My First Urban Sketching Symposium
I want to share a deeply personal experience: attending my first Urban Sketchers Symposium. It was a truly transformative moment for me, but I have to be honest—I was terrified. This wasn’t just my first time attending such an event; I was going as an instructor. I was about to teach in an event where I didn’t personally know a single soul.
Although I recognized some familiar faces from online communities and was surprised to find people who already knew me from social media, it felt daunting to step into a space where I didn’t have those immediate, personal connections. I remember arriving and instantly feeling the need to ask someone—anyone—“What’s sketching like here? What’s happening?” Yet, as the days unfolded, this intimidating experience became one of the most pivotal moments of my life.
For the first time since graduating college, I felt the joy of connecting with artists from all walks of life, backgrounds, and languages, who shared the same passion: the joy of practicing art. It wasn’t about who had the “best” sketch but about the love of the process and the camaraderie in creating together. We were all there to learn and grow, side by side.
The host city of Porto played an incredible role in shaping this experience. Portugal welcomed me warmly and openly—I fell in love with it from the moment I arrived. Maybe it was because this was my first symposium, or maybe it was the kindness of the people, the genuine artistry around every corner. I don’t fully know the reason, but I do know that Porto felt like the perfect setting to truly embrace storytelling through urban sketching.
Urban sketching isn’t just about buildings or places. In Porto, I felt this deeply; the heart of sketching lies in the story each place holds, the narrative behind each scene. It’s not simply architecture that inspires us but the layers of memories and moments tied to it.
The image accompanying this article is from one of my workshop days—a truly happy memory for me. I’m not sharing it to highlight my role as a teacher, but rather to capture that I, too, was learning.
