Athens urban sketching workshop is a 1 week (1-7th October 2024) sketching experience in the city of Athens and surroundings.
This workshop is self-made, that is, each participant organizes their trip (hotel and flights) and every day we meet as a group to give the workshop and visit Athens and its surroundings. I will suggest a hotel in the center (Cecil Hotel), although everyone can book wherever they want, in the area near Monastiraki.
The plan is to visit places in a group (or on your own) in the morning. Whoever chooses to do it in the group will receive tips for quick sketches in the places we visit. Whoever does it on their own will have the entire morning free, without a workshop. And in the afternoons we will all draw together in some chosen places, according to the theme of the day.
We will have meals as a group, each one paying for their own food; although whoever wants can eat on their own and rejoin the group later.
Since it is a self-made trip, you can go with a companion (free of charge). In the morning he/she can join the visits; In the afternoons he/she would have free time.
Save the dates
The workshop will take place from 1st october to 7th october 2024.
Deadline for reservations is 30th JUNE 2024. If we don’t reach the minimum of 7 participants for that date, the workshop will be cancelled and all the deposits refunded.
The program of the urban sketching workshop
| TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1 | Arrival of the participants. Dinner at a restaurant in Plaka to get to know each other and give instructions for the week. | |
| WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2 | Visit of the center of Athens (Acropolis, Agora, Plaka). Afternoon: Drawing in Plaka. | Topic: Perspective and basic shape of buildings |
| THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3 | Visit of the National Archaeological Museum. We will sketch around the Omonia area. | Topic: More complex urban scene, with trees and cars |
| FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4 | Visit Delphi all day. Drawing at archaeological sites. | Topic: Lettering and composition of a double page with maps, texts… |
| SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 | Beach near Athens. We will draw the beach and people. Afternoon: trip to Cape Sounion. | Topic: People & sunsets |
| SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6 | Visit Aegina by ferry all day. We will draw in Piraeus and on the island of Aegina. | Topic: Boats and marinas |
| MONDAY, OCTOBER 7 | Last sketches in Monastiraki in the morning before leaving. Return flight and farewell to the workshop. |
Who is this urban sketching workshop for?
This urban sketching workshop is designed for beginners as we will sketch each scene from scratch. No previous experience is necessary, just the desire to sketch and have fun with it. Every day we will raise the level a little bit and each one will advance at their own pace. You will have constant supervision by my side.
If you want to go warm up a bit before, I have a YouTube channel with many initiation videos. They are spoken in Spanish, but you have English subtitles.
They are grouped in “playlists” by theme:
- START: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQoDxWodmkmv4PA8Q9oqmnYXkkUpTpusn
- MEDIUM LEVEL: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQoDxWodmkmto02bsgXVzbrArRNPxSeB6
- MATERIALS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQoDxWodmkmspX9Gnc2-VbQYoMlcaAYxt
- PEOPLE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQoDxWodmkmuIDwcJdVkvp_1Q1kGJdUI0
- PLANTS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQoDxWodmkmsSVkZ20osL8exBH7umIAcP
- PERSPECTIVE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQoDxWodmkmtRN0r_HSFIt89vMW3_7cBa
- WATERCOLOR: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQoDxWodmkmvihiyoZTeKseZTtokV1r-y
- URBAN SKETCHING: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQoDxWodmkmsRbpQm4QS6Hmz_mJJSB-jA
Meet the Instructor
Joaquin is a Spanish watercolorist and urban artist. He speaks Spanish, English and French fluently.
He has been conducting urban sketching workshops for about 10 years (especially for beginners in urban sketching) in Madrid, Crete, Morocco, Thailand, New Zealand, France, Italy, Holland and Portugal.
His experience as an urbansketcher dates back to 2010. He was founder of the USK Madrid group (https://www.instagram.com/uskmadrid/) and official workshop instructor at the Auckland 2023 Urbansketchers International Symposium.
COST of the workshop in €
400 € (workshop only, 6 days)
As a reference, the flight from Madrid would cost around 220 USD. The night in an average hotel in Athens is around 54-75 USD (450$ for the 6 nights). Trip to Delphi, about 27 USD. Ferry to Aegina, about 21 USD each way, meals about 22 USD each (264 USD for 12 meals). And my workshop 430 USD for the 6 days. Roughly about 1433 USD per person for the whole week (if you travel from Europe).
Non sketching companions
Obviously, if you come with a non sketching travel companion, he/she doesn’t have to pay anything to me. In the morning he/she can join the group for the visits; In the afternoons he/she would have free time.
WHAT IS INCLUDED
6 full-day classes. Quick sketches in the morning visits and full drawings in the afternoon.
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED
Plane ticket to/from Athens (Greece)
Accomodation
Travel insurance
Food and beverages
Attractions tickets Transportation (metro in Athens, bus to Delphi, Aegina ferry)
How to book
To reserve a spot in this sketching adventure, just click the below button to make a 1st deposit of 200 €.
This deposit is not refundable. It will only be refunded if the workshop is NOT GREENLIGHTED (if we don’t reach the minimum group of 7 before the deadline of 30th June 2024). Please DO NOT buy any plane tickets or make any non refundable hotel reservations until we reach the greenlight.
Greenlighting the urban sletching workshop
The workshop will be greenlighted when we reach a minimum of 7 persons that have paid the deposit. In that moment we will send an e-mail to all the participants, so they can arrange the flights and hotel reservations. From that moment the workshop will go on 100% sure.
We will create then a Whatsapp group so we can easily share info and comments about the workshop.
Final payment of the urban sketching workshop
You can make the second part of the payment (200 €) ON ARRIVAL, in cash.
Size of the group
The MINIMUM size of the group will be 7 persons for this urban sketching workshop. Below that minimum the workshop won’t be greenlighted. The MAXIMUM size of the group will be 15 persons.
The workshop will be given in 2 languages, Spanish and English.
What to bring (materials for urban sketching workshops)
Here is a list of recommended material for this workshop:
- Sketchbook A5 landscape (e.g. Fabriano Watercolor 200 gr sketchbook, hard cover) with 200 gr watercolor paper. Please avoid spiral
- 1 Pencil HB (Faber Castell 0.7 or similar) and eraser
- Water brush
- 2 callibrated water proof markers at least (0.2 and 0.8 e.g.)
- Watercolor box of 12 or 24 godets (Cotman Winsor & Newton or similar)
- 1 Brush round synthetic -size N°4 and N°12
- Glue and tape.
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