Cinema – St. Petersburg Automatic translate

The exhibition “Cinema - St. Petersburg” opens, where many sketches from members of the Urban Sketchers Community of urban artists are presented.

Urban sketching - quick sketches from nature in an urban environment - streets, parks, cafes, museums, shops, people, weather, mood… But for this exhibition, a special theme was chosen - CINEMA, and was suggested by the city itself.

After all, no matter what its name is - St. Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad and St. Petersburg again - one of the most cinematic metropolises in the world. Its streets, avenues, embankments, and parks become not only a platform where the fates of movie characters play out; Peter’s creation itself is often made the hero of the film. And it was in the city on the Neva that Russian cinema was born and the country’s first film studio, Lenfilm, appeared.

So both the choice of topic and the very name of the exhibition “Cinema - Petersburg” are absolutely justified.

A particularly important part of it are drawings based on the plot of films about the blockade.

In preparation for the exhibition, the authors independently selected means of expression and film fragments in order to show their perception of the cinematic history of the city on the Neva. Each got its own perspective and connection with the place, the subject of the sketch. The sketches are made using different materials, with the help of which a blank sheet of paper is transformed into a drawing in ten minutes. Attention to sensations: colors, lines, no constructions, just an instant drawing; the main thing is what a person visualizes, feels and what responds to him.

At the exhibition “Cinema – Petersburg”, artists share with us their impressions of their favorite films and characters. The author’s light and fleeting vision creates fascinating and sometimes frightening shots of Petrograd - Leningrad - St. Petersburg.

The Urban Sketchers Community is a group of artists (professional and amateur) who come together to draw urban environments in their sketchbooks or simply on a piece of paper.

They find inspiration in everything we see around them - from architectural structures to passers-by on the streets. Urban sketching is an international movement that is represented in many cities around the world. This community was founded by Gabriel Campanario in 2007. We have goals and a manifesto. One of the goals of the community is to unite people who make sketches from life. Through our sketches we show the beauty of our city.

Our meetings take place on weekends. We conduct all discussions about the time and place of the meeting in a group chat, and advertise on social networks so that our new like-minded people can join us. In the warm season, we draw objects that interest us on the streets of our city, and in the cold season, we gather in museums, shopping centers, cafes and other warm places that are ready to receive us. We usually sketch for about three hours, after which we get together and take group photos with our sketches. More often than not, the meeting does not end there. We go to the nearest cafe and continue to communicate there, someone sketches each other, someone shares information about upcoming master classes, new interesting techniques or materials and tools that have become available for sale. Community members share their work on social networks with specific hashtags and this allows Urbansketchers from all over the world to communicate and share their ideas and experiences.

Several times a year we organize exhibitions for our participants in different spaces. Since we have participants who are members of other communities, it happens that we team up with these communities for joint plein airs and exhibitions. In September 2023, after the plein air with the New Peredvizhniki, the exhibition “Blossoming Narva Outpost” was organized at the Palace of Arts of the Leningrad Region, and in October 2023 there was an exhibition with our participation in the Vyborg Castle from the Watercolor Society of St. Petersburg. Overall, the Urbansketchers community is a wonderful way to unite people who love their city and want to draw in a warm and friendly team. Sketchers come to us from other cities and countries. This is a great opportunity for creative self-expression and development in art. Our team consists of amateur and professional artists of different levels and ages. We all have different professions, but we are connected by a common hobby - sketching.

If you love to draw and are interested in the urban environment, then urban sketching is what you need! Come, our doors are open to everyone!!!