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.

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.

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 :)

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!

Sketchcrawl at the Fleamarket

Sketches from our last Sketchcrawl at the Fleamarket of Jaffa - always vibrant place, full of colorful characters and stories!

started sketching together with my guest from Germany, Karin

people at Shafa Bar

municipality official arguing with a peddler, both of them cursing in Russian

Ethiopian boys managing the bussuness

after the sketchcrawl - hummus at Danny's buffet - yummy!

What a fun day!

Trainmen of Jerusalem

Friday morning of the middle of August. Streets of Jerusalem are hot and blinding. Movement of people holding drawing pads flows to the direction of Clal building. After while they spread out at the train station and start to draw the surroundings.
It looks like a beginning of the regular sketchcrawl, but still, around of 30 people, mostly not from Jerusalem, took trouble and went up to the capital at the morning of this very summery Friday, and are sketching with a lot of energy among the burning Jerusalem crowd.
It was very special and exiting meeting, an initiative of the organizers of "Outline - Illustration and Words in Jerusalem." We came to draw toward the group exhibition "The Trainmen" - cooperation with City Pass - the light rail in Jerusalem. This time the exhibition will not be displayed in the gallery, but will be integrated into the urban space - our drawings will be printed enlarged and displayed at the light rail stations, which fits perfectly the spirit of urban sketching.
It was so fun to sink slowly into the surroundings, to feel for a while that I belonged to this movie too - I'm waiting for the train, listening to street musicians, rushing to the market to do the shopping before the Sabbath... In Jerusalem everyone is a little strange, so it seemed to me very natural to stand in the middle of the street, between the Chabad stand that invited to put on tefillin, beggars, a blues singer, and draw all this.
"How much do you cost to draw me?" "Madam, this is a restaurant, do you think it's okay for you to sit down and dirty the table with your colors?" "You drew me! am I so fat?" These are just some of the turns I received that day.
Here's what I've caught. Time passed at the speed of light. I have to go back!

newspaper man busy with his phone

Arkadi from Gomel (Belarus) spoke endlessly, complained to me that he was no longer young to go to play at weddings and parties at night, and that being a musician is not easy, asked me what I do with the drawings. Accordion - this is the tool in his opinion!

The old Chabadnik with the white beard approached me and asked to see the drawing. "Am I so fat?" offended. The boy also jumped to see - "And that's me?" He was actually pleased :)

There was an old man with a kippah and a cool T-shirt with a print of Indian sitting across from me, when I started drawing him, he suddenly decided to get up. I asked to stay a little longer and he agreed. He told me he was a man of the world when he was young - he went to America and stayed there for 20 years. He lived in various cities - from the east to the west, there is no city he had not visited. "What are you do for living?" I asked. "I'm Jack of all trades! I was good there!" "So why did you come back?" "My wife died ... I had a good wife ... I'm going to America again soon." He asked to see the drawing. "You've also painted the Indian!"

People from HaTikva Market

Hot Friday morning at the beginning of July - nothing couldn't stop us to meet for the sketchcrawl at the HaTikva Market - small market in the South Tel Aviv.
It's really perfect place for sketching, with plenty of authentic stories, colorful characters, without poses and without air conditioner ;) Yes, it's challenging, but once you got the adrenaline of sketching, you don't care about the heat, the shouts, you simply flow with them.
I started sketching from the entrance to the market - vibrant place where people move non stop, caring their shopping bags - you need to hurry on Friday morning to be ready for the Sabbath evening!

We were sitting opposite to small Shawarma place, so I couldn't not to sketch its owner, chatting with his customers about everything - from politics to arts and everything in between...

After the warm up we dived into the market! I couldn't help not to stop near the beautiful melons-seller, reminding by herself ripe melon ;)  

In the meat place were more reddish atmosphere ;)

Some more sketches from the central avenue of the market - and time was up.

There is nothing better than sketching in the authentic place, were real life is going on. Such a place fascinates me million times more than any fancy aesthetic place, here are people without poses, and stories without poses. I must to come back for more!