From Dresden we (Esther and I) headed to Berlin for 5 days and then afterwards I headed to Poznan, Poland.

During this period, we also attended a sketch walk in Potsdam with the local group there and ran into a few sketchers on the streets (although we didn’t see as many sketchers as I expected due to heatwave temperatures_. For some reason Esther and I ended up doing a lot of outdoor sketching even on the hot days! It was totally crazy but we really wanted to see the city (it was the first time in Berlin for both of us) and didn’t want to do a lot of standing up inside Museums.

We arrived in Berlin in the mid-afternoon and ended up sketching the Reichstag first off. We found a little tree to shade us and as I wasn’t carrying a stool I had to sit on my mat on the dirt! The air was so hot and dry that my watercolour was drying almost instantly.

Next we headed to the Brandenburg Gate. Even though there was some shade, the ground was too hot for me to sit on so I did a super quick crazy sketch standing up. 

I then managed to perch on the corner of one of the column plinths and did this sketch using a waterbrush. I was trying to work out how to adjust my usual water:pigment ratio to suit the super hot weather.

Our final sketch for the afternoon was at the Jewish Memorial and involved lots of shadow shapes. As the blocks were different in height and had slightly sloping tops , this was much harder than I expected. I also tried two different ways of approaching this scene.

On the next day we headed to Berliner Dom early as it was forecast to be the hottest day of the week. I did a few quick ink and graphite sketches to start with.

I really loved sketching this building with mixed media.

We also went inside (hoping that it would be cooler!)

Esther loves doing sketches of dome interiors so she was in her element!

I did a composite page of various elements – including a diagram of Esther’s tip of starting with the top of the dome.

We walked for a little bit and found an interesting intersection. It got unbearably hot after about 20 minutes and I was ready to move on.

The last sketch for the day was of the National Gallery. Super tired and hot after our big day.

We were VERY happy that a cool change came overnight and enjoyed doing a few sketches of some more recent Berlin architecture.

We then headed to Potsdam with my lovely friend Kat from Munich for a Sketchwalk hosted by the local USK group.

We ended up sketching the back of the triumphal arch as I liked the surrounding buildings. Then we headed to the Sanssouci Palace.

It was lovely to meet some sketchers and see Urban Sketchers friends – such as Uma. Symposium vibes were starting!

The view of the palace was amazing but I didn’t feel like doing the whole vista. So instead I just focused on one part.

I was talking a bit too much to focus on my sketch or finish it!

On Monday, Esther and I had a few final hours to sketch together. We headed towards the Berlin Philharmonie where I did a few different sketches. Here is the first one.

Then I did a shape-based version.

We had an early lunch and tackled another domed interior – this time I used Esther’s trick of starting at the top.

Our last two sketches in Berlin were at Checkpoint Charlie and a very cool sculpture of Bohemian Bethlehem Church. It was much harder to sketch than I expected.

Esther then headed for the airport (returning home to Edinburgh) while I headed to the train station. I had such a wonderful week with Esther and it was the perfect warmup for the next part of my trip… an International Urban Sketchers Symposium. 

Heading to Poznan, with Vivien and being sketched by Christina from Sweden who was sitting across the aisle!