Last week, I attended my first Urban Sketcher's Symposium in Chicago and it was every bit as amazing as I hoped it would be! I was in heaven amongst the 570+ like minded sketchers in Chicago and seeing and meeting so many of the amazing artists and teachers that I have been lucky enough to take online (and in person) or follow online: Paul Heaston, Liz Steel, Suhita Shirodkar, James Richardson, Lynne Chapman, Marc Holmes, Anne-Laure Jacquart, Marion Rivolier, LK Bing, Uma Kelkar, Jane Blundell, Shari Blaukopf, Lapin, Jason Das, Stephanie Bower, Nina Johansson, and Paul Wang.

Todd and I lived in Chicago for a few years over 20 years ago and while Chicago was familiar, it was also very changed. I loved trying to draw/paint all the skyscrapers and all the public art spaces that have been added. Todd came along and had full days to himself while I participated in sketch crawls and workshops. Each day was so busy and fun! I plan to blog in detail about each of the workshops I took (Marc Holmes' Watercolor Silhouettes; LK Bing's Spontaneous Creation Of Dramatic Atmosphere; Marion Rivolier's How To Reach The Sky?; and Liz Steel's Lost And Found Structure; as well as Stephanie Bower's Watery Reflections demo) - so, stay tuned!.

In the meantime, here are some of my early sketches from the trip and some photos from the Symposium.