Sketchcrawlers of the world unite

A GROUP of budding artists braved the weather in Dublin at the weekend to take part in an international sketching event.

SketchCrawl 2009 sought to provide a visual record of 95 cities across the globe on one particular day – through the work of artists sharing their results online (at www.sketchcrawl.com).

After meeting participants at the Spire in O’Connell Street, the Irish co-ordinator, Sarah O’Reilly, from Clonskeagh in Dublin, sensibly led the group into the warmer confines of the GPO where sketching began shortly after 11am on Saturday. The intention was to also visit Trinity College, St Stephen’s Green, Temple Bar and the Phoenix Park.

At the same time, similar groups of artists were picking up their sketchbooks and wandering the streets of cities as diverse as Stockholm and Seattle, to record what was around them.

Many of the Irish group attend life drawing classes at the Trinity Arts Workshop in Pearse Street, or are members of the Dublin sketchers’ group which meets regularly in the city centre.

James Moore of Firhouse in Dublin said he had left a job in computers to pursue his ambition of a career in sketching and had heard of SketchCrawl 2009 through Sarah. “It is an informal group,” he smiled, adding that anyone interested could contact dublinsketchers.blogspot.com

Grant Murphy, a student at the High School in Rathgar, said he was hoping to get some work done for a portfolio for the National College of Art and Design.

Not all the sketchers were seeking a career in drawing, however, and advertising executive Aurlie Noyer from northern Italy said she was there to indulge her hobby.

Lending a further international element to the gathering was Marcin Lewandowski, originally from Poland, who works as an architect in Dublin.