The past forward, an urban picture

On a Sunday morning, when most people are trying to catch a few winks, a group of art enthusiasts are furiously sketching away. As part of the community called ‘Pencil Jammers’, these art lovers meet and document the City.

The group, which started four years back by Smitha and George, now consists of about 4,000 members. They go to places like Nrityagram, Commercial Street, Nandi Hills, Richards Town and even the railway station, with pencils, paints and sketch pads to do their work. Some of their striking works include sketches of Mayo Hall, the Government museum, Seshadri Memorial Hall, Higginbothams and the colonial houses in Richards Park area.

‘Pencil Jammers’ works with a motive to capture critical thinking in visual arts. “Incorporating critical thinking in visual arts is essentially capturing the on-goings inside the artist’s brain. By capturing such aspects, the artist’s drawing takes shape through a completely different perspective.This can happen only when we ‘observe’ an object rather than ‘see’ an object as it is only then that we can deconstruct the object. ‘Pencil Jammers’ work towards focussing on finer details,” says Smitha.

The group relies only on word-of-mouth as their marketing tool and constantly post  updates and discussions on their blog.

 “We mainly meet for about four hours but some people prefer to come in early as they want to draw in the early morning light. Some prefer to stay back late,” she adds.

Smitha and George also run a self-sustained studio called ‘Pencil Jam’ which conducts regular workshops, classes and programmes such as water-colour and graffiti workshops, shading and hyper
realism.

“The ongoing 100-day workshop programme is for those with no art background but who really want to come and learn art. It is mainly to break the myth that art is a natural talent, it is like maths, an acquired skill by practice,” says Smitha. “We don’t stick to any ‘ism’ or style. However, we encourage artists to keep their work as objective as possible for healthier discussions. Every Sunday is a platform to let your imagination go free because, apart from drawing, we subconsciously let in a lot of data flow in.”

George and Smitha know each other through the illustration and design studio they were working with, which was called ‘Pencil Sauce’. “We wanted to do something further in visual arts and the response has been phenomenal. A lot of people within the community have shifted careers after a few weeks of drawing,” says Smitha proudly.

Smitha laughs as she recalls how most of her school days were spent drawing. “During my ninth and tenth grade, when everybody was busy with board exams, I used to draw in a notebook, putting it behind my Math textbook.”

They feel that there should be serious incorporation of art in education. George points out that while drawing is the first thing a child learns, before reading and writing, later, it becomes a wistful memory.
With this in mind, ‘Pencil Jam’ is now working on a project which makes it easy for parents to introduce arts-integrated training for pre-school children.

Karthik, one of the members of ‘Pencil Jam’, says that he got to know about the community through friends and loves like-minded customers. “George puts across concepts in a simple manner so we pay attention to minute details while drawing,” he says. “‘Pencil Jammers’, apart from being an art hub, is a great space for healthy interaction and long-lasting friendships,” says Smitha.
Anushka Sivakumar