Noamy's Birthday Sketchcrawl

It was very special sketchcrawl, dedicated to 15th Birthday of one of our group's youngest members Noamy. Noamy's sketches are always inspire me, her vision and hand are so fresh and she succeed not to fall to an automatic solutions and approaches. We all tend to fall into our comfort zone, to use tools and  techniques we're "good" in, and for me it's very inspiring to see bold brave voice full of talent.
Orna, Noamy's mother, hosted us in her beautiful and very artistic house in Jaffa. It's amazing that short time after everybody arrived, greeted each other and chatted a bit, suddenly the house became silent and the scribbling of pencils were the only noise in the air :)
It was a nice opportunity to sketch other sketches - something I don't allow to myself usually at our sketchcrawls.

Models on the beach

Finally hot days are back, and it's a perfect time for a beach sketching.

Sketchwalk with Jane's Walk.

Yesterday our group joined the Jane's Walk events. Actually, our usual sketchcrawl format fits the concept of Jane's walks perfectly. As it described on its official page - "Jane’s Walk is movement of free, citizen-led walking conversations..." We also do "citizen-led walking conversations", our conversations are our sketches. The process of walking, loitering without any purpose is a good beginning for finding a spot for sketching. Looking at everyday with eyes of a tourist is a must point for finding interesting story.

Gouache in Jaffa again

I'm in Jaffa again, having some sketching time with my friend Nathan. We're looking for the perfect spot, were we can combine drinking coffee and sketching. When we pass near Dr. Narghile shop, the decision comes to us simultaneously. We sat down in front of the shop on the heavy old chairs padded with red and black stripped cloth. I'm starting to sketch three men smoking narghile near me, but they're taking out their wallets and paying - what a pity! I need to wait for a new victim. It comes immediately - young bearded guy, looking for some calm moments and the last rays of the spring sun.

My second sketch - glance to the opposite side, to the busy junction with Jeffet street. There is so much going on all the time - tourists, locals, Arabs, Jews... looks like everybody have enough place and understand each other in different languages. 

I'm looking for the spot for the another sketch, decide to sketch the view just opposite me. It looks boring, big motorcycle is blocking my view, but I want to find a story in what I see. Suddenly interesting couple entering to my frame. Big blond woman wearing long black dress with a big split and red high heel shoes and red bag which complete the look. "Please, stay here for a while!" - I'm whispering. And what a gift - looks like the woman asking her man to take a photo of her, they are staying there for a few minuets, talking one to another and looking for a nice spot, finally leaving the place without taking a picture. But I got my few minuets to add them to my sketch and have the story I looked for!

I decide to do my last sketch inside my new sketchbook, which has horizontal panoramic format. Asian guy, obviously tourist, sitting down near us and ordering narghile. It turns out that the guy is from Hong Kong and he's narghile lover, have one at his home. Everything is global now ;)

Few hours passed like a one minute. Street is full of stories, all you need is to sit down in one place enough time, and all the stories will come to you :)

Sun, coffee and gouache in Jaffa

Sunny spring afternoon, we're having coffee at one of the corners of Jaffa. I'm pulling out my gouache set and starting to arrange the colors on the palette. "And what about the paints?"- the waitress is asking me while she brings ours coffee. "What about them?" - I'm asking her. "They wouldn't dirt the table?" "No, please don't worry! They are water based!"
Recently I'm in love with gouache and acrylic. I want to back to painting, the real one, as I did in the art school, but I don't have proper time for it. So I'm trying to bring it to my Urban Sketching. It requires more arrangements than just watercolor and pencils. And my bag is getting heavy. But I don't give up, and it pays back - I enjoy it a lot.

In my first sketch I'm trying to capture the whole scene - the street, the coffee drinkers and especially the sun coming from theirs back and giving all the characters kind of  aureole.
The couple on the left were speaking Italian, on the right - Russian. I felt abroad.

