Urban Sketchers Sketching!

I hate empty sketchbook pages and my Urban sketch done in Würzburg was just such a case, left page empty and space below my sketch of the Marienberg Fortress. So, what to do, you know that figures really aren’t my thing but inspired (a little) by the 100 people in one week challenge (100 is definitely a no go for me!) I decided to fill my page with some of my fellow sketchers and here they are!

They are of course done from photos I took on the day but I thought it was a nice way to remember my day! 

The tricky thing about sketching people sitting down is that you are confronted by foreshortening of limbs, heads down and I could have faffed around with ''measured '' drawing but I wanted to have a spontaneous feel to my sketch and so apart from a couple of head ovals and shoulder lines, I just got stuck in! Isn’t it great that when drawing yourself you can make yourself look 20kg lighter! Love it! 

And here's the finished page with some information about the history of the fortress and a mention of Maria Renata Sänger, Freifrau von Mossau, a nun who was one of the last ''witches'' to be executed in Germany. Just like Bamberg where my German family come from, Würzburg was also one of the witch burning centres of Germany. Tragic as the subject is, it really interests me to discover the whys and wherefores and perhaps reading the names of those accused and their trials helps keep them and this dark stain on the past alive and in our memories. 

We take it for granted that witchcraft is a thing of the past but in countries like Africa and South America the belief in the power of witches is still very much alive, in Spain the little village of Trasmoz (the whole village was excommunicated by the pope for witchcraft) still has a competition to find the witch of the year, so there you go, maybe not so far in the dim and distant past as you think.