4 Days URBAN Sketching Sketching workshop with ISabel Carmona, Isabell Seidel and Oliva Marcus

In 2026 we start our workshops in a city with an industrial past and present and lively cultural scene: Terrassa, founded in Roman times as Egara and part of the art-nouveau network.

The course fee includes the morning and afternoon workshops and the team will propose additional drawing activities (totally optional) that we can enjoy together during free periods.,
Our welcome evening will be near the centre of Terrassa – at the Ateneu Candela (Carrer de Monserrat 136, 08221 Terrassa).

The course language is English but all the tutors speak some Spanish.
For prices and to book you place HERE

Workshops

In Terrassa, we will teach workshops both in the mornings and the afternoons  Participants will receive two sessions with each tutor and explore the Colour Scape topics that Isabel, Isabell and Olivia propose below. The afternoon of the second day will be free to allow for all the groups to get together (or to have a free afternoon) and find some space for the first sessions by each tutors to seep down.

In the evenings we’ll suggest some activities to do together (optional) to continue drawing in the evenings together.

Workshop sessions

FEARLESS WATERCOLOUR SKETCHING WITH IsABEL CARMONA

Capture the spirit of Terrassa with bold colour and confident marks. Fast, fun and expressive—learn to paint with energy and ease.

Isabel invites you to see the  places we visit in colour, understand light and quickly capture the spirit of a place. You will learn to not be shy with your watercolour marks and overlap them to add meaning, depth and detail.

Session 1 – Build up your speed

It is easy to be overwhelmed by a city space, but there is no need. In this session we will immerse ourselves in the places we visit and work fast (and furious!) using colour shapes boldly, to help us understand what is happening in front of us.
Later we will draw over those shapes (if we want to).

By the end of the session we will progress to using various layers of colour and mark making before we draw.

Session 2 – BUILD uP your LAYERS

Have fun building layers of colour as well as meaning, to achieve the vibrant memory of the place you wish to have. In this second session after a quick warm up (fast and furious!) to choose our view point, we will then spend time on a final piece.

PAlette Narratives with ISABELL SeIDEL

What does Terrassa really look like in colour? This two-part workshop explores how places carry their own chromatic identity — a mix of light, material, atmosphere, and emotion. Through playful observation and expressive reinterpretation, we will learn to capture and reshape the colours of place, developing a more personal and confident use of colour in our visual work.
We’ll begin by collecting and decoding the colours around us — from sun-warmed walls and street shadows to market fabrics and tiled facades.
In session two we’ll return with new eyes, allowing freedom and intuition to take over as we “edit” and transform those colours into expressive sketches and compositions.
The aim is to sharpen our sense of chromatic awareness and find our own visual voice through colour — learning to identify the fingerprint of a place and playfully reimagine it.

PART I – Collecting Colour

In this first session, we’ll wander through Terrassa with curiosity and a sense of play. Using sketchbooks, cameras, and quick colour swatches, we will document the hues, tones, and textures that define the local atmosphere. Later, we will compare notes and translate our observations into simple, striking colour palettes — visual “souvenirs” of the place.
Through collective analysis and discussion, we’ll learn how light, material, and context shape what we perceive as local colour, and how these can be abstracted into meaningful palettes that reflect both the site and the observer’s sensibility.

PART II – Editing Colour

Heading out again, we’ll now reinterpret what we discovered. Instead of documenting, we’ll edit: using our palettes as starting points, we’ll apply colour freely to sketches, taking liberty with hue, saturation, and contrast to convey mood and intention.
This session focuses on translating observation into expression — exploring how colour choices can shift a scene’s rhythm, feeling, and story. The day will close with an informal sharing of works and reflections on how editing colour changes not just our images, but how we see the world around us.

COLOUR BEAT with OLIVIA MARCUS

This two-part workshop is all about bringing colour to life through playful experimentation and mixed media. In the first session, we’ll create a series of small, layered sketches using limited palettes. Participants will explore how combining transparent, wet techniques (inks, watercolours, water- based markers) with waxy, opaque pencils can create depth, texture, and unity in a sketch. The focus is on using colour to structure the composition and convey mood, rather than replicating real-life tones.
In the second session, we’ll scale up to larger scenes, applying the same principles with more freedom. Colour becomes the main actor: it sets the atmosphere, guides the eye, and enhances the layers and textures. Participants will experiment with mixing media to build expressive, dynamic sketches where colour and texture pop and tell the story.

