I'm going to Barcelona in July 2013

I'll be in Barcelona from 9-13 July 2013. It's going to be another sketchwalk holiday — the best type of holiday!

It happens that the Urban Sketchers Barcelona Symposium 2013 is also happening around that time from 11-13 July. There are going to be a lot of sketchers in the city during those three days. I'm not attending the symposium though. I'll just be sketching around Barcelona and then joining my sketch buddies for an extended trip to Madrid after that weekend.

I know there are many Gaudi buildings there. I wonder if I can visit them all. I'm so inspired after seeing Nina Johansson's sketchbook Drawing Around Sagrada Familia, and all the watercolour travel sketchbooks by Fabrice Moireau.

What should I look out for? Or what should I not miss when I'm there?

If you guys want to hang out and sketch, I'm all for it too.

This is terribly exciting! First time in Europe!

Winner for Art Book Review Contest #40

Winner

The winner for June is WritingPictures who reviewed The Art of Pokemon The First Movie. Congrats!

The prize is $40 worth of art books!

For all other books reviewed by readers, check out all the books reviewed by readers and past contests.

About this contest

The goal is to feature more art books with the help of readers. For each book you review on the forum, you stand to win a prize. To sign up as a forum member, let me know your desired user name using this contact form.

Check out details for the art book review contest.

To get some ideas on what you can review, you can check out these lists:

Seen from Boon Tat Street

Here's the sketch today drawn at Boon Tat Street.

That on the right is the Nagore Durgha shrine. It was built by Muslims of southern India in 1828-1930.

The street on the left is Amoy Street, and on the other side it's Telok Ayer Street. When the shrine was first built, Telok Ayer Street was actually a beach! That was such a long time ago. The area has since been reclaimed with land and is now populated with shops and high-rise offices.


Rotring Isograph, Graphitone on Zeta sketchbook


This is the original sketch that I think I drew in 45 minutes before I had to rush to work. I planned to show the tower in the foreground which is now cropped off. Turns out this composition is better than what I had planned because the shrine now fills more of the space. I added the graphite wash in the office.

Bishan library

We have wonderful libraries in Singapore and you can find them all over the country.

I frequent the library and many things I learned, such as web programming and drawing, are from the library books. I also used to borrow lots of art books from the library to review when I started with the reviews. Now, I would donate some of the reviewed books back to the library.

Rotring Isograph and markers on Zeta sketchbook