Reunited with my tribe in Porto

[By Tina Koyama in Porto]
The ninth annual International Urban Sketchers Symposium in Porto was the
fifth that I’ve attended. While the creative rush of attending workshops and the
overall thrill of travel sketching can’t be understated, nothing quite beats the
feeling I get when a symposium is just beginning. Attending the opening assembly
in Porto, I took a seat with more than 800 sketchers from around the world, and
I was utterly moved to be among my tribe. There we were, all in the same room,
brought together by our common passion for urban sketching.

Praca da Liberdade and Sao Bento station

Then at the final sketchwalk, I looked around at the hundreds
of sketchers gathered in the town hall square, and I felt it again. And in
between, whenever I was happily reunited with someone I had met at a previous
symposium, I marveled at the simple yet powerful bond that brought us together one
more time.

My sketch from Lapin’s workshop

When I go out regularly
with my local USk group, I take this bond for granted, but they are my tribe,
too. At the symposium, I get to see and experience how much larger this
worldwide tribe is (and that’s not even counting the tens of thousands of other
sketchers who didn’t attend). The symposium is always a reminder of how special
my Urban Sketchers community is. A million thanks to all the hard-working volunteers
who made it possible for me to experience this feeling again. I can’t wait for
Amsterdam!

My sketch from Eduardo Bajzek’s workshop

Torre do Clerigos