DUPONT UNDERGROUND

The Dupont Underground is a former trolley station under the Dupont Circle in Washington DC that operated post World War II era from 1949 until 1962. In the 1970's during the cold war era part of the tunnels became a fallout shelter as well as storing supplies for rations, water, and equipment. In the mid 1990's it became a food court however the plan failed catastrophically for multiple types of problems. Currently the Dupont Underground is experiencing a renaissance of ideas and renovations for multiple artistic ideals as well as activities. Thanks to the innovative vision of the architect Julian Hunt that for more than 10 years he had been working very hard in order to convert the Dupont Underground into a world class city cultural center in which will transform Washington D.C. into a cultural capital. This is a fantastic place for sketching because it has great light and shadows effects as well as exquisite architectural details. The place was cooler compared to the hot scorching humid summer temperatures above ground. It took me 3 hrs, done in white paper with black ink.

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Singapore

I just returned from the 6th Urban Sketchers Symposium in Singapore.  Hundreds of sketchers from around the world converged in Singapore for four days of workshops, activities, demos, food, and sketchcrawls.  Singapore has a lot of interesting modern architecture, as well as a lot of tasty food and a diverse population, so there was a lot to sketch. One thing I found particularly interesting was the many religions represented: one street had a church, a mosque, a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple, and a synagogue - all on the same street.

I got a lot of energy from spending the week with so many other sketchers, and I feel like I learned a lot from them.  Getting feedback and ideas from the instructors and the other sketchers can be valuable for improving your work.  The time between the organized sketching activities is a big part of the fun as well - I spent a good part of the week hanging out with a group of Australians who "adopted" me, and of course we continued the Symposium tradition of drawing each other over dinner.  I filled several sketchbooks there - too many to post here, but you can see the rest on my flickr album for the trip.
If you ever get a chance to go to one of the Symposiums, I highly recommend it - it is worth the jet lag.  Next year the Symposium will be in Manchester, U.K., and I hope to be able to go.