Toulouse 2026: Raúl’s view (Day 4)

Fourth and last day of the symposium. I’ve experienced a lot of good things these past few days, and I’m aware that time is going by too fast.

At 9:00 I go to Delphine Zigoni’s lecture. Her talk is about scientific illustration and drawing. She shows and shares her impressive original works. The audience passes her original paper drawings around. She also gives a very detailed talk about her experience working on different projects in France, as well as in French Guiana and the Amazon. One of her reflective sentences was: “For centuries, scientists and artists worked closely together, until we built cameras.”

It’s 10:00. Today is hotter than yesterday. We all gather in front of Pierre Baudis in groups. I follow Róisín Curé, from Ireland, and her group of attendees to Victor Hugo Market. Outside the building, she explains her workshop. It is about capturing, through quick sketches, people and food (two things I really like drawing). The first exercise is like a game. Every person has a sheet of paper with the ingredients of a recipe, and they have to find the products and sketch each one of them. The market, with its food stalls and cafés, is awesome. I’d never been here before, and it’s a great place to sketch and also to buy some local products.

Next I go to Place de la Daurade, on the banks of the Garonne River. Marina Grechanik’s workshop takes place there. Everyone is sitting in the shade of the trees, in a park with beautiful views of the river. Marina invites her students to experiment with different collage techniques. They use glue, paper, stickers, scissors, newspapers… People really enjoy the process. The results are surprising and original.

My last workshop is at Hôtel d’Assézat, a very special place—a Renaissance mansion. Marielle Durand is the instructor, and the workshop is called “Lights and Delights in the Pink City.” It consists of drawing architecture with brushes using only one color: pink. They don’t use watercolor; they use ink. The result is vibrant and luminous. The drawings the attendees create are very powerful.

In the afternoon, at 16:00, a very special session takes place in one of the large rooms at Pierre Baudis. It is called Big Crit. I discover that critstands for critique (in my mind it had another meaning because in Catalan crit means scream). There are lots of small tables for two, where an instructor sits with one participant to look at their work. Participants want to get good advice on how to improve their sketches. They meet one-on-one, and every 10 minutes they change partners. It’s like speed dating! I like seeing all the instructors together again.

At 19:00 the last sketchwalk ends, followed by the big family photo in front of St. Sernin. There are hundreds of sketchers from all over the world. We take lots of photos, videos, and 360-degree videos. There are also group photos for each chapter and for each country. The atmosphere is festive. I do a quick and funny sketch of Ivan (the video correspondent) with all his audiovisual gadgets.

The end of the symposium is very near. The Closing Reception starts at Pierre Baudis at 20:00. Hundreds of people gather in the huge hall. Drinks, food, and lots of positive energy. This is where the silent auction, the raffle, the speeches, and the thanks to the volunteers, staff, sponsors, correspondents, and everyone involved take place. I feel that we are a huge and supportive global community.

There is also the announcement of the next city that will host the symposium. The winning bid is Toronto! Time to say goodbye to everyone I’ve met over these past few days, and to say thank you and goodbye to Toulouse and its people. It was unforgettable… and yes, as I was told, being a correspondent is the best job!