The Blandy Sketch Group is different from NSPA.  It is private and membership is limited to the room size.  It's lots of fun to be in the BSG!  Members work to present a workshop topic once each two years or take an officer position.  This can really help you grow as an artist.  Please see https://blandysketchgroup.wordpress.com/ for more information about the Blandy Sketch Group and to apply to join the club waiting list, as membership is usually full.

The Winchester VA, Urban Sketchers is a fun group you might not have thought of joining if you are plein air painter focussed on making works for sale.  We sketch from life, often in bound sketchbooks, we meet year round, inside in the heat of the summer, and in the cold of winter in cafes and museums.  We sketch from life, as do plein air artists.  We love to include life, as we see it, rough and unpolished. often architectural, interiors and exteriors, tiny carrot people or people chatting or dining we can see.  We love pens, tiny watercolor set ups, and multimedia is common for us.  We even sketch digitally.  We travel light.  We don't tend to carry easels although we sometimes do, and the focus is on practice and fun rather than final works.  Signs of man are usually in our urban sketch subjects.  The group has a great vibe, and a strong core of admins, join at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1443923266389784.    Remember to mark yourself as going there and not on the NSPA calendar.