On a brilliant spring morning, with sketchbooks and drawing boards in hand, artists from a local urban sketch group took up positions along Burns and Worthington Avenues. With pencils, charcoal, pens, markers, and watercolors, they set about capturing images of Wyoming—the grand houses, the churches, and the blossoming trees. Passersby with their dogs and strollers paused to admire the drawings appearing on the pages.
“We meet every month to sketch interesting locations around Cincinnati,” said Wyoming resident Jeb Brack. As one of four administrators of Urban Sketchers Cincinnati, he planned the April 21 outing. “We have so many great architectural styles here in town. It’s a perfect place to sketch.” The sunshine and seasonable temperature helped bring over a dozen artists to the gathering, several of them from Wyoming themselves.
Urban sketching is a phenomenon that began about 10 years ago, when a Seattle journalist and illustrator created a website, UrbanSketchers.org, where sketchers could share their drawings. As the pastime boomed, this website became home to a global community of artists whose motto is, “We show the world, one drawing at a time.” Since that time, the nonprofit organization has grown to include hundreds of chapters all over the world, and Cincinnati got its own chapter late last year and even received recognition in the worldwide online magazine, Drawing Attention.
“We’ve been sketching together for the past couple of years, just for fun,” Brack said of the group’s beginnings. “Now we’re part of the global movement, and it’s really cool to see our sketches included in that. People all over the world are going to be seeing these drawings of Wyoming.”
Saturday’s sketches included views of several homes, the Episcopal and Baptist churches on Burns Avenue, and the Gabriel Palmer House at 313 Burns. “I did some research on this house,” said artist Robin Ewers Carnes as she showed off her sketch of the Palmer house. “Evidently it has a chandelier from music hall, and also one that used to be owned by George Remus, the bootlegger. How cool is that?” (Carnes moonlights as a brand representative for George Remus bourbon.)
The sketchers were men and women, adults and children, professionals and hobbyists. “Anyone is welcome to come sketch with us,” Brack said. “Whether you’re an old hand or you’ve never sketched before. All you need is a pencil and sketchbook.” The group posts their scheduled outings on Facebook, and you can see their work there, on Instagram @cincyurbansketchers, or on Twitter @USkCincinnati. In addition, an introductory Urban Sketching class taught by Brack and Carnes is scheduled for June at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.
