Travel Sketching Short Course- LASALLE College of the Arts
Yakun Sketchers are my community of students and artists who sketch on location every saturday morning, meeting for coffee first.
I teach this short course a few times a year with LASALLE College of the arts. Students who finished the course will be invited to join the community of other students and artists who meet weekly to sketch on location. We are part of the Urban Sketchers Singapore community as well as the Singapore Sketchers community on Facebook/Metaverse.
What you’re getting on the first lesson, which is conducted online I explain below.
Travel sketching Lesson 1, I introduce the concept of being a travel sketcher and what that means to me, and how it can be very fulfilling as a new activity for anyone interested to travel and be more than a tourist.
My students may come from all ages and all industries and culture, and one thing I love is that sketching is a universal language that everyone interested in the art of drawing and sketching can learn, and it’s only barriers and challenges are limiting ideas and stories in each individuals. These barriers could be any form of strict academic upbringing and education, cultural and religious beliefs and dogmas or just general inclinations and character.
In the first class, I introduce who I am, and what passions brought me to teach this course, what brings joy to my life, and the ultimate reason why I teach.
I will show students a selection of my travel sketchbooks. I intentionally would pick the most recent sketches because they are where my most current learning is, and where I picture the next phase of my sketchbook art will go. This process is a constant renewal of energy, a constant blend of self regulation and curiosity.
You are welcome to see my detailed lesson 1 notes here
I choose to publish lesson course notes here because I don’t see any reason why not. Students needs a lot of time to digest and reflect in the lessons they just received. And the notes helps this quite solitary process.
If you’re reading this and you currently are not enrolled in the course, if you loves reading, I encourage you to go on auto-didact mode and use my notes to learn on your own. I’d love to hear about your experience. Are the notes helpful? Are you clear with it’s content?
Lesson two is a saturday morning sketch walk lessons, on-location and in-person, where I will review and critique students practice works and walk through the location and demonstrate the application of what I cover in lesson 1.
I welcome all questions and inquiries, which is also why I set up a Coffee with Susan slots that can be booked for critiques session in person or online with me.
And with that, I leave you with this glossary of terms. It’s useful to have somewhere to refer to when you’re not sure what I am talking about when I say “contour” or “Local colour'‘.
Happy Sketching! Week 2 to 10 course notes will be attached on the next few posts about this short course.
Susan Olij