Urban sketchers showcase beauty and stories of India’s cities, 1 drawing at a time
- The Urban Sketchers movement, started in 2007 in Seattle, has drawn a strong following in India, with more than 20 chapters across the country
- Artists say they enjoy the sense of liberation and community, and lack of rules about urban sketching, which allows them to express themselves through art
Bent over their sketchbooks, a group of art lovers in a public park in the heart of Chennai, India, are busy rendering their surroundings. Their subjects are varied, and they work with any number of mediums, but what unites them is a passion for depicting cities in situ and paying homage to a time-honoured tradition.
They are part of the global Urban Sketchers network, started in 2007 by Seattle-based journalist and illustrator Gabriel Campanario through the creation of an online forum. The movement, “for all sketchers out there who love to draw the cities where they live and visit”, has attracted a strong following of like-minded artists across the world, with various Urban Sketchers chapters sprouting up in cities everywhere.
Under this movement, sketchers are not confined to a particular medium or style, but their artwork should contain an element of storytelling, capturing scenes that might be gone tomorrow.
It also takes a certain amount of dedication – a group has to sketch together consistently for six months to apply to officially become a part of Urban Sketchers International.
The first Urban Sketchers chapter in India was started in Pune in 2015, followed by Mumbai in 2016, and then Hyderabad, Gwalior and Delhi. Today, there are more than 20 chapters in India and many more waiting to be recognised.
The Chennai chapter (USk Chennai) was started by documentary filmmaker Mohan Krishnan and graphic designer Namita Ravichandran in 2020. They now meet twice a month on Sundays at different venues to sketch various landmarks and scenes of interest in Chennai.
