Drawing Attention March 2026

Attention DRAWING

2026 TOULOUSE SYMPOSIUM PREVIEW

SKETCHING IN: GDANSK HONG KONG SPAIN USA

SKETCHER PROFILE: OWEN LABBÉ

Drawing Attention Mandate

Drawing Attention, the official zine of the Urban Sketchers organization, communicates and promotes official USk workshops, symposiums, sketchwalks, news and events; shares news about USk chapters; and educates readers about the practice of on-location sketching.

Thanks to this month’s contributors:

Content Publication Team: Tim Rutherford, Suhita Shirodkar, Chiara Gomiselli

Mailchimp layout: Chiara Gomiselli

Issuu layout: Tim Rutherford

Writers & Contributors: Suhita Shirodkar, Tim Rutherford, Kay Krhin, Javier Mas Pinturas

Proofreaders: Maria Regina Tauzon, Elise Frederick Shelton, T. J. Rutherford

Cover Image: Owen Labbé

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Urban Sketchers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the art of on-location drawing. Click here to make your tax-deductible contribution via Paypal. © 2026 Urban Sketchers.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this publication, including accompanying artwork, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Urban Sketchers organization.

This journey is brought to you by the word “serendipity.”

What began as a conversation over a piece of pie with Patricia Chow during the 2025 Carolinas Sketch Crawl landed me at the top of this page. I owe thanks to that meeting – and to my predecessors who have established Drawing Attention as the online journal for the remarkable community of Urban Sketchers.

Former DA managing editor Anne Taylor left a wealth of information to guide me. Our stalwart team of Chiara Gomiselli and Suhita Shirodkar, as well as USk Communications Director Maria Regina Tuazon, have done their best to hold my hand through this first issue. Thanks team!

This edition would not be complete without a preview of the 2026 International Symposium in Toulouse! This look at the “Pink City” and Symposium events comes via USk Toulouse. I’m anxious to make that first mark in a Toulouse sketchbook.

This month’s Sketcher Spotlight is on Owen Labbé, a Montreal-based

artist and workshop presenter at the 2026 International Symposium. Read to learn how sketching added a new perspective to his concept art.

USk Twin Cities had a truly once-ina-life-time opportunity to document the final days of the Minneapolis Star Tribune printing plant in this Minnesota city. It is one of hundreds of US newspapers that have ceased operations or consolidated in the past decade.

Of course, DA thrives on the news of our USk chapters! Our global community continues to grow and thrive, evidenced by features from Gdańsk, Hong Kong, CastellÓ, and Lleida.

Reach out with your stories, ideas, or just to chat – you never know where a conversation will go!

Tim Rutherford (US) Managing editor E: editor@urbansketchers.org

Ronaldo Kurita President

SYMPOSIUM WILL HOST 51 COUNTRIES

It is an exciting time for our global Urban Sketchers community!

On February 28th, ticket sales for the 2026 International Symposium in Toulouse opened and we were amazed to see each tier of tickets sell out in seconds. We will have delegates from 51 countries showing the strength, enthusiasm, and passion that define our community around the world.

Behind the scenes, our dedicated team of volunteers is working at full speed. Planning and preparations are in full power to deliver an unforgettable symposium experience this year. Participants can look forward to inspiring opening and closing recep -

tions, engaging sketchwalks, hands-on workshops, insightful lectures, dynamic demos, and many other activities designed to celebrate us as a creative community.

We know it is frustrating when you don’t get a ticket but don’t worry, it is still absolutely worth traveling to Toulouse. We will have a welcoming program open for non-ticketed sketchers, including the Art Market, the Bienvenue and the final Sketchwalk, the family photo and additional activities open to the wider community organized by the local team. The spirit of Urban Sketchers goes far beyond the ticketed program.

Looking ahead, we also have another global event that is even more accessible: Urban Sketchers International Week 2027. I encourage all chapter administrators to organize special events from May 1st–7th to celebrate our community, our mission, and our values.

Any individual without any chapter can take part too. You can promote Urban Sketchers within your local community, invite friends and family, organize a small gathering, or introduce sketching at a local school or

library. Outreach helps us connect with new audiences and share the wellness and richness that sketching brings to our lives.

Let’s keep this creative energy rolling and colorful from north to south, east to west and keep strengthening connections across cultures through drawing.

Happy sketching!

Ronaldo Kurita President, Urban Sketchers

JOIN US IN WELCOMING USK’S NEW COORDINATORS!

