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Sketcher Fest Edmonds brought artists from across the U.S. and around the world to Edmonds this past weekend.
Sketchers in sun hats gathered in clusters throughout the city, sketchbooks open, documenting our everyday lives, from the Edmonds Historical Museum Summer Market to the waterfront to the spaces we often rush past without noticing.
Founded in 2023 by Urban Sketchers founder Gabriel “Gabi” Campanario, the festival returned this year for its fourth annual gathering. My Neighborhood News Group met with Campanario to discuss why Edmonds was a natural fit for the festival and how the event continues to expand.
Campanario said he has a personal connection to Edmonds because his children attended schools in the Edmonds School District. But what made Edmonds the right place, he said, was “the location by the water.”
Visitors can easily walk between the downtown and the waterfront, with plenty of interesting subjects to sketch.
Because the festival celebrates travel sketching, Campanario said Edmonds inspires that sense, with ferries coming and going throughout the day.
“I was fortunate [to find] a venue like the Edmonds Waterfront Center that could accommodate what we were trying to do,” he said.
Artist Talks were held at the Edmonds Waterfront Center in a large room overlooking the Puget Sound.
This year, ArtWorks hosted the artist workshops, giving participants a place to gather. There was even a food truck.
“We’re bringing more artists. More people are getting to know about it,” Campanario said.
People are traveling from California, New York and Texas, he said, and the festival has gained global visibility.
“We’re bringing international artists,” Campanario added.
He said bringing artists from around the world also reflects the mission behind Urban Sketchers.
“Sketching is a way to connect with a place,” he said. “The festival celebrates the art of documenting, everywhere in the world.”
He said seeing sketchbooks from international artists allows participants to see communities and experiences through another person’s eyes – through their sketchbooks.
Campanario has also helped establish an international gathering that has been held in cities around the world.
“Now I feel like I want to bring back all these artists…here,” he said with enthusiasm.
He believes that preserving the practice of live sketching remains important even as technology continues to evolve.
“I think drawing and sketching is the oldest form of visual communication,” Campanario said. “Drawing is very human.”
He described drawing as an experience that cultivates presence.
“When we take photos, you take hundreds, thousands of photos. You don’t even remember how many, but when you’re sketching, you have to be present.”
The beauty of sketching, he said, is that all it requires is paper and a pencil.
Every drawing is as individual as the artist behind it; the same scene, filtered through different eyes, becomes something entirely new.
Guest artists
Among the featured instructors was Spanish artist Santi Sallés, who led A New Way to Draw: Colored Lines with Energy.
Sallés is a draftsman, illustrator and graphic designer from Barcelona. Trained at Elisava School of Design and Engineering, he has more than 25 years of experience. This was Sallés’ first visit to Edmonds.
Sallés met Campanario years ago in Barcelona. The two later reconnected at the Clermont-Ferrand sketch festival in France and have remained friends ever since.
For Sallés, the workshop was less about teaching people to draw perfectly and more about helping them discover a new way of drawing.
He said he hopes participants truly enjoy the process while also stepping outside of their comfort zones, approaching their drawings with verve and curiosity.
As he led his group to a grassy outdoor area, Sallés began by introducing the tools he uses, including a folding stool, pens, oil-based pencils, colored pencils, brushes and sharpeners. Participants eagerly took notes.
British graphic journalist Dan Archer took a different approach, using sketching as a reporting tool during his workshop Live-Sketching Interviews.
Based in Hong Kong, Archer has spent more than 15 years using cartooning and on-the-spot sketching to cover stories from Colombia to South Korea and many other locations around the world. His debut graphic novel, Voices from Nepal, was published by the University of Toronto Press in 2024.
Archer said drawing someone during an interview creates a different kind of connection than simply taking a quick photograph.
Devices, he said, can create barriers between people and reinforce an implicit power dynamic. Sketching slows the interaction, encouraging artists to notice changing light, the movement of the wind, and other details that can disappear in a moment’s notice.
Sketching, Archer said, is capable of so much more than simply capturing what someone looks like. It can also create an opportunity for intercultural exchange between artist and subject.
During the workshop, participants paired up to interview and sketch one another, mixing conversation with observation.
Afterward, Archer spoke to the group about visual storytelling beyond the drawing itself.
He told participants to pay attention to lettering, explaining that boldface, capitalization and font choices can communicate the volume and cadence of a person’s voice.
Stories from participants
Many participants shared similar reasons for attending: a passion for sketching, learning and connecting with others.
One person traveled from Oregon after her husband found Sketcher Fest Edmonds online and encouraged her to attend. After spending her career as a hairstylist, she has recently become interested in drawing and painting, particularly color theory.
Another person has attended all four festivals and lives locally. She said she had always wanted to study art, but when she was younger she was encouraged to study math instead. After retiring, she decided to return to her first passion and has found community through art.
Another participant traveled from Bellingham. She had wanted to attend two years ago but was unable to because she was undergoing chemotherapy. This year, she returned, experimenting with brightly colored pastel crayons.
Another person from Oregon, an Urban Sketchers member, shared that she has traveled throughout the U.S. and around the world to sketch and meet like-minded people.
A retired elementary school teacher from San Antonio, Texas, said he first heard about Urban Sketchers while in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he studied watercolor. He later joined the local chapter in San Antonio.
He said sketching offers a sense of calm by spending a couple of hours observing and focusing on details. With each new drawing, he has seen his confidence and abilities grow.
One local resident attended the festival for the first time. She said she enjoys drawing, but no one in her immediate circle shares her passion. She decided to take action and honor her artistic journey by joining Urban Sketchers the very same day.
Slowing down
As I sat down incognito and joined the group gathered in a circle near the Edmonds Police Station, next to the Summer Market, I opened my own sketchbook and pencil.
I began drawing what was in front of me. After a couple of minutes, I noticed everything seemed to slow down around me, as if the focus dial on a camera had just been adjusted.
Individual voices from the Market grew clearer. My senses seemed to sharpen. I felt the cool wind against my skin and began noticing the plants around me.
Sketching offered a different way to remember a place. By spending time truly seeing, it allowed details to emerge slowly, unfolding with a languorous rhythm.
Based in Edmonds, Nahline Gouin is a freelance writer, ceramicist and arts advocate with experience in art museums and performing arts centers. She continues to create with clay, homeschool her son and write as a creative practice.
Nahline ~ what a terrific overview of what sketch groups are all about.
Love your description when you gave it a try, “ I began drawing what was in front of me. After a couple of minutes, I noticed everything seemed to slow down around me, as if the focus dial on a camera had just been adjusted.”
Perfect.
Our local Edmonds Sketchers group meets every 1st Saturday year round. We gather at ARTspot and walk to nearby locations, of which there are many here in Edmonds. 1:30-3:30. Free. All are welcome.
I’m also glad you made a note of how many people come from around the country and internationally to SketcherFest every July. It’s a community building experience and the whole world participates.