Urban Sketchers Group Archives - Erling Ingi Saevarsson

Category: <span>Urban Sketchers Group</span>

Decatur Postcard

June 20, 2014October 26, 2016

I love to paint quick “plein air” oil sketches of my surrondings. After 2 years in Decatur, GA, I had accumulated a number of sketches with no real outlet for them besides this sketchblog. When I saw that the town had a juried competition for a postcard design, I put 6 of my sketches together into a design. My design won, and now the postcard is being sold around Decatur. The design includes this painting of a mill tower by the falls in Lullwater park on the grounds of Emory Collage. That is the only painting I didn’t post here yet, even though I worked on it a while ago.

Plein Air

43rd World Wide Sketchcrawl

April 20, 2014November 21, 2017

Saturday was the 43rd world wide Sketchcrawl. The plan was to meet in Piedmont park on a drizzly afternoon, this time I only saw one other sketcher. It was a nice day out and a welcome break from portfolio gathering and resume writing. I have long wanted to paint this old bridge that brings the Beltline through the park. One time I looked up and saw this tiny crawler on my canvas. This inchworm blended perfectly into the painting, and then I knew I had done pretty well with my color mixtures. By the time the next Sketchcrawl comes around, I may well be in another city where I hope to continue the Sketchcrawl tradition.

Oil Painting

Tree in Decatur Cemetary

June 17, 2013November 22, 2017

This is a oil sketch that I did in Decatur Cemetary this weekend. It was warm and sunny and I figured the only way to survive without melting in the sun was to find reliable shade. I was looking for some cool angel statues to paint when I came upon a nice shaded spot under this tree where I planted my easel.

Oil Painting

Cannon sketch

June 4, 2013August 6, 2020

Here is a cannon that I sketched on my lunch break in Decatur square. It is a fun challenge to attempt to complete an oil sketch in less than an hour. It really makes you pick your strokes carefully and think ahead but also staying loose and intuitive, because you don’t have time to think too much.

Oil Painting

Sketchcrawl 39 – Downtown Decatur

April 13, 2013August 6, 2020

Met with fellow sketchers today to participate in the 39th Worldwide Sketchcrawl, representing Atlanta and Decatur.

I brought my oil paints and completed a small oil sketch of a street corner in Decatur. Our sketchcrew of 4 was unexpectedly joined by Thomas Jefferson who displayed an amazingly steady hand at drawing, and posed with us for a picture. 🙂

Oil Painting

Fallen tree at Lullwater

February 20, 2013August 6, 2020

A recent oil sketch from Lullwater park. While painting this I suffered double equipment failure. Both a part of my easel and my camping chair broke so the last few strokes were painted with me standing and holding the pochade box. I really liked the lead white oil ground I prepared this canvas with. The colors do not stain the canvas at all and it is easy to wipe off, yet the surface receives the paint easily enough. I did however find myself using softer long hair brushes more.

sketchcrawl

Sketchcrawl 38 MLK memorial

January 20, 2013August 6, 2020

4 sketchers met at MLK memorial in the old fourth ward in Atlanta. There was a talk in the Ebenizer Babtist church with some children of the leaders of the civil rights movement including dr. King’s daughter. A few of us sketched some of the attendees. I was planning to do some oil painting but it didn’t work out. I did sketch some fellow subway riders on the way home.

Oil Painting

Decatur square sketch

November 17, 2012August 6, 2020

I brought my cigar box pochade into work and did this oil sketch over the course of two lunch breaks, about 90 minutes total.

Oil Painting

Sketchcrawl 37

October 13, 2012August 6, 2020

I took part in the 37th global sketchcrawl event. This time there were only 2 participants on a beautiful day where we had planned to meet, at the campus. I brought my portable Paint set and walked around with my sketchbook doing thumbnail sketches, and then picked one thumbnail to render in oil paint. It was fun even though I would have liked to see more people sketching.

Plein Air

Lullwater mansion

May 13, 2012November 22, 2017

Did this watercolor sketch on an outing with a new painters group in my new hometown. This is an amazing tudor style mansion and the home of the president of Emory University. It sits on a hill in a hidden park. I’m planning to come back for more painting.

