Sketching the Games: The amateur artist who captures the spirit of sport

HAGEN – From his courtside seat, amateur artist Elmar Kotthoff is capturing the spirit of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games by sketching the basketball action at the Ischelandhalle in Hagen.

“With photography, it's just snap, done,” he told the FISU Games News Service. “I always have to wait until someone stands in the moment, and then I paint very quickly. That's how it is, it's not finished, it's not quite right, but that's what makes it.

"I always take my painting stuff with me, and then I have a great time because I am so close to the court,” Kotthoff said.

The atmosphere and enthusiasm of the student-athletes, such as the Argentinian basketball players he met, inspire him to create unique works.

"Yesterday, I painted two pictures on postcard-size canvases,” he said. “The players were so great and created such an atmosphere. Earlier they had been singing 'Feel the Rain on Your Skin'. I wrote that on the card, and they gave me such a big cheer. It was amazing, really great, such a wonderful memory."

Always learning

Kotthoff's quick grasp of proportions and the play of light and shadow give his sketches a special vibrancy.

"Painting people, getting proportions right and doing it so quickly – that's not easy. But then, when I do it in colour or with shadows, people find it quite good, even if it's not accurate."

The urban sketching movement has become a real passion for the 66-year-old, spurring him on and connecting him with a global community. Interacting with other artists worldwide is a valuable source of inspiration and learning for him.

"It has developed into a bit of an addiction,” Kotthoff said. “I now do something every day, and this movement is very exciting. I follow people from Asia and see great things from them and then I think, 'Wow, they are good. Mine is nothing.' And that is simply a point where you can learn a lot from others, through social media. I think that's a great thing."

Flow state

For Kotthoff, the true value of his art lies in the creative process itself. When he draws, he enters a ‘flow state’ where ideas emerge and each picture is the unique result.

"I do it for myself and don't sell anything, or I just give the pictures away, and that is worth more to me,” he said. “As they say, it's in the process.

“I actually get into such a flow when I paint, and I don't even know what comes first, it just happens, I have a new idea and then I just do it."

Kotthoff embraces this spontaneity in his sketches, relying on speed and instinct rather than precision.

"I don't erase anything,” he said. “I don't have that much patience. I'm on it for half an hour at most and then I do the next one.

“When it goes super-fast, I always have to be patient for it to dry so that I can create texture and shadows with the paint. But that also gives it depth and charm. You can also draw many lines wrong, but if I just bring in a little shadow, then it's fine."

His creative outlook offers a rare artistic perspective on the FISU Games - one that captures not perfection, but emotion, movement and memory.

You can see Elmar Kotthoff's drawings on his Instagram page here.

Tickets for the final three days of the Games are still available here.

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Photos: © Sophia Schempp & Leon Tonhäuser / Rhine-Ruhr 2025