URBAN Sketching workshop/Retreat in Bristol with Swasky, Santi Salles and Inma Serrano

Encuentra la informacion de PYSB City Moods, Bristol 2026 en español AQUI

In 2026 we continue with a longer PYSB Summer Retreat where we get to know a place in depth through sketching during the workshop sessions but take time to enjoy the summer and locations nearby that will give us a greater in depth appreciation of the place we are in, its culture and environs. This time we are going to Bristol in the UK a city vibrant with diverse culture, arts scene and innovative spirit.

The welcome evening will be hosted at Hamilton House, Mild West Room, in Stokes Croft area. The remaining days we will meet on location in the area of the workshops. See the map for planned workshop areas.
The timetable combines days with workshops morning and afternoon and days with morning only workshops as well as days where we sketch together (without tuition) and we can visit other places together.
There will be a midweek trip to Bath and the team will propose additional activities (totally optional) that we can enjoy together in the afternoon/evening, within walking distance or accessible by bus in the city.

The course fee includes only the workshop tuition. There will be some additional local charges for , transport, entrance tickets to museums, bar drinks etc, as well as accommodation and travel to Bristol that you will need to budget for.

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

Workshops

In Bristol, we will alternate morning and afternoon workshop days with morning only workshop days.  Participants will receive two sessions with each tutor and explore the City Moods themes that Inma, Swasky and Santi present below.

We’ll follow up with suggested lunch locations (or picnic spots). In the free afternoons we will suggest additional locations to explore in the city and suggest drink/draw/food location areas in the evenings.

Half way through the course on the Wednesday 5 August we will do a trip to Bath by train to explore and draw that historical city together

Tutor sessions

INMA SERRANO

Inma will lead two sessions that encompass the joy she gets from urban sketching and make her happy. She tells us that sketching in the streets is essential in her life because it allows her to zoom, in an ingenious, almost childish, way into the people and things around her.

Session 1 : URBAN INK LAB

In this session Inma will dive into Bristol as a real urban city—busy, unpredictable, full of energy, and packed with visual noise. You will practice drawing in black and white ink, right in the middle of it all, paying attention to the mood of the place, the way people move through it, and all the little details that make the city feel alive on a daily basis..
This session is about using the city as a living studio, where everything around you becomes raw material: sounds, crowds, weather, traffic, conversations, and that ever-present mix of chaos and rhythm. You’ll work with ink washes, drips, splashes, and loose lines, not to control the scene, but to let the scene influence what ends up on the paper. Let the sketch show how your body reacted to the moment: quick marks, messy edges, unexpected gestures.
You’ll learn to work quickly, to commit to marks, and to accept that sometimes the line will be wobbly, imperfect, spontaneous. That’s where the personality of the drawing comes from.

What You’ll Practice

• Noticing the energy, messiness, and atmosphere of an urban city
• Using ink washes to build big shapes and mood
• Drawing with loose, confident lines that show movement
• Adding texture, splatters, scratches to reflect the city’s chaos
• Working fast, outdoors, and without fear

Tools: Sketchbook, Sitting Stool, Indian Ink, Black Pentel Brush Pen, White Crayon, Various types of synthetic brushes to make textures (round, flat, fan, fine point and broad point), Bamboo pen, Feathers, Nib pen… , White acrylic marker (fine tip)

Session 2 : SMUDGE BRISTOL

In this session, Inma will lead you to explore how to sketch the city’s soft, atmospheric light along the river.
Bristol is full of great spots to draw outdoors, and its harbour and riverside walks offer constantly changing views—quiet reflections on the water, misty mornings, and wide open skies that turn the buildings into gentle shapes and colours. These qualities make Bristol an ideal location to study subtle atmospheres, where light is less about clarity and more about tone, mood, and transition.

Sketch on location the city panorama by the river, taking in whatever weather Bristol gives us on the day. Instead of worrying about perfect details of the view or perspective, we’ll focus on simplifying what we see, playing with materials, and capturing the overall feeling of the place.
Using watercolours, colour pencils, and wax crayons, we will pay special attention to how light
falls and moves across the water and buildings. The landscape often transforms completely in a
matter of minutes, whether due to passing clouds, intensifying sunlight, or a veil of rain, and you’ll experiment with layering colours and textures to create soft, expressive drawings that reflect the river’s mood.

What you’ll practice

• Noticing and responding to diffuse light, fog, reflections, and soft shadows.
• Making atmospheric sketches using watercolour, colour pencils, and wax crayons.
• Building soft, layered colour palettes that suggest mood and movement.
• Creating a panoramic composition that includes the river and sky without getting lost in the details.

Tools: Sketchbook, sitting stool, colour pencils, Pitt Oil Base Soft Pencil, White Gouache, Wax Crayons (different colours), Watercolour, Water Brush pen (or brush/water combo) White Acrylic Marker (small size tip).

SWASKY

Session 1- URBAN MOODS – Black and White Masses

In this session, we will explore the city in black and white using gouache to focus on contrast, shape, and composition. The aim is to simplify the urban scene and think in terms of visual masses rather than detail.

Working on location, we will balance light and dark, solids and empty spaces, building drawings that feel clear, structured, and atmospheric. Through short exercises and a final sketch, the focus will be on making deliberate visual decisions and strengthening compositional clarity.

