Toulouse 2026: Raul’s view (Day 2)

Second day of the symposium. After a great and varied breakfast, I start the day with an inspiring lecture by Stephanie Bower. It is about perspective. She gives the audience great tips to improve their sketches with her professional advice. The auditorium is full, and people are very impressed by her knowledge.

I cover two of Thursday’s workshops. The weather is pretty cool during these morning hours, and this is wonderful! First, I go to Marina Abramova’s workshop. She is from Berlin, and she gives the participants different kinds of paper (cellulose, cotton and mixed) and explains the exercises. They capture an urban scene using watercolor and the drawings are wonderful!

Then I go to the Japanese Garden, next to the Pierre Baudis Congress Center. The place is delightful, a perfect green space to get lost and relax among nature and Japanese architecture. Virginia Hein, from the USA, gives her demo there. She explains how she captures nature scenes in her watercolor sketches and shows her process to the participants. She prepares a few line and color exercises for them. She wants color and line to “dance” together. I sketch her and her participants.

The three correspondents (Gaël, Ivan and I) have lunch together and divide up the afternoon demo coverage. Like every workshop or demo session, in front of the Pierre Baudis Congress Center the volunteers hold a yellow sign with the instructor’s name and a number. All the participants gather in groups of around twenty people.

I go to Daniel Pagans’ demo. He is from Barcelona, like me. He gives the demo near the Chapelle des Carmélites. Daniel and his group of sketchers stay in the shade of a tree. Now it is really hot again! He explains his art tools and materials. For example, he uses a metal cigarette tin for his watercolors. People have a great time with him.

The next demo I visit is Elena Klimova’s. She is a Russian artist living in Hong Kong. Her group is also in the shade of a tree, in the same area. I only stay for a while, but I hear her talking about a way of working with white space in drawings using an eraser shield. This is the first time I have seen one of these… very interesting. I take a look at her sketchbook. It is impressive. She has a powerful technique with shadows, gray tones, and polyhedral shapes.

My final demo is by Irena Spector from Israel. She gives her demo in front of Saint-Sernin, facing Rue du Taur and capturing the street. She has a colorful, personal and delicate style. I arrive during the final minutes of the demo, but I can see the final sketch she makes. It is impressive.

After the demos I go to the Grand Rond area. I explore this part of the city and have a beer with Gaël, the local correspondent. At 7 p.m. we enter the Toulouse Museum, where today’s Drink & Draw event takes place. There are lots of sketchers. In the spacious lobby we listen to a welcome speech by the museum’s director and Ronaldo Kurita, President of Urban Sketchers. In the same space, with an elephant and a giraffe on display, we enjoy drinks and food while we talk, relax and sketch.

A bit later we visit the museum and discover its fabulous collection of animals, skeletons, minerals… It’s a wonderful museum. I also do a sketch of my sketch fela, Gael.

I’m tired, and it’s late, but I still do a few quick sketches. I want to come back here in the future and visit it with more time. I come back late to the hotel… I’m exhausted, my feet hurt, but it has been a really great day!