Art Nouveau apartment buildings, Helsinki, originally uploaded by Brin d’Acier.
Corner of Bulevardi and Fredrikinkatu.
It’s getting cold, so this might be my last outdoor sketch of the year. If the weather stays sunny and I get myself a pair of fingerless gloves I might squeeze off a few more.
Mille Croquis 
Hi–
I really like your sketch subjects and style.
I am an urban sketcher based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. You can check out my and my friend’s sketches at http://www.urbansketchers-bayarea.blogspot.com/.
I will be coming to Helsinki this weekend for a week and wanted to know if there are any urban sketching events or opportunities to sketch with fellow sketchers.
Thanks,
Sonia
Hi,
Welcome to Helsinki! I hope you enjoy your stay, be it for business or pleasure.
You chose a good time to come, summer has finally started.
As you can see from the Urban Sketchers web site, I’m currently the only member in Finland. As I’m normally pretty busy with my day job, I haven’t even thought of recruiting more. I don’t know of any others who regularly sketch outside. The artists in Helsinki don’t seem to appreciate the beauty of their home town. There are a few artists who do plein air painting, but almost all of Russian origin, and Jonathan Moorhouse, a British-born architect who does very detailed sketches of buildings that the Finns take for granted (he has published a couple of books of his walks). I only learned to see Helsinki after more than ten years abroad.
But that said, I’d be happy to show you around the historic parts of Helsinki. People say I’m pretty good as a tour guide – I’ve had lots of practice explaining the city to visiting friends, colleagues (I work for a multinational telecommunications company) and especially visiting members of my wife’s family (she’s from Montréal). There are lots of interesting buildings to sketch, and it would be a good incentive for me to get some sketching done.
BR
Matti
lovely. fanciful.