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Uma Kelkar

WS13 – From Thumbnail to Final Sketch (A problem-solving, no-overwhelm process)

Born and raised in Pune, India, Uma Kelkar has called San Jose home for the past 20 years. A watercolor painter and urban sketcher who also sketches in ink, gouache and on the iPad, Uma has taught at Urban Sketchers International Symposia (2017, 2018, 2019) and is author of Urban Sketching book for the iPad. She strongly believes in cross-pollination and borrowing ideas from various fields to improve sketching. She is an engineer by profession. She volunteered as Secretary on the Executive Board of Urban Sketchers from August 2019 to July 2022, taught at the USk Chicago Seminar in 2018 and conducted the Apple Sketchwalk with USk Chicago in 2019.

Uma has exhibited and won awards at 37 shows around the world, taught more than 45 workshops and conducted more than 25 lectures and demonstrations. She has also authored two books and contributed to six more. When Uma is not teaching art or engaging in making art, she is Founder-CEO of Vivify.ai, an AI startup that focuses on keeping humans in the creative loop. She holds Master of Science (EE) from Stanford University and Bachelor of Engineering from Pune University, India.

Find Uma online at:
Facebook: Studio Kelkar
Instagram: @umapaints
Website: umakelkar.com