There’s an early pen drawing by Mayuresh Shirolkar of the Lakdi Pul that shows the background of the sky and the river, among other elements, which can be placed next to another work done at the same spot in when the shadows are of the Metro line, rather than of trees or the bridge. “I am not saying if this is good or bad, but the truth is that we will never see the place like we had earlier,” says Mayuresh, an architect who is part of the member USP committee.
A non-commercial initiative, USP is open to all who love art and the feeling of community. The next location is updated on social media a few days before Sunday, there are no fees and it is not binding on members to attend every session.
A global movement
USP is a chapter of a global movement called Urban Sketchers. A community of grassroots sketchers that started in , Urban Sketchers is based out of the US and is present in cities in 60 countries. There are more than , members at present. “Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live, and where we travel,” reads one of the points in Urban Sketchers’ vision statement.
The Pune chapter came up after architect-artist Sanjeev Joshi was invited to be one of the trainers at an Urban Sketchers’ symposium in Singapore in When he came back to Pune, he let his architect friends know of the concept of group sketching. At the first session in August that year, he expected eight people, but 25 turned up. Since then, USP has attracted more than 13, members, of whom around a hundred turn up on Sundays.
Wouldn’t it be nice if people did not have to wake up early on Sunday to reach the designated location by 8 am? Women members, especially, juggle their family duties to ensure they are there to sketch. The only way out for Wadia, whose daughter was very young when she started, was to take her along to sketch. “I used to make it seem like this was a special picnic we were doing. Now, she sketches with USP as well,” says Wadia.
Capturing perspectives
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Every session ends at 10 am, with a display of the works. Members often hang out for an hour more, discussing their art and exchanging tips. In recent weeks, the group has sketched Ghorpade Ghat, Parvati temple, Zainy mosque, The Bishop’s School, Dastur Meher Road in Camp, Symbiosis Institute of Design, Rajiv Gandhi Udyan, Kasba Ganpati and Mhatre Bridge, among others. In their archives are works on Pune University, Mahatma Phule Mandai and numerous other landmarks and little-known spaces, including those restricted to the public.
“When you sketch a city, you are identifying a lot more than just visual appeal. You capture the sense of the space. When the group does this, we get a location from different perspectives and in different styles,” says Mayuresh.
USP organises an annual exhibition, which includes workshops. The next show is from December 21 to 25, during the Bhimthadi Jatra at Sakhar Sankul grounds behind Agriculture College.
“An important part of USP is the community, i.e. passers-by who stop to look at what is being sketched and identify certain aspects of a place they pass every day. We have many people saying, ‘Oh, I have never seen this’. That’s what is beautiful,” says Mayuresh.