One of the organiser’s photos of me sketching
The Algarve spans the whole of the southern coastline of Portugal, so I haven’t been able to attend any of the events in the West Algarve without embarking on some early morning travel. So I was excited to see the June event was being held in Tavira, which is about 5km away.
When the event was posted on the Urban Sketcher’s Algarve Facebook group the accompanying picture was of the old market which used to be housed in a stylish old building. So the week before, I went and took some photos so I could practice sketching the scene at home, and I’d feel more confident doing urban sketches of them.
I wanted to get into the groove of sketching buildings—I don’t draw many of them, as my focus is usually people. I even used my Liz Steel watercolour class exercises to come up with three different versions of a granulating stone colour. (see notes at the end of the article)
Train to Tavira
I had to get an early morning train on Saturday in order to get to Tavira in time. I had an hour to kill, so wandered around town to find a cafe I hadn’t visited before. A good opportunity for a couple of strong coffees and a pastel da nata, and a warm-up sketch to get me in the mood.
Fired up with caffeine and sugar I headed to the old market and wandered around it a few times looking for the group. No luck.
So I headed to the new market. Thinking maybe they were meeting there instead. No luck.
Then I headed back to the old market. No luck.
By this time I was getting anxious. I didn’t want to miss out on my first urban sketching event with the Algarve group. On my second troll around the new market, I saw a group of people clutching sketchbooks. I’d found my tribe.
Urban Sketching at Tavira Market
This meeting was a little different from their usual events. It was hosted by the Directorate of Algarve Culture who wanted the local urban sketchers to capture interactions between the stall holders at the Tavira market and its customers, and the produce being sold. The pictures are going to be part of an exhibition in September to promote people shopping markets, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
All my experimentation at sketching the old market facade wasn’t needed. I couldn’t have been happier. We were let loose to draw people—my wheelhouse, my passion.
Next time I’ll know that the start time is fluid. Our 9am start time was closer to ten. And then we had two and a half hours inside the new market sketching people and produce.
Before heading back outside for a delicious lunch of fried calamari, mystery fish and white bean stew, cuttle fish and white bean stew, and grilled octopus. My kind of lunch, washed down with Sangria.
I was the only foreigner at the event, but was made so welcome. It fired up my resolve to learn more Portuguese.
Tavira Stone Colour Mixing
I mixed this trio: Potter’s Pink, Raw Sienna and French Ultramarine. This combination create an effective level of granulation. All three colours were made with this base. And then I created three different versions by dropping a bit of one of the colours into each version. Having a base using the same combination really helps to create some colour harmony.
By dropping in a bit of the Potters Pink’s, Raw Sienna or French Ultra Marine, I’ve created a primary colour version (red, yellow, and blue) of my one base colour.
