Looking Back: Recent AOI Meet Ups
A summary of what our Meet up groups have been up to in Paris, York, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Cardiff and Swansea.
The darkest days are far behind.
This 2026 so far we have had illustrators collectively drawing in Paris, exploring the colour blue in York, life drawing with a twist in Cardiff, connecting over coffee and sketching and so much more.
Before you head into a (hopefully) relaxing summer, let’s take a look again at recent illustration happening across six locations in the UK.
The Paris Pigeons
Hosted by Benedetta Bellemo, the Illustrators of Paris gathered for their first official meeting at Le Pavilion des Canaux to shape the future of their growing group.
With around 20 people joining, the group shared ideas and organised a collective drawing activity involving collaborative doodling based on the theme ‘drawing on Paris’. By the end of the afternoon, they had named themselves the Paris Pigeons, inspired by the many little pigeons that kept popping up during their collaborative drawing.
The Paris Pigeons are back on March 14th for their Drink & Draw meet up. Find out more information on their upcoming event here.
York draws away the January blues
The York meet up, Drawvik, entered 2026 by celebrating the colour blue!
17 illustrators gathered together, bringing along their favourite images, books, or screenshots of blue-inspired illustrations, to explore the history and use of the cool hue within art, illustration, and culture.
Couldn’t make it in January? Don’t worry! Drawvik is back on March 18th for another meet up exploring the use of typography as part of your illustrative practice and portfolio. Find out more about the upcoming event here.
Social sketching in Birmingham
The Birmingham meet up, PICNIC, continues to host fun and creative meet ups for local illustrators!
This February, a wide range of illustrators, from students and beginners to the more advanced, joined their PICNIC – Coffee + Sketch meet up to draw and connect.
With glowing reviews from old and new faces, PICNIC look forward to hosting more amazing events this year! Join their mailing list to stay up to date on their next meet up.
Copenhagen explores illustration practices and new possibilities
Copenhagen Connects, the AOI meet up in Denmark’s capital city hosted by Montana Forbes, gathered local illustrators for an inspiring evening exploring illustration practices with Copenhagen-based presenters Clara Selina Bach and Tomas Björnsson.
Illustrators explored Clara’s work across various mediums and Tomas’ diverse commissions, including horror and history elements. The group also looked ahead to 2026, reflecting on goals set in 2025 and spotlighting key illustration events and developments in the uk and beyond.
It was a brilliant evening of sharing, with plenty of time for networking, connecting and strengthening their growing community of illustrators in Denmark and the wider Nordic region.
Keep an eye out for any upcoming Copenhagen meet ups through our events page.
Cardiff sketched in costume
Illustrators from the Cardiff meet up group, Illustration Club, gathered for a lively costume drawing session.
Hosted by Cardiff illustrator Naomi Ann Clarke, the group was joined by model Natie Davies, who provided quick poses in a variety of outfits, hats and wigs supplied by The Usk Panto. Attendees also took part in warm up exercises drawing each other wearing the various props.
Attendees even joined in the fun by wearing costume hats themselves, making it a unique and playful twist on traditional life drawing. It was a brilliant opportunity to connect and catch up with fellow illustrators.
Swansea sketched at speed
Swansea’s meet up group, the Swansea Illustrators Club, loosened up their wrists at a high-energy Portrait Carousel.
The rapid-fire, creative spin on speed-dating, giving everyone the chance to draw different people and also experience being a model themselves! It was a wonderfully social night of chatting and getting to know each other in a much more interactive and intimate way than your average meet-up.
The Swansea Illustrators Club will be back next month for a ‘murder mystery’ themed costume life drawing workshop.
Until the next round up! Check if there’s a meet up group your area here.
See all upcoming AOI Meet ups
Learn about our Meet up Hosts
Paris AOI Meet ups: Follow Benedetta Bellemo for updates
York AOI Meet ups: Follow Drawvik
Birmingham AOI Meet ups: Follow Picnic
Copenhagen AOI Meet ups: Follow Montana Forbes for updates
Cardiff AOI Meet ups: Follow Illustration Club
Swansea AOI Meet ups: Follow Swansea Illustrators Club
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