drawing: SketchCrawls

By Lynne Chapman

Lots of us illustrators don't really draw any more. We draw as part of our work, we might sketch as part of research for a book, or to create a character, but many illustrators haven't gone out with a sketchbook, just for the joy of it, since college. 


I rediscovered sketchbook drawing a few years ago and have never looked back. The fun and freedom of exploration and experimentation, of drawing for no other purpose than being in the moment, is exhilarating after years of drawing illustrations to commission.

I now run a group called SketchCrawl North, which has members from Sheffield, Hull, Manchester etc. We go out for day trips to various locations to share a love of drawing, and to inspire and learn from one another. The excellent film Mark Lomas has made, of our recent SketchCrawl at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, really captures the idea. Take a look:

Contact me if you fancy giving it a go with us. If you love drawing but are too far from us or from an existing group, try getting together with a couple of friends and starting your own SketchCrawl group. Here are some tips to get you started and help you organise a day.

Other things that might be of interest are my top tips on how to draw people in public places, and my film about my sketchbook work, on the film page of my website. Power to your pencils!

Norwich Solstice Scrawl Crawl

By John Shelley

On 21st June several SCBWI regions around Europe participated in a Summer Solstice Scrawlcrawl. Inspired by illustrator sketchcrawls but expanded to encompass writers too, coinciding sketching and writing events ran in Paris, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Madrid, Athens, London and several other locations. Some fascinating images from all corners of Europe were the result, many of which have been posted to the dedicated Solstice Scrawlcrawl blog.


Not to be left out, in addition to the Scrawlcrawl in London organised by Anne-Marie, I decided to run one in Norwich too. We had a great day here, with 9 participants taking part, members and non-members, both writers and illustrators. Here are some of the images from the participants (you can see all my drawings on the Solstice Scrawlcrawl blog and on my own blog Shelley Scraps)

In the morning we first walked around Norwich's old medieval town, covering Tombland, the iconic Elm Hill and the banks of the river Wensum near the Art School (here's a video tour of the area). It was a quiet, peaceful morning with relatively few people about, many of us concentrated on the buildings. The writers not only worked on story ideas, but also joined in the sketching too - multi-talented!

Elm Hill by Lisa Smith

River Wensum by Lisa Smith

Elm Hill by Maureen Nisbet

Panda soft toy in window of Elm Hill's Bear Shop by Maureen Nisbet

Tombland Alley by John Shelley

Rear of buildings, Elm Hill, by John Shelley

More participants joined us during lunch, after which we moved on to Norwich Cathedral.

L to R: Maureen Nisbet, Kat Erwin, Joyce Taylor, Cathy Fiddy, Elaine Mitchell, Lisa Smith and Paeony Lewis. In addition there was Matt Robertson and yours truely.

The late Norman structure proved a rich source of subject matter as we spread out to explore the cloisters, interior and exterior.

Cathedral window by Lisa Smith

Cathedral from the Close, by Matt Robertson

Exterior, by Matt Robertson

 
Personally I was especially interested in drawing visitors to the cathedral within the environment of the architecture.

Screen near South trancept, by John Shelley

Cloisters, by John Shelley

Finally we all gathered to compare notes before ending late afternoon. With glorious sunny skies lasting until nearly 10pm we could actually have carried on for hours more.

I think everyone enjoyed the experience and we'll definitely run something like this again. Many thanks to everyone who participated!

New Idea: the Tour de Sketch

By Lynne Chapman

On Sunday, we tried out a new sketching idea in Derbyshire, just outside Sheffield. Instead of our usual monthly SketchCrawl, we tried it on bikes. A group called Pedal Ready, associated with the Peak Park, sponsored us by providing free bike hire, which was great, because it meant everyone could have a go. 24 people turned up at 9.30am at Hassop's ex-railway station.


The 1st sketching stop was just 10 minutes away at the old Thornbridge Station:

Apparently, in its day, it was a private station for the exclusive use of the residents of the adjacent Thornbridge Hall (!). Next we continued to a spot where the path opened to lovely, long views across rolling farmland:
We had a longer run next, to where there was a twisted, old birch tree in a picnic area: We rode back to the cafe at Hassop Station for lunch, as it was too chilly to picnic, then had another slightly longer run afterwards, out to where the trail ends, at Coombs Road viaduct. The sun was trying to come out and it was getting quite warmer, so we sat on the grass, beside a field full of springy, new lambs, and spent about 50 minutes on our final sketch of the day: Then it was back to Hassop for a well-earned cuppa, where we sat round a big table and slowly passed all our sketchbooks around the circle. It was a real feast: big books, tiny books, all kinds of styles, rich with ink and watercolour, charcoal and pencil (as usual, I will post other people's work up in my Picture Gallery as they send it in. We'll certainly be trying that idea again!