It was a real treat to have a few days traveling with Suhita Shirodkar after the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Poznan. Not only did we sketch a lot together, but we also spent many hours talking about art and teaching. We discussed a wide range  of art concepts and started reviewing our work at the end of each sketch. It was a very special time!

Our first stop was Wroclaw. We only had two nights there – one full day, one evening and a few hours on the last morning – and we mostly hung out around the main square. After the busyness of the Symposium we wanted to take it easy for a few days!

Wroclaw Old Town Square was gorgeous! It was similar  to Poznan but on a larger scale – ie. more windows!!!!

The square was dominated by a beautiful but highly complex town hall!

Wroclaw is known for its gnomes which are scattered throughout the city. As you will see we only sketched one of these and we did that on the last morning.

OUr first Wroclaw sketch was from a restaurant looking towards a building that was on the main square. I was thinking about shapes and discussing mixed media.

Then we headed into the square itself. I chose the simpler side of the Town Hall to sketch first.

The last sketch for the day was  an ink and graphite sketch of a big view of the square.  So many windows!

On the next day, after some wonderful shape-based discussions over breakfast, we sat on the other side of the Town Hall. I did two sketches: I filmed a step-by-step video for my Patreon community for the first sketch and then this one – a second more experimental version.

Meanwhile Suhita was sketching a piano player with the town hall as backdrop. He was packing up and Suhita was finishing her sketch by  the time I arrived…

so I just had time for a quick ink and neocolor sketch. I then filmed Suhita talking about the composition of her sketch and did a diagram of what we discussed.

After getting a coffee (see sketch below) we were looking for an easier subject and found these animals.

We had a lot of fun sketching them (I was using some tempera sticks) and afterwards discovered that it was a monument to slaughtered animals! I might not have used a sunny yellow (happy colour) if I’d known this at the time. 

Here is the full spread with a coffee sketch and a record of a yummy lunch.

Sketching the Hansel and Gretel buildings. As you can see this is the 4th version using a Pitt Oil Base Pencil that Suhita gave me. The other versions are featured in my Patreon video.

We ended the day hanging out with local sketchers (and other visiting USKers) along the river. It was a lovely evening.

So special to spend time with Dora – one of the Poznan admins – who did this wonderful sketch of the group.

Here is one of my sketches from the evening.

We had an hour to spare on the next morning before leaving for the train and we finally sketched a gnome!

I then did a detailed sketch of our AirBnB – third floor apartment at the rear.

Here is the finished version.

And the full double page spread.

Sketching in the station and on the train – with a few marker swatches (Suhita’s were Tombows) at the base.

We had a lovely time in Wroclaw and we headed next to Warsaw!