Page 112 - Port Douglas Magazine 35

BEAUTY & THE

ETCHING

The Urban Sketching Movement

WORDS by Jamie Jansen

A Sue explains that the group was started five years ago by three
pencil, a sketchpad, a beautiful environment and
good company. Every week a group of locals come
members of the Douglas Arts Gallery (also known as DAB) in
Mossman; Alison, Jeanette and Pat. “Alison discovered the
together to draw on location and share their love
one in Port Douglas.
sketching. for Port Douglas, Mossman and surrounds through Urban Sketching group in Cairns and was motivated to also start
The group is part of the Urban Sketching Movement, a
global community of artists that practice drawing the local “I was inspired by Alison’s sketching at DAB and decided to join
environment. the group to learn more about it. Unfortunately Alison is no
The movement was started on Flickr in 2007 by Spanish longer with us so Pat took over the organisation of the group,
journalist Gabriel Campanario. In 2009 Campanario established and I now organise locations each week.
Urban Sketchers as a non-profit organisation with the motto: Whether you are visiting for a holiday or settled in the area, the
“We show the world, one drawing at a time!”. mantra is open. “Everyone is welcome to join the group if they
Groups all over the world draw on location, indoors or out, consent to our manifesto. We capture from direct observation,
capturing what they see from direct observation. Their drawings you’re not supposed to sketch from a photo. After a meet-up
tell the story of the surroundings, the places they live and where we share our sketches in our group and we comment on each
they travel. With more than 120,000 members, there are urban other’s work,” says Sue.
sketching groups - also called ‘chapters’ - in 60 countries and in
336 cities. RELAXING PASTIME
The urban sketchers see their urban world as they draw it, using
different kinds of media to showcase their individuality. From Jeanette Yarr, one of the founders of the group, says that they
sketching on a busy commute to observing the world from a started the group with only four or five people. “Now we’ve got
coffee shop, there are no boundaries when it comes to urban this big group, it’s amazing,” she says.
sketching. “Sketching is such a relaxing pastime. We have a lot of beginners
in the group who have never sketched before. You don’t need
INSPIRED BY THE SCENERY to worry if you don’t have any experience, you can just start
off with something very simple. We have a lot of people who
Urban Sketchers Port Douglas/Mossman is one of the many have never sketched before and now they’re painting with
‘chapters’ around the globe, and with so many beautiful places watercolour.”
in and around Port Douglas, they never run out of inspiration. Jeanette is originally from Victoria and she loves the tropics.
I meet the group at Palmer Sea Reef in Port Douglas, a golf “The landscape up here is just so unique but my favourite spot is
course nestled between an oasis of unparalleled views of Four Mile park because of the magnificent trees, I love painting
greens. The veranda of the clubhouse offers stunning views over them.”
the golf course, surrounded by palm trees and the backdrop of Beverlie Warner is turning 90 this year and is happy she is still
pristine mountains. able to join the group. “I love the company of the people and I
The group is spread out over the veranda, with some finding am learning more about sketching and painting every day.”
a space for themselves to work quietly on their artwork and
others finding company at a round table, chatting away while
stroking their pencils on their sketchpads. BEING PART OF A GLOBAL COMMUNITY
I find Sue Jones at the round table, she organises the locations Michele Salkow has found a spot for herself on the couch and
for the group and says that she gets inspired by the scenery is in full concentration when I ask her when she started joining
every day. “We have an incredible landscape around us, there the group. “I started coming along three years ago,” she tells me.
is so much to see and it is lovely being able to sketch outdoors,” “The atmosphere is great, you meet a lot of different people who
she says. you can share ideas with.

114 tourismportdouglas.com.au