Pencilling in time outdoors

Artists of all ages and abilities are gathering to sketch Sydney’s most picturesque sights, toting pencils, paintbrushes and iPads.

The Sydney Sketch Club regularly draws a crowd for its seasonally planned excursions or ‘Sketchabouts’, usually held twice per month, and has recently teamed up with the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The group of sketchers visited Bondi last weekend for Sculpture by the Sea and on Saturday November 12 they will be at the Botanic Gardens for their final Spring session, learning about the plants and wildlife through volunteer guides.

A spokesperson for the Gardens, Kerry Brown, said there is a great diversity in participants. “We’ve had a girl around nine years, teenagers, those in their 20s and 30s and some in their 60s. There are generally more women than men but it’s something that appeals across demographics.

“Just like knitting, sketching is regaining popularity and it’s interesting how social it’s become,” she said.

Manager at Darlinghurst’s Tap Gallery, Lesley Dimmick, said she is interested in going along to a future event.  “Sounds great. I like to get outdoors and go on location … I’ve been sketching since I was five.”

According to its website, the Sydney Sketch Club currently has 354 members.

The Sketch Club’s assistant organiser and Pyrmont resident, Alissa Duke, said the Sketchabout events typically attract between five and 20 members. “But the event at the Gardens last autumn brought about 40 people,” she said. An exhibition of the work from the Autumn sessions held in the Gardens are on display until November 25.

Ms Duke said people are free to bring along their favourite tools of expression. “I prefer pencils and ink but others use watercolours and one guy used his iPad.”

The group has visited the Maritime Museum, the kite festival in Bondi, the Powerhouse Museum and Taronga Zoo. “The furthest out we’ve gone is to Windsor,” Ms Duke said. “Before Christmas, we meet up in Martin Place. There so much to see – the tree, crowds of people, the surrounding buildings and lots of lights.”

The idea of group sketches is gaining international popularity. “There’s an international sketch crawl which you can find out about on sketchcrawl.com,” Ms Duke said. “It was set up by a guy in San Francisco. He names a particular day on the website each month.” Art enthusiasts propose a location within their city to attract others nearby and afterwards everyone uploads photos of their artwork.

By Deborah Erwin