Life in metro
It is a busy Saturday morning for the group of artists gathered near the Jayanagar BDA complex in Bengaluru. A bustling shopping arena that was set up decades ago, it is an unmissable landmark in South Bengaluru. Much like the location, the sketches that the group have made are a kaleidoscope of colour, character and composition.
“This is the best part of the meet; every sketch is from a refreshingly different perspective even though the location is the same. It is as if a canvas of memories and moments are captured in the sketchbook,” says Urban Sketchers Bengaluru co-founder Akshatha Suryanarayana, a professional artist and a children’s book illustrator.
Started in 2017 by Rohit Kulkarni, Suryanarayana and Shruti Vijay—all in their late 30s, who met through Instagram because of their shared passion for drawing—Urban Sketchers Bengaluru aims to capture the spirit of the metro, its daily life, the heritage buildings, the local markets etc. From a small group of five to close to 700 members on their Facebook page and 400 on their WhatsApp group today, the number of sketchers has grown steadily. The venue and theme for each meet, conducted on Saturdays between 8 am and 10 am during summers, and 10 am and 12 noon in other seasons, is announced on Instagram
@uskbengaluru—and are attended by more than 50 people each week.
“We have a diverse group and a unique venue each time. Being new to Bengaluru, I have discovered many places since I joined the group in 2022. We end up learning so much about the city apart from sketching at the location,” says Vijay, a finance professional. The movement gained tremendous impetus during Covid as people longed to go out in the open and connect with one another. “These meets are a great place to make friends and nurture social bonds,” says Kulkarni, who works in the apparel industry.
The group was recently invited to be a part of the Karnapex event—an annual state-level philatelic exhibition in Karnataka, which promotes stamp collection as a hobby and also educates people about the state’s history, culture and heritage. Works by five artists were selected for the state-level philately exhibition. The meets have people of all ages coming in from different walks of life.
The group has also been a boon for people like Aparna Hegde who, in spite of being an animator and trained artist, had inhibitions of drawing in public. Thanks to Urban Sketchers Bengaluru, today she has begun enjoying the process. “I like drawing in a group, interacting with amateur and professional artists, and discovering different aspects of the city,” she says. A picture speaks a thousand words and pictures are what they have to say.