Sketcher Of Krakatoa's Weather Affects

     Did you ever asked yourselves why are we calling ourselves urban sketchers, instead of plein air painters? What is the difference between urban sketching and plein air painting. If you read our manifesto one more time, you will see these two clause:

•      Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.

•      Our drawings are a record of time and place.

     Result of these two clause is, we must act like a journalist and here is the main difference. (If you want to read detailed article about differences between Plein Air Painting and Urban Sketching, here there is a good article ). Today i was thinking about that when i looking at a Victorian artist William Ashcoft's oil pastel sketches. 

     In 1883 August, whole world lived a mega disaster because of a strato volcano in Krakatoa eruption between Java and Sumatra. But this eruption was massive and affected whole world. Even the Northern hemisphere, weathers changed and bloody skies dominated everywhere. In these days, technology does not allow to take colored photographs, but there was painters. In England, Royal Society let William Ashcroft to paint these scenes and between 1883 to 1886, he paint hundreds of scenes everyday. Now, London Science Museum conserving these sketches. I think men like Ashcorf are our ancestors, he drew to serve same purpose. Here, some of his sketches below.

For the one who wants to read more:

• http://urbansketchers-chicago.blogspot.com.tr/2015/10/how-urban-sketching-and-plein-air.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa
• http://collectionsonline.nmsi.ac.uk/info.php?s=ascroft&type=all&t=objects