Session 1: PLAYING wITH COLOUR

It all begins with small experiments.
In this first session, we will explore how limited colour palettes can give strength and unity to our drawings. Through a series of miniature sketches, we will test different colour combinations, layering transparent tones to create depth and atmosphere.
By freeing ourselves from the “real” colours of the scene, we will focus on how colour can tell the story and not just what we see.
This exercise will help us understand how variations and superpositions can guide the eye, highlight the main subject, and bring cohesion to the whole composition.

SESSION 2: COLOUR IN ACTION

In this second part, we will take what we learned in miniature and give it space to breathe. On a larger format, we’ll build a complete scene using our chosen palette as the backbone of the drawing.
Here, colour becomes the main actor: it sets the mood, suggests movement, and gives structure to the space. We will learn how to balance freedom and control, daring to interpret, simplify, or exaggerate tones, to create expressive and unified sketches that reflect both the place and our own perception.

Workshop Materials/Supplies you need to bring:

• Black line tool: Graphite Pencil bold (Staedtler lumograph 8b black mat or Faber Castle Pitt oil)
• Fountain pen filled with waterproof ink
• Coloured Pencils (Polychromos by Faber Castell, Luminance by Caran Dache or similar) – various colours you like – don’t need to be many.
• Watercolours – artist quality is best – White Nights (St Petersburgh), W&N, Talens etc
• Brushes and water container plus water
  (Not too small) Round brushes plus a few flat synthetic brushes of different widths
• Two empty reservoir brushes – Olivia will bring inks
• Opaque media (optional): Neocolor II, Acrylic Markers and the like
• Waterbased Optional : some water base markers ( like écoline or Pantone Royal talens )
• Travel seat/stool  – to be able to seat wherever you need to.
• Other tools you normally use

We’ll provide you with a sketchbook but if you want to bring anything else do bring that along (200gms minimum).

Timetable

We meet for the first time on Tuesday 31 March (welcome day)  and the workshop sessions will run in the morning and afternoon from 1 to 4 April 2026 as detailed below
We will go for a sketchcrawl together on Sunday 5 April (optional).

Schedule

	Tuesday 31 March
6pm -7pm	Welcome Location: Ateneu Candela, Carrer de Monserrat, 136 , 08221 Terrasa Introductions and Welcome We will have a drink there or nearby.
Mornings	Wednesday 1 April to Saturday 4 April
9:30am to 10am	Get together each day on locations near workshops
10 to 1pm	Morning workshop
1 – 3pm	Lunch (various groups)
Afternoons
	Wednesday 1 April and Friday 3 April
3:30 pm to 6:30pm	Afternoon workshops
	Thursday 2 April – FREE Afternoon
	Saturday 4 April – Free Afternoon
7pm (times may vary)	Meet up for a drink and share sketchbooks progress on Saturday 4 April we will get together to share the finish sketchbooks and
	Sunday 5 April 2025
11 to 2pm Sunday 2 March/	Meeting with local Urban Sketchers

Locations and additional visits

As part of the workshop we will visit many local places. Victor Swasky knows Terrass well and can give top tips on local places of interest.

Map

Find an Online MAP where will be adding further info HERE

Participants

Workshop – 24 attendees maximum, 15 minimum. Any level of drawing experience is welcome.

TRAVEL/Accommodation/Food

Terrassa is 30km north of Barcelona with easy public transport connection there.
Participants will need to look for their own travel and accommodation . Food is not included on any of our fees.

There are various options to look for places to stay in Terrassa – such us booking.com and/or airbandb.com

Registration fee

Workshop Tuition Fee – 4 days tuition- £550 ( £440 concessions – 20% discount for students or unwaged with proof of concession status)

The course fee includes the workshops. The team may propose some additional activities (totally optional) that we can enjoy together in the evening (those may incur cost for entrance fees, travel, food and drink which are not included).

To Book your place

NOTE: The fee paid includes a £25 non refundable ticketing fee (e.g. in case of any cancellation or if the course has to be abandoned due to unforeseen health or other government restrictions).

Cancellation policy: All fees [minus a ticketing fee of £25 which is included on above price] are refundable if cancelled more than 6 weeks prior to commencement of course.. If cancelled between 6 and 2 weeks before the start of the course, a cancellation fee of £50 will be retained on top of the ticketing fee. No refund will be possible two weeks before the course.
In the event of too few registrants, all monies [minus half the ticketing fee] will be refunded.

The PYSB team reserves the right of last minute changes to the teaching panel due to illness or another unexpected circumstance. We will maintain in any case the quality of the course.

About the instructors

This workshop joins the skills of