Picture This

How Urban Sketchers is training people to see the world again

All you need is a drawing pad ($5–15) and a pencil or pen ($1–5). If you’re feeling ambitious, you could add a cheap watercolor set for a few bucks more. Sketching costs so little, but the returns are priceless: You can refine your focus and spacial awareness, keep a visual diary, experiment with color, and dabble in the elusive concept of “mindfulness.” And thanks to the Urban Sketchers—a global network of amateur artists—you can share your visions with thousands of others.

Notes & Miscellanea

• While few people think about Flickr anymore, it was on this one-popular photo-sharing platform that Gabriel “Gabi” Campanario gathered the first Urban Sketchers. Today, the nonprofit organization has chapters all over the world.
• How did you first hear about it? By writing this article for The Tico Times.