Friday, May 4, 2018

USk Orlando 10x10 2018 Kickoff Workshop_1 with Woody Woodman



If there's one phrase that could best describe our first workshop of 2018 10x10 Orlando Urban Sketchers program, it would be; HIGH SPIRITS! Even the rain could not dampen the enthusiastic energy of the group and of our charismatic instructor, Woody Woodman. Woody is an Orlando artist, drawing instructor, and former Disney storyboard animator. All that attended had the unique opportunity to learn firsthand from a Disney Master on how to tell a little story in a rapid sketch.




Our location for this first workshop was the Farmer’s Market at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. We were taken by storm into the secrets of Woody’s animation world as he demonstrated to us ways to read body language and how to capture fleeting moments in our sketchbooks. Woody emphasized body gestures and humorously exaggerated his poses which caught us all in great laughter. Such repeated demonstration during the three-hour workshop was helpful to sharpen our observational abilities. Woody pointed out arrays of body details and movements we could see in the people around us- walking, sitting, standing, stretching, leaning, ducking, pulling or pushing- all the possible body gestures people share. 


For the purpose of this class, Woody presented a minimalist approach to urban sketching, just a mention of our surroundings when capturing little moments of people's lives in a sketch.  Woody pointed out elements from our immediate observation to include in stories. He focused on a dog standing by a tree being pulled by his owner, a tree trunk as foreground, and a corner of a structure as just a mention of background.




With the drizzling rain, we moved from the shade of the cypress trees in the park to the balcony at World of Beer. We got our feet wet but with so many fantastic people, beer, and our joyful instructor- no one seemed to mind.
Our group for this urban sketching Workshop included first-time urban sketchers, Disney cartoonists who came to learn more from a master, long-time USK Orlando members, and two of our upcoming workshop instructors, Greg Bryla, a local landscaping architect and an avid ink sketcher who will teach workshops 2 and 9, and James Richards, a leading instructor with the International Urban Sketchers who will teach workshops 3 and 10. 

Woody Woodman will be back in October 2018 to teach Workshop_8 of our 10x10 program. "Framing The Story: Finding Intimate Stories in Urban Settings." This class will be instructed in the Halloween spirit.

Till then Woody left a note: Hello gang. Today I am sharing a few drawings from my latest workshop in Huston. Before I left I had an Urban Sketches workshop in Orlando and one of the attendees asked a very good question. The question was how can someone add movement to the figures in the drawing. I work in animation and am very familiar with the key poses in a walk cycles. I am posting a few drawings from the Huston airport of people in motion and leaving you a few notes to help you with drawing people in motion. Enjoy and hope to see you in my next workshop.









 For the second year, Urban Sketchers Orlando Chapter is taking part in the 10x10 Urban Sketchers worldwide initiative to offer educational workshops to our Central Florida community and to our guests visiting our city. We are excited that here in Orlando that we are able to offer workshops with five talented and influential Urban Sketcher artists- Woody Woodman, Greg Bryla, James Richards, Kim Minichiello, and Thomas Thorspecken. Each instructor will bring their unique artistic skills and knowledge to their workshops of storytelling, sketch reportage, watercolor and pen techniques, and digital sketching.



To learn more about our Instructors and to find details about the nine remaining workshops we offer, visit our USk Orlando Eventbrite page and scroll down to see the list of our events.

Registration is now open to all classes.





  

Sunday, January 28, 2018

ART DECO WEEKEND SKETCHWALK



SKETCH-TOUR THROUGH THE ART DECO ERA 
as captured in pens and colors by the Orlando and Miami 
Urban Sketchers chapters  

Breakwater Hotel -by Thomas Thorspecken
Beach Patrol HQ - by Elena Montijo Capetillo
Being relatively new chapters to the Urban Sketchers organization the two Florida's groups from Orlando and Miami has teamed up in mid-January for the first time to sketch together. The Miami-Beach ART DECO Weekend festival was the perfect occasion for such gathering to capture in our sketchbooks the essence of the 1920's & 30's architecture, the retro lifestyle and jazz vibes of time as presented in a weekend packed with events by the MDPL. 

Art Deco Weekend was created nearly 41 years ago by the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) to showcase the beautiful Art Deco buildings of South Beach, saving it for future generations. MDPL’s early work was the catalyst that created the vibrant, world-class city we documented in sketches this weekend. 

On a two sunny Florida winter days and one evening, we gathered together on a sketch-walk exploration along the famous Ocean Drive and Collins Ave strips. 

Rows of Art Deco hotels splashed with vibrant colors, bold design, geometric shapes and intense color schemes welcomed us. Classic cars, retro fashion, street performers and Jazz Age bands were showcasing the lifestyle of the 1920's and 1930's along the Miami Beach's beautiful Lummus Park with the world-famous Art Deco skyline of Ocean Drive as the background. 


We were there to capture moments and times in our sketchbooks. 









We also deepened our feet in the beautiful warm South-Beach sands to sketch the unique candy-colored Lifeguards towers dotting the shore in an array of bright colors.



Presenting our story here we choose to focus on the different angles and views of same sketching objects as captured by the individual sketchers. This is where the personality and style of each individual come to life. The Sketchbooks throwdown ceremony as practiced by urban sketchers around the world gives us the opportunity to share our work, to discuss sketching methods, the point of views as seen by each sketcher and to inspire each other. Our joint art deco sketchwalk group included people of all ages, all levels of experience and skills, all share the same passion for sketching on location, from observation and sharing quality time with like-minded people.  