The group that came after were German tourists.

This girl with high hairdo arrived suddenly, drunk her coffee along, and continued on her way. I barely had time to capture her.

 And at the end - how not? My friends Nathan and Shai, smoking and chatting.

Purim Sketchcrawl

Every year I want to set our monthly sketchcrawl at the Purim street party, and every year I afraid to make life of my fellow sketchers too tough :) This year I dared to do it. Now, when it's over, all I can say is - well done! we're amazing group! It was so fun!
We met one hour before the party started, stated by sketching security guys, busy by preparing to the event.

my friend Rachel is ready to the sketchcrawl :)

policemen and thieves

people are waiting to enter to the party

Finally, the party were officially opened and Rachel and me entered to the State Square together with hundred of people wearing colorful costumes. The amount of people were relatively not so big, we could even buy a beer without staying in the line and find plenty of place on the grass to sit down and relax. It was so fun to sit under the sprig sun, to absorb the atmosphere and to observe the public wearing costumes and moving around. At the beginning it was difficult to concentrate, but little by little the beer and the atmosphere were absorbed inside me and I started to sketch. Each time I "hunted" with my eyes interesting character or interaction I tried to put it on the paper.

The music and the amount of people increased together with my sketching pace. It was almost meditative - free and unconscious flow. At some point I woke up and felt overwhelmed. Just in time when Rachel reminded me that we need to return to the meeting point.
It was huge fun, fantastic experience for the people sketching lovers!
I'm already waiting for the next year :)

Rally against the deportation

Maybe I'm naive, but being yesterday together with tens thousands of people protesting against the deportation of refugees in South Tel Aviv made feel hopeful. Hopeful that after all we're all human and that what will lead us at the final.

What is hidden inside the garden

I knew that setting meeting point for our Sketchcrawl at Levinsky Garden will be challenging. Tel Aviv is a city of contrasts, even in the most touristic place you'll find contrasts between new and old, beautiful and ugly, rich and poor. Levinsky Garden and next to it Neve Shaanan neighborhood long time ago turned to be kind of a different country, populated by immigrants it has a life of its own and you can see straight away who's a citizen and who's a tourist. We felt a bit uncomfortable to come there with our fancy sketching tools to "hunt" our objects.
I decided to start from sketching the surrounding, despite that what interested me the most were, of course, the people. I wanted to give myself time to observe the place from distance, to absorb and to be absorbed. The garden was very nice, wide and blooming. The atmosphere there were very calm, everything were easygoing. People - black men mostly - passed slowly, stopped in groups for a few minutes of conversation and continued to pass. There were a few "constant" - the man with the orange shirt who was doing his morning washing near the garden tap. And the man in the white undershirt who was walking back and forth while turning his hands - performing strange gymnastic exercises. Nobody created eye contact and didn't approached. I felt detached and not belonging.

I moved to the edge of the garden and started to sketch people. Here as well nobody approached, just a few asked if we're drawing them. Most of them were busy talking one to another.

among black men only who occupied the benches around suddenly set down Asian woman, smoked her cigarette and moved on

I moved to the playground where I found Nitzan and her friends, and around them gathered a group of children. At the begging children were suspicious - why would group of adult people draw in the middle of their's playground? But very soon they all joined sketching. It was so gladdening scene, with a lot of great energies - the real spirit of urban sketching which creates interaction with the surrounding!

one of the mothers in the garden

children are sketching

I also did some sketches, but mostly were chatting with the children and taking pictures. Our sketchcrawl was coming to its end. We spread out our sketches on the ground, children looked at them together with us and asked when we'll come again. Some of them joined us to the final photo :)


Here are some sketches I did in the Eritrean restaurant, were we were eating with Nathan after the sketchecrawl.

beautiful couple in the restaurant

This watercolor sketch was done a few days earlier, when Nathan and me came to check the location. The pastoral garden with complicated stories inside it. We should come back!