Fundraising Coordinator

Supporting Urban Sketchers takes care, time, and shared effort. Glenna Anderson, who will help support the work that keeps the community going.

Outreach Coordinator

Urban Sketchers grows through shared stories and connection. Nadja Ginete is a development professional, arts advocate, and co-founder of Urban Sketchers Quezon City. With roots in community organizing, she advocates for heritage conservation and cultural memory. She champions art and education as collective practices for storytelling and civic engagement, utilizing creative expression to foster community care.

Shop Coordinator

The Urban Sketchers Shop helps support our work in practical ways. Faith Tsai brings creativity and will help keep things running smoothly for the community.

Volunteer Coordinator

Volunteers are at the heart of Urban Sketchers. Reka Kovacs will focus on the people who give their time and energy to the community.

PEI LUK LOW JOINS USK AS EVENTS DIRECTOR

Based in Auckland, Pei Luk has been sketching with USk since 2014 and currently helps run USk Auckland. Pei Luk loves meeting fellow sketchers, learning from each other, and bringing people together through well-organized, welcoming events around the world.

On December 21, 2025, the Polsat Plus Arena Gdańsk became an extraordinary space for urban sketching as Urban Sketchers Gdańsk celebrated its 13th anniversary with the exhibition Gdańsk Szkicuje.

1,000 Sketches. 20 Countries. One City. Gdańsk!

Supported by the Arena Gdańszczan program, the event brought together 116 artists from 20 countries and presented more than 1,000 sketches of Gdańsk created over the past years. The exhibition highlighted how urban sketching connects people across borders and cultures, forming a strong international community.

Visitors could attend artist lectures and live demos from across Poland, explore an art market of more than 20 creative brands, and enjoy a communal atmosphere

enhanced by live music and a ukulele meet-up. The development of Urban Sketchers Gdańsk was recognized nationally with a diploma awarded on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for promoting Polish culture internationally through urban sketching.

USk GDAŃ SK

We love to hear about your chapter’s news, special events, joint meetups, and exhibitions and share them with our readers. Contact us at: drawingattention@urbansketchers.org.

USk

USk Hong Kong Celebrates Art and Heritage in Macau

Hong Kong spent a lively November weekend in Macau, celebrating art and heritage through the Macau Cultural Heritage Sketchwalk. Over two inspiring days, sketchers from Hong Kong, Macau, and across Asia filled the city’s historic streets – from the Ruins of St. Paul’s to Senado Square – capturing its layered stories in ink and watercolor. Under the warm sun,

laughter echoed and brushes danced, turning everyday scenes into art.

For many, sketching was both art and preservation – a way to slow down, see deeply, and record not just architecture but the soul of a place.

Each sketch became a lasting memory of Macau’s living heritage.

The weekend also proved that meaningful cultural exchange doesn’t

require big budgets or long travel. A simple two-day sketchwalk can be easy to organize, creatively rewarding, and full of joy – bringing sketchers and communities together through the shared act of drawing on location.

USk HONG KONG

USk Castelló and USk Lleida Become Twin Chapters

InNovember, USk Castelló and USk Lleida officially became Twin Chapters, by celebrating with a joint sketching meeting in Castelló, which celebrated its 6th anniversary. The group also welcomed sketchers from USk Maestrat, USk Valencia, and other sketchers from across Spain.

The twinning between Castelló and Lleida is not only artistic. The cities share a medieval connection and an official Twinning of the cities done 10 years ago.

The meeting was held in Castelló’s city centre, where participants took part in a Drawing Couples activity, creating shared sketches by working on the same drawing or completing each other’s work. The collaborative spirit of the day reflected the new bond between the two groups.

The historical relationship between Castelló and Lleida dates to 1251, when King Jaume I authorized the relocation of Castelló from its original hilltop site to the plain. This act laid the foundation of the modern city of Castelló. With this modern-day twinning, we celebrate a shared passion for drawing and also a centuries-old link.

EXPLORE OUR GLOBAL SKETCHBOOK

Since the release of Netflix’s animation “K-Pop Demon Hunters”, global enthusiasm has been burning hot. The reason KDH is so special lies in its settings: the stages in the story are real places in Seoul. Seoul-based sketcher and author Andy Oh went on a mission to visit and sketch the locations that are key to KDH scenes. See what he found in this month’s Global Sketchbook . ANDY OH

CHECK OUT OUR GLOBAL EVENTS CALENDAR!

A special feature of our USk website is the Events Calendar. Using Clubexpress account credentials, official chapters can easily put their meetups or happenings on the calendar for everyone to see.

