Asia Link 2024 in Georgetown Penang

There are two large urban sketching international events held annually. The first is the Urban Sketchers Symposium and the second is AsiaLink. There is a difference between Asialink and the Urban Sketchers Symposium. Asialink is a little more casual and cheaper to attend. If you attend a few times, which we have now, you definitely make friends. Asialink has become very popular this year welcoming 400-500 Urban Sketchers to Penang.

Asialink is a whirlwind of activities – or so it feels. There were morning and afternoon demos and sketchwalks. When it comes to traveling, seeing a place through local eyes is a gift. As a sketcher, there is nothing quite like locals showing off their prime sketching locations. It is fun to plonk yourself down alongside another 20 or so sketchers and setting about recording what you see.

I did find it hot, particularly in the afternoons. But loaded with large bottles of water and a will to focus, I did get some sketching done. I have to admit that it was not as much as I would have liked. The heat got to me. When we flew out from Canberra it was -2, arriving in Penang it was 32 with about 90% humidity. The sticky heat and sketching outside did not match too well for me. I am not complaining as I did fill half a sketchbook but the heat slowed me down that is all.

Because of the heat I reduced the amount of stuff I was carrying around. I concentrated on simply pen and ink drawings which I enjoyed. This switch to just carrying pens really made me concentrate of the shapes I saw. I enjoyed this immensely. I enjoyed Asialink 2024 immensely.

Over on Parker Blogs, Teoh Yi Chie has shared a good run down of the event. His post is accompanied by videos and photos.

I sketched this on location in the tradition of Urban sketchers. Urban Sketchers is a global network of people who draw the cities they live in and travel to. Their slogan is to see the world one drawing at a time. You can find out more from the Urban sketchers website where there is a global directory of groups. If you are interested in finding out more about a group in your town or city check out the Chapter map here.