THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A group of city folks meets every Sunday for their passion project. Painting the city live. They capture the cityscape, life and mood through art. Urban Sketchers, a group of around 30, showcased their work — a love story to their beloved city Thiruvananthapuram — in a recently concluded exhibition at the Alliance Francaise De Trivandrum.
Watercolour images of the Museum, the famous cafeteria inside Kanakakkunnu palace ground, and the beautiful, busy premises of Shankumugham beach were accompanied by charcoal drawings. From Kuthiramalika to Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple and Coffee House in Thampanoor... various locales of Thiruvananthapuram were on display.
Show curator Jayakrishnan K B, an architect who displayed six of his sketches, says the works are an outcome of their weekly sketch meetings, which began on September 13, 2022. “We have tried to document the various locales across the capital city and the life of people at that moment in our sketches,” he says.
Artists use their respective comfortable mediums like pencil, ink or watercolour during their outings.
Another Urban Sketcher, Kiran M, 23, of Ambalamukku, says, “The group activity is fun and engaging. We also get to understand other artists’ views on a particular location or architecture.”
Jayakrishnan adds the team recently did night sketching on Saturdays at Vazhuthacaud. “It was a new experience for us. We will be continuing the Sunday sketching sessions in the coming weeks, those interested can join us,” he says with a smile.
