drawn together
Urban Sketchers build community one page at a time
Words by Jennifer Dorothy
A Bainbridge Island garden (Illustration: Pamela Wachtler)
It’s a silent act. There are no voices, just the sounds of drawing—implements scratching across paper, fingers shuffling through pencil cases, sharpeners rasping against wood, hands turning pages. Someone extends an arm to measure an object with a pencil, another places a sketchbook on their seat and steps away to get a different perspective. Sketching is a peaceful and meditative act, even when practiced in community.
Welcome to a local gathering of Urban Sketchers, a global community dedicated to the practice of on-location drawing. Some participants are fast. They fill a page with images in less than 30 minutes. Other folks take their time with more deliberate mark-making. Each artist’s mood and personality are expressed in their work. “Anybody can draw,” says Susan Jackson, who started the Bainbridge Island chapter of Urban Sketchers in 2014, “You just have to want to.”
It all started in 2007 when Seattle-based journalist and illustrator Gabriel Campanario created an online forum “for all sketchers out there who love to draw the cities where they live and visit from the windows of their homes, from cafes, parks, standing by street corners... always on location, not from photos or memory.”
The following year, Campanario started an Urban Sketchers blog, inviting a group of sketchers to share their drawings and storytelling. Urban Sketchers is now a nonprofit organization, supporting and representing a grassroots community of sketchers. There are chapters in 489 cities worldwide—all offer free attendance and are run by volunteers. Urban Sketchers aims to raise the artistic, storytelling and educational value of on-location drawing. By promoting the practice of capturing what is seen from direct observation, the organization is connecting people across the globe.
When I observed a drawing session on location at the Bainbridge Island library recently, I watched how the Sketchers captured light and shadow on the page as they honed their eye-hand coordination. I witnessed them use artistic license as they included certain elements from the scene and excluded others from their compositions. I saw them use various mediums, from charcoal to graphite to watercolor pencils. I saw only support between those present, no competition or judgment.
“My partner and I joined the Sketchers three years ago, and we love it! The group welcomes all skill levels, and the relaxed format—bring your materials, find a spot and draw— makes for a nonthreatening artistic experience,” says local participant Sabina Wohlfeiler.
The format is simple. Every Wednesday at 11 a.m., the group meets at a new location announced via email. They sketch for the first hour and a half, then “throw down” their sketchbooks for comments and support during the last 30 minutes. Sometimes, visitors from local chapters in Tacoma, Port Townsend, Bellingham or Seattle attend. Anyone can drop in and draw during an Urban Sketchers meeting that’s happening anywhere in the world. Just bring a piece of paper and a pencil.
“Drawing is one of the best things you can do for your mind,” says Jackson when she explains that the group rarely misses a weekly session and has regular potlucks and dinners. “It’s changed a lot of people’s lives. It’s a very good thing.”
Drawings from the urban sketchers are now on display at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) Bistro. Susan Jackson will join fellow sketchers Marilyn Place and Kathy Clowery at the BIMA Auditorium on May 10 at 3 p.m. to share the stories behind how they began drawing and what keeps them coming back to sketch together every week. Purchase tickets online here. Connect with Bainbridge Island Urban Sketchers via their Facebook group.