SKETCHY TUESDAY IS PRESENTED BY ARTERRA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS AND AIASF.
Arterra is a full-service landscape architecture firm specializing in contemporary, sustainable design. We collaborate with our clients and their design team, providing imaginative solutions and clear communication.
The Arterra Team is a diverse and slightly quirky group of creative and nerdy individuals. We are dedicated to the art and the craft of our profession.
We consider it an honor and a privilege to do the work we do — and we do it well. We share ideas and inspiration in our beautiful, open studio space, where design ideas come to life. We are dedicated to doing sustainable work, and living sustainable lives.
As a resource for our members and the general public, AIA San Francisco strives to improve the quality of life in the Bay Area by promoting architecture and design. We further this goal through community involvement, education, advocacy, public outreach, member services, and professional excellence.
Each month AIA San Francisco offers professional development and networking opportunities as well as public forums, tours, lectures, and gallery exhibitions that provide architects and design enthusiasts with many opportunities to explore the local built environment. Our annual Architecture and the City festival celebrates the richness and diversity of our local design community with programs throughout the city every September. In addition, our Marin and San Francisco Living: Home Tours series offers participants an inside look at cutting-edge residential architecture.
And, Dan Hogman. After well over a decade of involvement in high-rise architecture and housing projects, Dan has quit it all to focus on architectural illustration, photography and art in general. An avid sketcher with a sizeable social media followup, Dan is focusing on “capturing the essence” of the subjects, in quick, minutes long vignettes.
The Sketchy Tuesday Manifesto
by our founder, Alyssa Erickson
Sketched by Nicole
I wanted to improve my sketching, and I wanted to do it every day. I needed discipline. I started to sketch on my own at lunch and shared this idea with some coworkers.
They thought it was a good idea, and wanted to join in. I suggested we meet once a week and dedicate our lunchtime to sketching and eating.
I composed an email on February 23, 2015:
Hi Team!
I would like to start "Sketchy Tuesdays" where we have lunch together and sketch our surroundings in sketch books.
Starting tomorrow at 11:45, we will go to the pizza truck at Front coffee on Mississippi street and start our urban sketching adventures.
Pizza and coffee stains on paper bonus points!
We have met every Tuesday since. It has become a dedicated time in our office. The discipline is needed, because we always have work to do, but when that siren bell rings at noon on Tuesdays, we know it’s time to step away from our computers, grab our sketchbooks and head outside.
As I have been sketching weekly (at the least) I have noticed my sketches getting better, and I have been feeling more confident in my sketching abilities, not to mention having a stronger bond with my teammates at Arterra. It's been great sharing sketches and encouraging each other to keep on drawing. We feel refreshed when we come back to the office after sketching.
I think it’s very important for designers and architects to sketch. It helps keep ideas flowing and reminds us to observe what’s around us. If you take the time to sketch and observe your surroundings, your brain will work in a different way and shine new light on your designs.