Think of it as a bulletin board for all Urban Sketchers activities across the globe!

Make sure to put yours in the calendar and take advantage of our platform’s global visibility!

COLORS OF LA

UNCLUTTERED LINE WORK AND SATURATED COLORS ARE THE SIGNATURE OF DAVID MILLER

David Miller, an architect living and working in Los Angeles, CA, brings a palette of highly saturated colors to his vivid sketches. He has belonged to USk Los Angeles for nearly a decade but had his first sketcher experience at the USk Symposium in Portland, Oregon. David’s bold, graphic images come to life using ink, Gouache, and Posca markers.

Clockwise from far left: Dunsmuir Flats.

This is a modern apartment building designed in the 1930s. It stands surrounded by typical LA Spanish colonials. Architect Gregory Ain was a leader in Southern California design.

South Pasadena. from USkLA “Take a line for a walk.”

DAVID MILLER

LA City Hall -Day of the Dead in Grand Park. The gray morning rendered everything colorless except for the flags, banners and art. Unconsciously I inverted this and did the landscape in saturated color and the banners as gray.

SKETCHERS FROM 51 COUNTRIES ARE TRAVELING TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE FOR OUR NEXT GLOBAL GATHERING. IN THE SUN-SOAKED CITY OF TOULOUSE, LA VILLE ROSE, EVERY STREET CORNER FEELS LIKE A SKETCH WAITING TO HAPPEN.

Whether you’re just beginning or have been filling sketchbooks for years, this is your invitation to connect with sketchers from all over the world.

Learn from inspiring instructors, explore the vibrant urban fabric of Toulouse together, and rediscover the joy of drawing on location, side by side.

This summer, sketchers from all around the world will discover Toulouse, the famous Ville Rose (“Pink City”) of the South of France.

Perched on the banks of the river Garonne, Toulouse is a lovely place, mostly known for its characteristic orange and pink clay brick facades.

There are many things to see (and draw) in this historical town! Overlooking the waters of the Garonne, Toulouse’s bridges and banks create a wonderful cityscape, and make for great walks under shady trees. At night, the scenes take on a magical look, with the reflections of lights and bridges dancing on the moving water.

The city center’s winding streets are perfect to admire the historical buildings, like the Couvent des Jacobins, the basilica of Saint-Sernin, or the hotel d’Assezat, to name only

“The chapter is working hard with the international team to prepare this year’s biggest event.”

USk Toulouse

a few. And, at the very heart of the city, the Capitole square is an unmissable sketching spot.

Toulouse has a lot to offer nature lovers, from the Jardin des Plantes (“Garden of Plants”), or the Japanese gardens in the Compans Caffarelli neighborhood to the Museum of Natural History.

It’s also a very lively city, especially during the summer when many open-air taverns, called guinguettes, open around the city, but especially along the river Garonne and the Canal du Midi, a canal that connects the Garonne all the way to the Mediterranean.

Even outside the city, there are quite a few places of interest for visitors, from the airplanes at l’Envol des pionniers (“Flight of the Pionneers”), to the incredible giant wooden machines at the Halle de la Machine (“Hall of the

Machine”). Space enthusiasts will find much to discover at the Cité de l’espace (“City of Space”)!

And of course, one cannot talk about points of interest in Toulouse without mentioning Airbus, the region’s renowned aeronautical industry.

Quite a few stops to keep visitors busy for a while!

Toulouse’s Urban Sketchers’ chapter has a long history. Meetings started in 2013, first every 3 months, then monthly. Today, the chapter meets at least every last Sunday of the month, but sometimes adds extra meetings when special events take place or its members suggest a drawing session.

The chapter is no stranger to big events. They participated in the celebrations around Urban Sketchers’ 10 year anniversary in 2017. The year 2023 was a turning point for the chapter, when they hosted the Urban Sketchers France’s National Meeting, which was a resounding success that gathered sketchers from France but also drew international members, and created the dream to one day host the Symposium.

DIGITAL SYMPOSIUM RESOURCES

ONLINE PROGRAM w

SYMPOSIUM PAGE w

SYMPOSIUM FAQ w

YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CITY AND MUST-SEE ACTIVITIES AT THE TOURISM OFFICE:

A Ferris wheel is often installed during the summer on the banks of the Garonne river, offering views of the Chapelle de la Grave. Restaurants, cafes, and other attractions bring a vibrant energy to the historic French city.

