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Take an art walk with Dunedin SketchCrawl

By Dalia Colon, Times Staff Writer
In print: Thursday, June 19, 2008

A sketch by Lori Krout of Palm Harbor, who organized the local SketchCrawl.
	[\uFEFFLori Krout]

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DUNEDIN

A SketchCrawl is like a pub crawl, but with more pencils and less beer. On Saturday artists worldwide will grab fresh sketch pads and spend the day traversing their town, drawing whatever inspires them. They might sketch a coffee cup in their favorite cafe, a dachshund at the local dog park or a lily pad in a local lake.

A San Francisco artist launched World Wide SketchCrawl in 2004. After reading about the event online, Palm Harbor resident Lori Krout decided to organize Dunedin SketchCrawl.

"Nobody was doing anything locally, so I thought, 'I'll just do it myself,' " said Krout, 47, a professional artist and art teacher. She chose downtown Dunedin for the crawl because "it's quaint."

Participants will gather at Pioneer Park at 9 a.m. and then split up to find their subjects: egrets at the marina, bikers along the Pinellas Trail, storefronts along Main Street or whatever else catches their eye. Over lunch, the group will reconvene and have an opportunity to share their work.

Although participants will work independently and draw at their own pace, Krout sees the event as a chance to network and be encouraged by other artists.

"I don't know that drawing is always a solitary activity," Krout said. "If you're working and seeing other people doing it, it motivates you."

With knit-ins and beading circles all the rage, simple pad and paper seem to have taken a back seat.

"I don't think it ever really went away for a lot of people. It is something that seems illusive to a lot of people, but it's all about learning what you see, and how to translate your vision," Krout said. "If you learn how to see, then you can really have fun with it. So it's not as hard as a lot of people think."

Of course, lessons help. If you haven't held a pencil since you took the SAT, then Krout offers these tips to get you reacquainted.

Take classes. A how-to book might teach you the technique, but only face-to-face instruction can provide feedback and support.

Go organic. Start with a subject that still looks okay if it's lopsided, like a flower or an apple. As long as the shading is decent, people will be able to tell what it is. "That's a great confidence builder at the beginning," Krout said.

Start with basic supplies. Pencils: 3H, H, HB and 2B (H is for hard, B is for black). Micron brand pens: 01, 05 and 08 (the numbers don't represent an exact size but correspond with line width sizes). Conte brand crayons: one pack of 2B (B is for black, referring to the hardness.) Erasers: one white vinyl and one kneaded. Sketch pad: 70-pound paper is good; 90-pound is better.

Dalia Colon can be reached at (727) 893-8717 or dcolon@tampabay.com.