When I were a lad, (or rather, when I was a boy, as I lived in the South), one of my earliest memories was sitting next to my Dad at the kitchen table with its white Formica top, watching him doodle on the flat white (washable) surface with an HB pencil. He was always painting and drawing, and he was very good at it.
I was a bit of a bus geek then, in fact I still am, so he could keep me happy for hours by drawing buses which my Mum would then wipe off before we had our tea. The number 9 Double Decker to Hampden Park would be brutally destroyed just after completion, but as Mum would then replace it with belly pork or something equally delicious, her act of terrorism would be quickly forgiven by this hungry child.
Fast forward to the 1990s and there I am, sitting in a village square, sketching old buildings, trying to capture the rustic beauty of the French countryside by using a graphite pencil and a keen eye.
I didn’t manage it.
Later, in 1997, I went off to a Watercolour course in the Lake District. The tutor was from my home town, Eastbourne, and I had even been to his gallery so I was sure we would have such a connection that he would be willing to help his fellow South Saxon.
All the other people on the course were very, very good at painting. Textures, colour and atmosphere held no fear for them. Confidence emanated from their happy smiling faces as they cheerfully slapped the colours on to a sheet of white paper, watching as a world of glorious mountains, sunlit lakes and handsome sheep emerged.
Meanwhile, cowering at the back of the class, I regraded my own efforts where my mountains looked like blobs and my sheep looked like alien visitors. Even my fellow Eastbournian couldn’t help me.
I went home and put my art stuff away for the next twenty five years, thinking that my Dad’s artistic skill has skipped a generation.
However, after having retired from the world of work I started to look for things to do to pass the time. And then I saw that two ladies from Hexham Urban Sketchers were looking to expand their group. Somewhere in the back of my pencil case, a spark ignited and I realised that maybe it was time to have another go at this art lark, so I took myself along to meet them and see what it was all about.
I have been going to the meetings on and off for over a year now, and I have to say I love it. We meet at the library in Hexham, everyone bearing sketchbooks, pencils, portable seats and in some cases, watercolour sets, and then go off into the town either in groups or on our own to sketch whatever takes our fancy. And after a couple of hours, we meet back at the library in a sort of show and tell where we admire each other’s work. There’s no obligation show everyone what you have produced but the group is so supportive and enthusiastic that we haven’t yet had anyone decide to hide their efforts.
We swap ideas and encourage each other every step of the way. There’s no commitment to join the group, no judgement and no fee to pay. Apologies if I’m starting to sound like one of those adverts on ITV daytime telly but I couldn’t think of any other way to put it!
I’m so glad I joined. Urban Sketchers is a growing World Wide movement which just happens to have established itself in Hexham. “Urban” is perhaps a bit of a misnomer as it suggests that we only sketch factories and housing estates, but it just means sketching in public places rather than say, doodling buses on your kitchen table.
And if that thought frightens you, please don’t let it. People may occasionally approach us to see what we are doing, but they tend to have one of two reactions; either they don’t sketch at all so are impressed by what you are producing, or they do sketch which invariably leads to encouragement.
We have a Facebook Group with 73 members at the last count. Just search for “Hexham Urban Sketchers” if you’d like more information as it’s all there.
From November we will be meeting on the first Saturday and third Thursday of every month, and if you are reading this please know that you are very welcome to join us. Sketching materials are all that’s needed.
And remember – talent is not a prerequisite; but enthusiasm is!
At the time of writing, our next meeting is at 10am this Saturday (25th October) at the Library in Hexham. If you come along, just look for the group at the table covered in sketchbooks and say hello!
Steve's Journal 