SKETCHER DEMO

FEARLESS COLOR in mixed media

HOLLY CHANG IS AN URBAN SKETCHER FROM TAIWAN. HER PRACTICE FOCUSES ON MIXED MEDIA, COMBINING WATERCOLOR, GOUACHE ACRYLIC, AND COLORED PENCILS. SHE IS CONTINUALLY EXPLORING NEW MATERIALS TO EXPAND HER VISUAL LANGUAGE. BY SUHITA SHIRODKAR

Traveling to Kyoto, Holly worked on location using bright gouache acrylic colors and colored pencils to capture the atmosphere of autumn maples. Here is how she did it.

HOLLY’S MATERIALS

• HOLBEIN GOUACHE ACRYLICS

• VARIOUS COLORED PENCILS

• PENTEL WATER BRUSH

• MITSUBISHI WHITE GEL PEN

STEP 1: Finger Painting

Select your favorite gouache acrylic colors and use your fingers to apply them freely onto the paper. You can keep layering more colors until you feel the color combinations are bold and vibrant.

STEP 2: Draw in Colored Pencil

Choose dark-colored pencils and begin drawing your scene over the base paint layer. Here, I started with the rooftops and buildings.

STEP 3: Adding Depth and Dimension

Use a variety of dark-colored pencils to develop the darker areas of the sketch, adding depth and dimension where required. I used a combination of dark blue, midnight black, and purple pencils.

STEP 4: Creating Connections

Borrow colors from the original finger-painted base coat to create a unified palette. As I sketch the tree in the lower-left corner, I use blues and purples, and also introduce a tangerine-colored pencil to echo the orange tones of the base painting.

STEP 5: KEEP GOING

As you keep going, remember to add depth and color variation to your drawing. I use a combination of black, blue, orange, and purple colored pencils to darken the front doorway and make the building feel solid and grounded.

STEP 6: Last Details

Build your composition by drawing in supporting elements like foliage. Add details and texture to make the scene more lively. A splatter of colored dots on the stones and foliage was the last details I added to finish the sketch.

‘STOP the PRESSES’

SKETCHING THE END OF AN ERA

SINCE 2005, THE NUMBER OF NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES HAS DROPPED FROM 7,325 IN 2005 TO 4,490 NOW.

In December 2025, the last newspaper rolled off the presses at the historic Minnesota Star Tribune Heritage printing facility. The plant’s closure ended 158 years of the newspaper being printed in Minneapolis and is now being printed in Des Moines, Iowa, and trucked to Minnesota.

A month before the closing, USk Twin Cities was given access to sketch inside the facility. More than 60 sketchers showed up to document the building in its final weeks. They drew massive printing presses, towering paper rolls, conveyor belts carrying freshly folded newsprint, and the proud and dedicated employees.

After the traditional sketch throwdown, selected drawings were scanned and incorporated into closing events, including a hallway art gallery exhibition, a commemorative newsprint publication, and a final, emotional party for the newspaper’s current and former employees.

USk TWIN CITIES

SKETCH CREDIT

Far left: Des Sikowski-Nelson

Top: Heather Hultgren

Above: Kar-keat Chong

Left: More than 60 USk Twin Cities sketchers chronicled the last days of the Minnesota Star Tribune printing plant.

SOUTH AMERICA

WELCOME NEW CHAPTERS!

We are excited to announce 8 new chapters. Welcome to the global family of Urban Sketchers! JAVIER MAS PINTURAS

USk São José do Rio Preto, Brazil

USk Pouso Alegre, Brazil

USk João Pessoa, Brazil

USk Santos, Brazil

EUROPE

USk Youghal, Ireland

USk Dresden, Germany

USk Fulda, Germany

NORTH AMERICA

USk San Jose, CA, USA

PARKA REVIEWS

BY TEOH YI CHIE

Teoh Yi Chie is an infographics journalist who joined Urban Sketchers Singapore in 2009. He’s probably better known as Parka from Parkablogs.com, a website that reviews art books and art products.

This month Parka reviews white pens, brushes and markers. Check it out!

SEE MORE REVIEWS

sketcher spotlight

IOWEN LABB É

THE TIGHTLY-CRAFTED CONCEPT ART BY OWEN LABBÉ IS BEAUTIFUL; URBAN SKETCHING BROADENED HIS STYLE AND TAUGHT HIM A LESSON IN RETURN. TIM RUTHERFORD

f you, or your children, are fans of animated programs, you’ve probably witnessed the hand of Owen Labbé. Now, the accomplished concept artist for film, television, and video games is bringing his take on urban sketching to the 2026 Symposium.

