Róisín Curé

Róisín Curé is a passionate urban sketcher, as well as an author and teacher. An urban sketcher since 2012, her goal is to spread the fun of urban sketching to as many people as possible.

She has written three books on urban sketching, including one in the The Urban Sketching Handbook series, called Drawing Expressive People (2020). The other two are Galway In Sketches And Stories (2019 & 2024) and Dublin In Sketches And Stories (2021 & 2024).

She has taught all over Europe and as an instructor with Urban Sketchers, teaching in symposia in Porto (2018) and Amsterdam (2019). Sketching events in which she has taught or taken part include Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, the UK and Switzerland and of course Ireland.

Róisín has conducted classes and workshops for a global community since 2014 and an online sketching club since 2020. Her YouTube channel shares her sketching journey, constantly encouraging viewers and explaining her techniques. She also writes a sketching blog each week and hosted the Sketch Therapist podcast until 2023, which aimed to entertain, inform and inspire.

She is also the inventor of the SketchPocket, a mobile sketcher’s speciality bag made of cactus leather. The design was her solution to her desire to sketch in ink and watercolour anywhere and everywhere, standing or sitting.

In 2014, Róisín co-founded Urban Sketchers Galway and it is going strong today, with the group meeting weekly in Galway City. She speaks English, Irish, French and Spanish.

Taller: Capturing light in watercolour on location

  • The workshop will be all about capturing light and shadow.
  • With these two elements, drama and beauty are always present. And it’s simple to do, but not always easy.
  • Simple, in that “less is more”, but not always easy in that one must force oneself to hold back and leave lots of white space.
  • The participants will learn the importance of values, using built-up areas to increase contrast, make colours and highlights pop and bring depth to a scene. The feeling of “being there”.
  • We will explore the magical sweet spot where the painter and the medium itself are in perfect harmony. We will use various watercolour techniques to achieve convincing results, walking the line between keeping and relinquishing control.

Supply list 

  • The colours used for shadows are up to the participant, but I recommend Payne’s Grey, Shadow Grey and mixtures of violet, blues and purples.
  • The participant will bring waterproof inks such as those by De Atramentis and Rohrer & Klingner.
  • They will need watercolours – including granulating colours such as the supergranulating range by Schmincke, but any soft muted colours will do.
Saturday, March 15th, 10 to 13 - Morning workshop: W5 (M) - Róisín Curé
Saturday, March 15th, 16 to 19 - Afternoon workshop: W5 (T) - Róisín Curé
Workshop's Languages: Spanish (English)
Location: to be determined