OFFSKETCH No. 2

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After the success of the first OFFSKETCH in April, as part of the OFFSET 2015 schedule of events, Illustrators Ireland’s OFFSKETCH 2, in association with OFFSET and A4 Art, took place last Saturday, around Dublin’s fair city to celebrate National Drawing Day. There was over 70 plus attendees which included members of the IGI and some fortunate arts students from the US who managed to hear about it just in time!
Main organisers of the event Steve Simpson, Sarah Bowie and Jesse Campbell-Brown were amongst the turn out from Illustrators Ireland. Niamh Sharkey, Peter Donnelly, Jennifer Farley, Maggie Suggs, Alan Clarke David McClelland and Steve Doogan also joined in!

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Beginning in Smock Alley Theatre, over the first hour people sketched Joven Kerekes who gifted attendees with 3 songs, Jessica Peel Yates performed a dance, Niamh Sharkey read a story and the Steve’s (Simpson and Doogan) apparently recreated fight scenes form Star Wars, (uncanny) for attendees also.

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Dublin Castle and the Chester Beattie Library, surrounds provided attendees with the opportunity to sketch the Garda Memorial Day Mass which according to organiser Jesse Campbell-Brown,

“added a really interesting aspect to the day, offering sharply dressed officers, horses, a brass band to sketch, but also a quite lovely musical sound track.”

Soon after the attendees moved to Christ Church where they enjoyed by all accounts Christ Church’s welcoming soundtrack of the bells (the bells!!) and then the last hour was spent in Temple Bar before exhibiting the days work at The Graphic Studio Gallery.

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There was no real theme to the day unlike the first OFFSKECTH which focused on buildings, this time around people were given free reign. The exhibition at the end of the day provided an opportunity for all to show off their wares and well attended by all. According to Jesse “There were a lot of nerves about offering up sketchbooks for others to look at, but again, the great thing is that everyone there is in the same boat, professionals and hobbyists alike. And believe me, a professional sketchbook can still be pretty dodgy by anyone’s standards!”OFFSKETCH were particularly lucky to have Christian from A4 Art get involved this time round as a sponsor. He was 100% behind the idea from the start and donated sketchbooks with the OFFSKETCH logo to the cause! It was quite amazing, so a big thank you to him and A4 Art. Special thanks also to Mary, from the The Graphic Studio Gallery, who was happy to have OFFSKETCH at short notice also.
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Photography by Niamh KennedyKeep your eyes peeled for OFFSKETCH 3!

Well done to all involved!!