Based in Montreal, Owen began his art studies in France but quickly learned that to achieve his goals, those programs limited his range. He took part in a Canadian technical art program for the video industry and then, like so many 21st Century artists, turned to the Internet to broaden his skills.

“I sincerely believe that the most useful artistic techniques and professional practices I use today were learned through online resources like (YouTube, online courses, and tutorials created by artists actively working in the industry,” Owen said.

The results speak for themselves. Owen’s impressive portfolio showcases elaborate conceptual works that laid the foundation for animators and production teams to build stories.

“The role of a concept artist as transforming abstract ideas into clear, readable images,” Owen explained. “These images are then used by the entire production team as visual references and shared goals. The main objective is to create and communicate a common visual vision.”

The work is detailed and time-consuming — in essence, fine rt on a deadline. The images are a spectrum away from urban sketching, but Owen sees many parallels.

“There is indeed a strong contrast between my digital painting work for film and games and my watercolor urban sketches,” Owen said. “In digital painting, I often spend a very long time on a single image,sometimes up to 60 hours. In urban sketching, I usually work within a much shorter timeframe, around two to three hours. This forces me to make quick decisions, to focus on what matters most, and to suggest a place and an atmosphere rather than describing everything in detail.”

The transition between the two methods didn’t come overnight.

“This approach took time to develop. When I first started urban sketching, I struggled to feel comfortable. I was still mentally tied to the high production standards of the film industry, and letting go of that mindset was difficult. It took many outdoor sketching sessions to truly loosen up.

“What helped me the most was considering my sketchbook as something private (like an artistic diary) without any obligation to show it publicly. This reduced the pressure of results. Watching many urban sketching videos online, especially from self-taught artists drawing in a very loose and joyful way, also helped me realize that I was allowed to explore, play, and draw sincerely without expectations,” Owen said.

Now, he explained, urban sketching has begun to influence his highly detailed concept work.

“I now work much faster in digital painting, making decisions as if I were working on paper. I have even reintroduced watercolor and traditional sketching into my professional workflow to get back to essentials and propose ideas very quickly, sometimes just on a simple piece of paper,” he said.

The observation skills demanded of the urban sketcher also serve Owen well when creating his concept work.

“I believe that to be a strong creative professional, one must first be a very good observer. We need to absorb what surrounds us and internalize it so it can naturally reappear in our creations. I specialize in environment design (interior and exterior settings) and I try to draw everything around me, even elements that may seem less appealing, like trash bins or industrial structures. Traveling has also played a major role in feeding my visual culture, and I try to integrate these cultural influences into the worlds I design to add depth and credibility.”

Owen is one of the workshop leaders for the Toulouse Symposium.

“My workshop will focus on line and wash. I will concentrate on teaching how to create stylized environments on location, with a strong emphasis on design, simplification, and the use of watercolor with a limited color palette,” Owen said.

Owen also enjoys photography (even though he doesn’t share photos publicly), video, and craftsmanship.

“Above all, I love traveling. I also enjoy reading, listening to music, and playing music.”

WHAT IS CONCEPT ART?

“The role of a concept artist is transforming abstract ideas into clear, readable images,” Labbé explained.

“These images are then used by the entire production team as visual references and shared goals. The main objective is to create and communicate a common visual vision.”

The work is detailed and time-consuming – in essence fine art on a deadline.

Canada.

Clockwise from far left: A narrow alley leading to a temple in Otsu, Kyoto, Japan.

The eccentric architectural design of Chapelle Santa Scala, Pointe-auxTrembles, Montreal, Canada.

Abandoned shop façades in Westmount, Montreal, Canada.

Owen’s Favorite Supplies

Camera tripod with a hard drawing surface attached.

Sketchbooks or loose sheets of 100 percent cotton. My favorite paper is Saunders Waterford.

For sketching, I use Prismacolor Col-Erase colored pencils.

For inking most often I use a LAMY fountain pen and waterproof ink, usually De Atramentis.

My watercolor palette is made up of several brands, mainly Daniel Smith and Sennelier.

I use Caran d’Ache Luminance colored pencils and Posca markers.

OWEN L ABBÉ

OWEN L ABBÉ

Our Manifesto

• We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation

• Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel

• Our drawings are a record of time and place

• We are truthful to the scenes we witness

• We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles

• We support each other and draw together

• We share our drawings online

• We show the world, one drawing at a time.