Toulouse, France 2026: Trip to the Urban Sketchers Symposium and a few days around It. Part 8: City - Longer Sketches

I decided to split all my "Toulouse city" sketches into two posts. Mostly because when I look through them, I see two very different approaches and two different things to learn from them. 
This is part 1:
These sketches took longer; they are mostly painted with gouache and mixed media, and I used different papers. I can definitely see which ones were done at the beginning of the trip and which ones came later - with a more relaxed and "in the groove" feeling I developed by the end of the trip. Looking at them now - after almost a month since I was there - I wish I could re-do them all :)  It is obvious that there were several sketches that had to happen only so that better sketches had a chance. There is a long list of "what is wrong" in my head, but I am working on focusing on positive things in each sketch. So here they are: 
  • I am grateful for the idea of pre-mixing certain gouache colors to take with me. 
  • And that there were not too many of them. 
  • I am glad I thought about pairing my paints with other media in terms of colors and how they work together. 
  • I liked the overlapping, and leaning into a more gestural/dancing approach to composing my pages.
  • I like how white space worked in the bridge sketch. 
  • And I remember how I enjoyed adding typographical elements - even is it is ineligible mostly now. 

Succulent Garden as and Answer

When in doubt about what to draw, if I have limited time or am still jet-lagged, there is an answer to "what to draw": succulent garden! Gouache in my new Etchr Hot Press Sketchbook - gifted by Etchr as one of the sponsors at the USk Symposium.
 



Toulouse, France 2026: Trip to the Urban Sketchers Symposium and a few days around It. Part 7: Markets

While in Toulouse, I visited a couple of outdoor markets and a famous covered market named after Victor Hugo. All the tour guides suggested having breakfast or a branch of lunch there, but somehow I only drew :)

There are very colorful meat and seafood stalls, as well as bread and cheese. Fruit, flowers, wine, and coffee ones I did not get to sketch - will have to tackle them next time! 

Two Recent Publications!

After sorting through my travel-delayed mail, I finally got my hands on an actual real-life copy of "On The Spot" with my art on the cover and my underwater sketching article inside! (Here is my original post about it) Thank you, Gabriel Campanario, for your support in editing the article and getting in published! 
And in the June 2026 issue of Drawing Attention (Urban Sketchers Publication), I have an article, "Printmaking in Urban Sketching". Thank you, USk Editorial Team and Suhita Shirodkar, for your support in editing the article!

Toulouse, France 2026: Trip to the Urban Sketchers Symposium and a few days around It. Part 6: More People

After scanning through my whole Toulouse sketchbook, I realized that I have more sketches of people than I thought (and shared) before! But I still wished I sketched people more!

Here are some notes and sketches from three lectures that I attended: Len Grant, Rita Sabler, and Suhita Shirodkar

From the Big Crit Event:

Random people on the street:
Faculty Tour:
Another Dinner with Friends:

Trip to Toulouse, France, 2026: Urban Sketchers Symposium and a few days around it. 
Part 1: My Workshops
Part 2: My Demo