Reportage News: Sketchers at the Paris Olympics, Calendar and an Important Update

Sep 03, 2024

Dear readers,

My first batch of sketching news after the unofficial end of summer is bittersweet.

I’m excited to call attention to some sketchers who documented the summer Olympic Games in Paris. While none of them was specifically commissioned to be there, their work underscores the unique value of hand-drawn reportage as a visual human record of important events, especially as AI continues to flood social media with machine-generated imagery. The sketches these artists produced on their own time will hopefully inspire other artists to create similar work — and media outlets to recruit them in the future.
I’m also announcing that On the Spot will not return to your inbox again this year — more on that at the end of the newsletter.

Cinematic sketches

Alex Hillkurtz’s sketches from the Olympics stopped me in my tracks when I spotted them on Instagram. So fresh and spontaneous! He said each Olympic venue was brilliantly designed to show Paris in its best possible light.

“The stadium built at the foot of the Eiffel Tower for the beach volleyball matches was stunningly gorgeous!”

How did it feel to sketch there?

“I felt like a bit of a curiosity with my sketchbook on my lap amongst all the cheering fans, but I couldn’t resist sketching this location. The seats were a little tight, the stands packed, and I was surrounded by enthusiastic fans waving flags, but that’s the fun of this type of sketching — translating the electricity of the moment into ink and paint.”

Hillkurtz is known for his work as storyboard artist in movies likes “Argo,” “Almost Famous” and many others, but the British-born, American-raised artist now living in Paris is a household name in the urban sketching community as a watercolor artist and workshop teacher. Hillkurtz is the author of “Sketching Techniques for Artists.”

Once in a lifetime

Marielle Durand said the Games were a once-in-a-lifetime experience. She sketched runners on the track at Stade de France (above), Taekwondo at the Grand Palais, the Pentathlon in the gardens of Versailles’s Castle, and the magical cauldron in the the Tuileries.

A prolific sketch artist who is often commissioned to create on-the-spot art, Durand likes to self-start her own projects as a way to market her work.

While she wasn’t commissioned in this case, she got some press for her Olympic sketches in two media outlets: BFM RMC and Actu 78.

marielledurand.artist

A post shared by @marielledurand.artist

And now Durand is wearing her sporting-events-sketcher hat again as she sketches the Paralympics.

Marielle Durand is a Paris-based artist and urban sketcher. Her bilingual French-English book “1 km, 1 heure, 1 dessin: une échappée dans Paris XIII” was published in March by @elytis.editions.

Magical moments

Agnès Goyet says the Olympics allowed her to see her city differently.

“I was transported by the grandiose spectacle, the creativity, the richness of the scenes, the highlighting of the monuments of the most beautiful city in the world, from the Seine, the French Academy, the Eiffel Tower… I let myself be carried away by the frenzy of the Games, with an enthusiasm that totally won me over.”

At the Tuileries Gardens, Goyet says she was totally dazzled by the magic of the cauldron rising into the air.

“At the end of the day, before the light went out, I stood there, between the trees, in front of this impressive balloon, to take a bite of it, the light of the flame reflected in it, the Eiffel Tower as if watching over it. An Olympic cauldron as a symbol of what made us dream, vibrate, excite us, and ignite us. Then to see it rise gently in a stunned silence, making this magical Paris even more wonderful.”

Agnès Goyet is a Paris-based sketch artist and traveler. Learn more about her work at www.carnetsdagnes.com,

An insider’s take

As an official volunteer, German sketcher Emil Hädler had a fantastic opportunity to document the inner workings of the Olympics from beginning to end.

“I had access to off-limit-areas by my enrollment as one of 45,000 volunteers during the whole games — one week before the beginning and three weeks throughout the games until the final ceremony.”

Hädler used an accordion journal for some of his sketches inside the Athlete’s Village. “It allowed me to make more sketches fast,” he said.

Haedler’s output was impressive. He shared multiple live updates from his Instagram account along with his commentary. Take a look!

Emil Hädler is a retired architect and university teacher currently based in Barcelona.

On the Spot goes on hiatus

I’m sorry to announce that I’m hitting pause on this newsletter at least until next year to attend to some personal family matters and self-care.

Here are important things to know:

If you are a paid subscriber, you will receive a refund for the time remaining in your subscription.
Paid subscriptions will be turned off for the time being.

I hope you have enjoyed the content so far and hope to be writing again soon.