Sheffield SketchCrawl with our Parisian Visitor

Until last week I’d never met fellow sketcher Yves Damin, as he is based in Paris. Then I got a Facebook message, saying he was coming to the UK and would be visiting family in Sheffield. He asked if I would like to meet up, so we could do some sketching together. 

Liz Steel came to visit once and we had a great time, so I contacted the other members of my Urban Sketchers group SketchCrawl North, to make sure Yves would have a fitting welcoming committee.

The weather forecast wasn’t great, so we decided to meet the others in Caffe Nero, as there are big windows with views out over the city centre. As crazy chance would have it, Yves’s Sheffield-based family live two minutes walk from me, so we took the bus into town together.

Despite the inviting warmth of the cafe, Yves suggested we start at an outside table, for closer views. It was a wee bit chilly, but we were sheltered from the drizzle by an overhang, so we gave it a go. 

But as time went on, it got colder and colder. I managed the drawing above but, by the end, I was losing all feeling in my fingers (that’s my excuse for the slightly wonky tower) so most of the group went inside for the next one. Nice and toastie: 

But Yves was made of stronger stuff: Paris must be even colder than Sheffield! He continued to brave the outdoors:

While Yves was painting the town hall, I got a bit obsessed with these water-balls in Millennium Square:

We had a little break next, because there was an Urban Sketching exhibition on at the Millennium Gallery: paintings and drawings from the Recording Britain project, begun in 1939. 
But time was running out so, fully inspired, a handful of the group left the exhibition early, to squeeze in just one more quick sketch before Yves and I had to head home. The boys drew outside, while I sat indoors with the wimpy girls, including my good friend Andrea Joseph, who drew the sketchers and people in the cafe:

This time we were in the Winter Gardens cafe – another space with big windows onto the world outside, so perfect for softie-sketchers who didn’t fancy getting wet and cold.

We girls grabbed some lunch before starting to sketch, after which there was even less time to get something done. As usual, the time constraint loosened me up nicely:

It was so lovely to have the chance to meet Yves and I was really pleased that so many of the SketchCrawl North group managed to get out to draw with us, despite it being a weekday. You can get a proper look at the sketches Yves did, if you take a look at his write-up of the visit.