Pencil Sketch

Sketchcrawl #34

January 23, 2012May 29, 2019

Sketchcrawl #34 was Saturday January 21st. I met with 2 other urban sketchers at the Harpa music hall in Reykjavik for a sketch outing indoors. The venue has seating areas open to the public where you can see far and wide over the city. It was a fun day out sketching without the reality of freezing temperatures.

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Pencil Sketch

Sketchcrawl #32

July 23, 2011May 29, 2019

July 23rd was the #32 Sketchcrawl. This time around attendance was up by a whopping 50% or from 2 to 3 people. 🙂 We started sketching at cafe Hressó that also has an outdoor area. Then we ventured to a nearby square and enjoyed sun, sketching and suds. I was using graphite and GraphitAquarell.

Nintendo DS Sketch

City Sketches

March 1, 2010May 29, 2019

Two quick Nintendo DS sketches, the first out my bedroom window the other out the office window that overlooks Reykjavik Harbour

Pencil Sketch

SketchCrawl 26 Reykjavík

February 28, 2010May 29, 2019

Taking part in the world wide SketchCrawl for the 2nd time. I met up with my friend Börkur and we set out sketching downtown Reykjavík. We ended up at City Hall on the pond, because it has a cafe with nice big windows. There was a chess tournament going on in the building as well so when the blizzard outside got really bad and the visibility out the window worsened I decided to do a few sketches of the chess players in deep thought. I used a Sketch and Wash graphite pencil with a Flow brush, a brush with a built in water supply. I had never tried the Flow brush before, a pretty neat invention. Had a great time sketching!

Nintendo DS Sketch

Bifröst Andanna

November 21, 2009May 29, 2019

Went downtown armed with a sketchpad and my DS on the 5th anniversary of the first SketchCrawl. Was pretty cold so I ended up finding a seat at the cafe in City Hall which overlooks the duck pond. After drawing the bridge in pencil and sketching a duck, the twilight had really set in and I was compelled to capture it in color. So out came my DS knowing I only had 5 minutes before I had to go, this was the result.

Urban Sketchers Group

Vitastigur

October 21, 2009May 29, 2019

Quickie done while waiting for some takeout food. colors_slot54

Urban Sketchers Group

Graveyard

September 27, 2009May 29, 2019

colors_slot53

A quick sketch started on the DS. Sketching in the fall in Iceland can be interesting meteorologically . I picked the graveyard because it was the only spot available with a little shelter from the high wind. The sun went behind clouds and shortly after and too soon rain started to fall on my screen. During the short walk back the rain turned into hail, and before I reached my house the sun was out again… I put some finishing touches on the sketch in painter.

Nintendo DS Sketch

Reykjavík Cathedral

September 23, 2009May 29, 2019

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Painted from life on my trusty DS. It is nice at night you don´t have to worry about the light changing… but it was a bit cold, and I had to stop when drops of rain fell on my screen.

Pencil Sketch

Lava rocks by the Blue Lagoon

May 31, 2009May 29, 2019

20090530-bluelagoon

I took a friend visiting from New York to the Blue Lagoon. An earthquake of magnitude 4.3 hit just after I started this sketch, while I was waiting in the cafeteria for him to shower. I felt it pretty strong because the source was not far from the lagoon, but I just kept on sketching.

Nintendo DS Sketch

Hallgrímskirkja

April 19, 2009May 29, 2019

This is my first entry into the blogosphere. I’ve been wanting to put up an online sketchbook that is updated more often than my portfolio site www.erlingingi.com. The purpose being both to share my thoughts and sketches and to have a easily updatable outlet, creating pressure on me to produce. Unfortunately I cannot share anything I’m doing at my job as a concept artist at CCP Games since it is all Top Secret stuff.

Here is a digital sketch done on a simple drawing program called Colors! that turns my Nintendo DS into a nifty little digital paintbox. This thing allows me to do full color paintings with minimal hassle and no mess.