What you will practice:

• Simplifying complex urban scenes into clear visual masses
• Using contrast to create depth and structure
• Working with light and shadow to build atmosphere
• Developing a more painterly and confident approach to black and white sketching!

Tools: Sketchbook, Sitting Stool, Black and White Gouache, Round brushes (sizes 2, 6 and 10), Flat brush size 12, Pencil, Water container and Cloth.

Session 2 – URBAN MOODS – Colour Atmosphere

This session focuses on using colour to create atmosphere and emotion in the urban environment. Rather than describing reality literally, we will explore how colour choices can shape mood and unify a scene.

We will work with simple colour strategies such as limited palettes, warm and cool contrasts, and colour relationships that support composition. Through guided exercises and a final sketch, the emphasis will be on thinking colour consciously and using it to convey feeling rather than detail.

What will you practice:

• Creating atmosphere using limited colour palettes
• Using colour contrasts to guide the viewer’s eye
• Understanding the relationship between colour, light, and emotion
• Applying colour in a more intuitive and expressive way on location

Tools: Sketchbook, Sitting Stool, Preferred colour media (watercolour, gouache, colour pencils, inks, etc), Round brushes (sizes 2, 6 and 10), Flat brush size 12, Pencil, Water container and Cloth

Santi Sallés

Session 1 – Black and White plus one

The aim of this workshop is to create drawings using minimal colour, that is, in black and white (using only one additional colour). To achieve this, you will work with gradients and contrasts to give volume and depth to the drawing.
You will complete preliminary exercises to loosen up our hand and achieve freer, more
relaxed results.

Tools: Sketchbook A4 (smooth watercolour paper), Sitting Stool, Pitt Oil Medium pencil (Faber Castell) or similar, any black graphite pencil (hard and soft), Colour Pencils (Santi recommends Faber Castell Polychromos and Caran d’Hache Luminance), Neocolor II (Caran d’Ache), White pencil, white correction fluid, Gelly Pen 10, White Neocolor II, Blending Stump, Black Watercolour or Black Ink, Water Brushes or normal brushes (for watercolour and ink). Anything materials you normally use are welcome.

Session 2 – Extra Colour Panorama

The goal of this workshop is to create vibrant, colourful drawings. You will primarily work
with colour pencils and avoid black. During the session you will explore contrasts, light and shadow, and how to combine colours within the same drawing.
You will complete several basic exercises, culminating in a more complex drawing.

Tools: Sketchbook A4 (smooth watercolour paper), Sitting Stool, Colour Pencils (Santi recommends Faber Castell Polychromos and Caran d’Hache Luminance), Neocolor II (Caran d’Ache), Watercolour set, Water Brushes or normal brushes. Anything materials you normally use are welcome.

Workshop Materials

We have noted in each of the sessions above the materials for each workshop (with focus in black and white in the first half of the retreat and and colour materials in the second)

We’ll provide you with a sketchbook (likely to be concertina larger than A5) so if you want to bring anything else do bring that along (200gms minimum).

Timetable

We meet for the first time on Sunday 2 August (welcome day)  and the workshop sessions will run in the morning (10am to 1pm) and afternoon (3 to 6pm) on Mon and Thu and only in the morning (10am to 1pm) on Tues and Fri . On Wednesday 5 Aug we will do a group trip to Bath by train to explore that neighbouring city sketching together.
We will go for a sketchcrawl together (in Bristol) on Saturday 8 August (optional).

Schedule

	Sunday 2 August
5:30 to 7:30pm	Welcome evening at Hamilton House – 80 Stokes Croft, St Pauls, BS1 3QY – Mild West room  Introductions and drinks after
Mornings	Mon 3, Tues 4, Thu 6 and Fri 7 August
9:30am – 10am	Get together each day on location
10 am to 1pm	Morning workshops
1:30 – 3pm	Lunch (various groups)
Afternoons	Mon 3 and Thu 6 August
3pm -6pm	Afternoon workshops
	Tues 4 and Fri 7 – Free Afternoon – optional Bristol visits
7pm	Meet up for a drink and share sketchbook progress – various areas in Bristol – we will advise potential venues on welcome evening.
	Wednesday 5 August – trip to Bath
	Meet at Train Station for full Day trip to Bath We will travelling by Train and spending the full day there all together drawing (train fair additional cost to budget)
	Saturday 8 August – visit Bristol Balloon Fiesta
	Suggest meeting with Urban Sketchers Bristol and going to the Bristol Balloon Fiesta in Ashton Court to sketch and enjoy the day out. Shuttle bus available from City Centre (travel cost additional cost to budget – buy group tickets!) . Entry ticket and balloon rides not

Locations and additional visits

As part of the retreat week we will visit many local places. Our host, Isabel Carmona will help us organise the visits and activities.

Map

Find an Online MAP where will be adding further info HERE

Participants

Workshop – 24 attendees maximum, 18 minimum. Any level of drawing experience is welcome

Accommodation/Food

Participants will need to look for their own accommodation . Food is not included on any of our fees.

There are various hotels in Bristol located in the Centre of town. Best to look them up in booking.com and/or airbandb.com

Registration fee

Workshop Tuition Fee – £650 ( £520 concessions – 20% discount for students or unwaged with proof of concession status)

The course fee includes the morning workshops but the team proposes additional activities (totally optional) that we can enjoy together in the afternoon/evening. There will be some additional local charges for transport, excursions, entrance tickets to museums etc (for afternoon activities).

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 and retreat joins the skills of