ESSEX HOUSE - 1001 Collins Ave
Designed by Architect Henry Hohaser and built in 1937 in the Art Deco style with Streamlined Moderne influences of that era. Its signage tower plays a repeated motif in other buildings along Miami Beach.


Stuart Taft - Miami


Noga Grosman - Orlando
Federico Giraldo - Miami
Robin Katz - Orlando
Mary Hense - Orlando



BEACH PATROL HEADQUARTERS - 1001-b Ocean Drive
Designed by Architect Robert A. Taylor in 1934. The backside of the building is a prime example of Tropical Deco - a style that mimics the lines of 1920's era oceanliners. 

Elena Montijo Capetillo - Miami
Qais Hack - Miami
Al Carro - Miami

DECO FESTIVAL
eyes on the street 
 


BREAKWATER HOTEL - 940 Ocean Drive
Designed by Architect Anton Skislewicz and built in 1939. 
With its cruise liner-like center tower the Breakwater hotel reflects the nautical aesthetic of the Streamline Moderne style that was popular during the Art Deco era. 

The Breakwater hotel has been sketched by many of us during daytime, sunset, and night.
Thomas Thorspecken - Orlando

                                                                            
Qais Hack - Miami 

Elena Montijo Capetillo - Miami
               

Jackson Chu - Miami
Norberto Trobo - Buenos Aires 

Pam Schwartz - Orlando
Al Carro - Miami
Noga Grosman - Orlando
Nina Benavidez - Buenos Aires
Capt Barry - Virginia

DECO FESTIVAL
eyes on the street 

   ART DECO at the BEACH
Miami's Candy-colored Lifeguard Towers and a Tropical Deco Vibe
Designed by architect William Lane, who began working on them more than 20 years ago.
 Dotting the shore in vivid contrast to the sparkling blue ocean stands an array of bright colored lifeguard towers, each with a very unique art deco design and its own piece of history.  

We might say our sketches here are just the beginning of sketch collection we hope more urban sketchers will love adding to this story when visiting the South Beach, Miami Shores. 

Noga Grosman - Orlando
Elena Montijo Capetillo - Miami 
Jackson Chu - Miami
Margaret Gibson - Orlando
Elena  Montijo Capetillo - Miami



Robin Katz - Orlando 


Noga Grosman - Orlando


DECO FESTIVAL
eyes on the street
 Norberto Trobo - Buenos Aires
Greg Bryla - Orlando

EDISON HOTEL - 960 Ocean Drive
a gem among the Art Deco
Designed by Architect Henry Hohaser in 1935.
The urge to create medieval Spain was popularized in the 1920's and persisted into the 1930'. Carrying out this Hispanic myth, Hohauser dressed up this concrete facade with Romanesque motifs, such as the twisted columnettes.


Margaret Gibson - Orlando

Tommy Gonzale - Miami

Greg Bryla - Orlando

Thomas Thorspecken - Orlando

DECO FESTIVAL
eyes on the street  
 Federico Geraldo
Capt Barry
Thomas Thorspecken

CASA CASUARINA - 1114 Ocean Drive
Designed by Henry La Pointe, 1930
Was the former home of Gianni Versace
This building was created in the full measure of the Mediterranean Style, with an open courtyard just inside the entrance. The facade has a medieval flavor with its two stories splayed “Gothic” archway. Typical of the Mediterranean Style, the building’s design is asymmetrical. Stop long enough to view the kneeling nude statue which graces the entrance of the building. The statue was cast in Los Angeles in 1928 and sculpted by V.K. Vuchinich.

Elena  Montijo Capetillo - Miami

Noga Grosman - Orlando

Qais Hack - Miami

Nina Benavidez - Buenos Aires

Norberto Trobo - Buenos Aires

THE SHERBROOKE and THE WALDORF 
and the list of the Art Decos goes on and on as much as the eye can see

Adolfo Montalvo - Miami


 Qais Hack - Miami

Pam Schwartz - Orlando

Capt Barry - Virginia 
Magaret Gibson - Orlando

LUMMUS PARK
 Lummus Park was sold to the city in 1915 to be used as a public park. The beach is one of the nicest on Miami Beach.



A R T   D E C O   F A C T S

The era where the Art Deco flourished throughout Miami Beach was known as 'Miami Beach Spring to Life'.
The new Tropical Playground developed by Carl Fisher, a far sight developer, attracted millionaires to invest and live there. Next came a wave of upper-middle-class snowbirds, but the big "block-party" and the "boom" had ended when World War 2 erupted.

Facts about the Art Deco movement:
  • Born in Europe
  • First introduced in 1925 at the "Exposition des Arts Decoratifs" in Paris.
  • It has been flourished internationally through the 20's and 30's.
  • Has influenced not only architecture but many other areas of design such as; Commercial Art; Fine Art; Home furnishing; Fashion design.
  • Its pastel colors, streamlined rectilinear forms, and airbrush idealism developed out of the French Art Nouveau that preceded the Art Deco.
  • Art Deco has been influenced by the ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Mayan decorative motifs. Also by Cubist painting and Machine age sensibilities.