10 Dec 2017  |   05:07am IST

Painting the town red

In this day and age, when everyone just takes to social media to preserve the best images of their trip, Urban Sketchers Pune descended to Goa and sketched their way through a three-day trip, where they took in the sights, culture, heritage and tourist season

 

 

Imagine a group of diverse

individuals, from different professions and age groups, meeting every Sunday without fail, just to sketch on site. These are the Urban Sketchers Pune (USP), a non-profit group of sketching enthusiasts and the Pune Regional Chapter of Urban Sketchers, a global organisation of sketchers from all over the world. USP looks at places through different lenses and documents the urban sprawl, one sketch at a time. Every Sunday, a new location is chosen and around 40-50 members gather and just sketch their hearts away.

Earlier this month, around 35 of them chose to come on a sketching trip in Goa where they focused on North Goa over three days.

“We planned our trip for November-end and the first week of December as it is season time and yet not too busy, also the weather would be cool. Plus the feast of St Francis Xavier also happens during that time and it would be a great experience to sketch the festivities, people and culture of Goa,” said Darpana Athale, the USP member from Goa and the main conceptualiser and organiser of this trip.

“The main idea of Urban Sketchers is that the sketches have to be done on site and not from a photograph or at another time; hence, time is of the essence. It also helps us gauge how much of the place one can absorb through just one sketch,” says Sanjeev Joshi, the founder of USP. An architect and artist, he has been associated with the global Urban Sketchers and has conducted many workshops and demonstrations.

To maximise the various experiences, a diverse range of places were selected to sketch.

One of the highlights was the Heritage Sketch Walk of Fontainhas and Panjim, the first of its kind to happen in Goa. This took place on Day One itself and the group experienced the fantastic architecture, history and even local cuisine and music. The walk was facilitated by Make it Happen, an organisation that curates immersive travel experiences by engaging with local communities.

“Sketching can be an eye opener as you notice the architectural designs and minute details of the buildings that we’ve seen almost all our life. Each person has their own perspective about the same element and these elements can be made memorable by sketching,” said Murali Shankaran, Chief Travel Designer, Make It Happen.

Day One saw the group also explore the fish market and the Miramar bay side and a portion of the Campal area.

Day Two started with the beach, followed by a visit to the Houses of Goa museum, where they had a guided tour of the school, the Mario Gallery and the museum by architect Gerard Da Cunha. A stop at Thomas Louis’ Banana Pottery studio was an enchanting afternoon, wherein the group sketched as well as played music on Thomas’s handmade instruments. Reis Magos Fort was the next stop and not even the sultry afternoon heat could deter the group from creating masterpieces. The day ended with a night-out at Arpora night market, where they captured the colours, hustle, music and the fun atmosphere.

Day Three was a visit to Old Goa, with the feast of St Francis being the main highlight for the sketchers.

“Photography helps us capture moments but sketching gets us connected to the places. The rich aesthetics amazed all the participants and the details made in all the sketches etched a whole new essence about Goa in their memories. Amongst all the hustle in the world today, very few people still want to keep their hobbies and passions alive and we got a whole bunch of them,” added Murali.

“Art, architecture, food, sea and fun. A mix of everything I love. Travel with a crazy bunch of designers, artists and architects and you have the perfect balance learning, skills and fun,” quips Maithili Prabhu, one of the sketchers, while describing the trip.

An interesting part of the trip was the kit the group carried with them: A cloth bag made by the animal welfare group in Pune, a copper drinking water bottle made by the craftsmen there, and their sketching gear. The bag and bottle represented the city of Pune and its craft and also reflected responsible tourism as no plastic was brought into Goa.

So what next? Darpana replied: “I’m planning to start the Urban Sketchers Panjim group soon and I hope to conduct similar trips and sketch walks for interested people so that we can share the unique side of Goa with the world.”