Sitting alone with a sketch pad in an uninspiring setting, it can be easy for one to draw a blank.
A local group wants artists of all abilities to get out and find the inspiration they need.
Urban Sketchers Orillia held its second public sketching event Wednesday. About 25 people showed up at Mariposa Market, where they went off in all directions to sketch various scenes in the downtown Orillia café and bakery. It was the group’s second outing.
The events are casual. They are free to attend. There is no instruction. The only stipulation: Bring your own sketch pads and materials.
“Basically, you’re working on your own. It doesn’t matter if you’re new or if you’ve been sketching for years. We’re all learning,” said artist Meg Leslie, who started the group.
Leslie recently moved to Orillia from Kitchener, where she was part of a similar group. She enjoyed watching people “evolve” as artists and decided it would be a good fit in Orillia, too.
“You gain courage to go out and do it on your own. It takes guts to sit alone in a café and sketch,” she said. “Artists often work by themselves. This forces us to get out.”
Laurie Herd has been sketching and painting for years, but Wednesday was the first time she attended an Urban Sketchers Orillia outing.
“It’s just another opportunity to get out and practise. You have to keep at it,” she said. “It really helps you decompress, too.”
It forces participants to notice details they might not have before: the patterns on the walls, the grates, the grain of the wood tables.
Laura Hinsberger knows all about the small details. She does all of her work on artist trading cards — canvases the size of trading cards.
“It’s manageable, as an amateur,” she said. “Also, they’re fast, and I’m an impatient woman.”
While searching for a subject Wednesday, Hinsberger was “looking for shapes and colours that speak to” her.
“I love to draw. It’s my favourite thing to do in the world,” she said as she drew the side of one of Mariposa Market’s Coca-Cola fridges.
For Tricia Jones, Wednesday’s event was all about the process.
“Any time you do art, it’s relaxing. It’s not all about the final product,” she said.
During the last 15 minutes of the monthly gatherings, it’s time to “throw down.” That’s when the participants reconvene and lay their work out for everyone to see. Some were hesitant to do so, but Jones wasn’t.
“I’m not really nervous because it’s not about creating something beautiful,” she said, “but it will be interesting to see what other people come up with.”
And it was interesting, given the mixture of perspectives. Some were drawn to the baked goods; others had their eyes on the ceiling and light fixtures; one person sketched a storefront across the street.
The variety of work on display at the end is what Urban Sketchers Orillia is all about.
The group’s next gathering will take place March 24, from 1 to 3 p.m., at the Orillia Public Library.
Find out more on the Urban Sketchers Orillia Facebook page.
