Based in the heart of Croxton's on Palmerston Road is a group called Sketchy Southsea which is run by a local called Tim. It is a place to come along with your own sketchbook to sit and draw, somewhere you can share a passion for drawing with fellow attendees.
Chatting with Tim I asked him why he set this up. He said “I moved back to Southsea from Fareham and noticed that there were no local casual drawing meet-up groups and wanted to bring this to town once a month so people could feel they have something creative on their doorstep. I loved the casual dining feeling that Croxton's has achieved and felt that we could work together on bringing a drink and draw session here. I set this up 10 months ago and every month the group has grown.”
On a very mild Thursday evening, I went along for the November session and loved how chilled it was. There was a long table but then also little tables dotted nearby so you could just rock up, buy yourself a drink and draw in your own time with your own sketchbooks. Tim said to me that he felt it was important to take all the pressure away so he didn't want there to be one big piece of paper where everyone had to produce something. He wanted it to be a group where people could leave behind their busy work lives and just draw from their own books so even if that person only gets to draw at that one session a month then that's ok and means people can finish off their work next time they come or at home.
Tim said to me that he wanted the group to feel inclusive where like-minded people could connect and help each other. Having seen a lot of collaborations take place around the Sketchy table over the last few months he said it was a nice feeling that the monthly event was helping the local creative community. He loved that creatives could just chat and support each other while doing a creative activity like drawing simultaneously.
I didn't actually draw a thing while I was there but I did grab some food while observing and interviewing the group and my meal was so good. I had a special deal which was a greek type dish of Lebanese chicken with chips, hummus and greek salad with pitta bread. It was so nice to eat out in the week and Croxton's do deals like 'Steak Night' and 'Taco Tuesday' so there is always cool food on hand to try while you are drawing.
Sitting in the corner, I looked around and loved that there was such a huge mix of people attend on the session I joined. From artists that work part-time to animators and people that just want to dedicate time to a hobby, there were so many different types of drawing enthusiasts at the table.
Look out for Sketchy on Instagram with the next Drink and Draw happening on the 8th of December and usually starts from 6pm until 9pm. You can book your free place by clicking on the link in Sketchy Southsea bio or just contacting Tim direct on Instagram.
