Sketching

We get together in coffee shops and parks, pubs, libraries, protests. We've even met on a city bus.

Urban Sketchers groups are all over the country, all over the world; I am happy to be part of Urban Sketchers Bend (Oregon).

Come join us. "Naw, I can't draw a straight line," people say to us. Then don't. We draw wiggles and dots, circles and arrows and splotches . . .

We paint, we doodle, with pens, brushes, pencils.

"Ha, I don't have a creative bone in my body," people say to us. Let me guess: you were raised in America. School let you scribble, until you got to a certain grade. Until: This c hild's an artist; this one is NOT. Stay in the lines. Don't waste the paper. Isn't that nice, but go out and play.

Urban Sketchers just go ahead and do it. Several of us are "good" at it, many of us wish and persist. We all keep pencil to the paper, give it a go.

Some draw buildings, some draw trees. Street signs and dogs, tables, horizons. I like to draw people - faces, gestures.

We encourage, support, and learn from each other. Jeff shows how he does perspective. Chelsea lets us try her different pens, nubs, cartridges, inks. I demonstrate my version of contour drawing. We compare papers and sketchbooks; we share tips on where to buy tiny paint sets for traveling.

I've been with Urban Sketchers Bend for a couple of years; now I carry my sketchbook with me always. I sketch in a restaurant while waiting to be served; I dabble with watercolors on a rest during a hike. When a child comes close to watch, I offer her paper and pencils to join in.

A couple of our members travel to other countries to attend global Urban Sketchers symposiums. When I got to go to Paris, I looked up Urban Sketchers Paris, made my way across the city, and sketched with twenty-four others, laughing and sharing on the grass in a park. Another day, on a stroll, I noticed two women on a bench in the middle of a bridge, painting images of a church. I sat with them and drew them. Another day, outside of a bookstore, I leaned against a wall, sketching with a young woman.

A purpose of urban sketchers is to look at the scene right around us, here and now, and explore it on paper. We usually don't draw just from imagination.

You are most welcome to join us.

Find out where we'll be meeting next, and view our faces and sketches at UrbanSketchersBend on Instagram, and Facebook. Or learn about the wider organization, Urban Sketchers

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