San Diao Ling, Taiwan

I found the group of 'Tuesday Sketching' on the group facebook page of USK Taipei. The introvert me would never have had the courage to ask a group of strangers if I could tag along with them for a sketch outing. But urban sketching has changed me (or I am willing to change when it comes to sketching?!) and USK Seattle sketchers taught me that following a group of local sketchers is the best way to know a city. So, I asked on the facebook page and someone replied.

'Tuesday Sketching' is a group of sketchers who met on USK Taipei's outings in the past. They wanted to have more opportunities to sketch and meet with each other so took initiatives to form a subgroup and members meet every Tuesday. They don't have a facebook page. The only social media they use is a Messenger group. Once you participate in their sketch outings for three times, you can ask to join their Messenger group and find out where and when they are meeting.

I thought it was a bit secretive and exclusive because there was no way for me to find out where the group was meeting. I only found out about this group by reading the posts on USK Taipei and stumbled on someone's post with hashtag 週二畫畫. Most of the members are friends or classmates of the existing members. I had no connections with any of the members and that fact sort of surprised them when I turned up :)

This Tuesday I went with the group to sketch at San Diao Ling, a tiny town located in Geelong. San Diao Ling used to be a mining town so many trains would stop here to collect and deliver mining related goods. Since the mines closed, the town is dying. I was told that the only local primary school got closed a while ago and the youngest person in the town is in her 40s. Now the town sits quietly next to the train line, waiting for tourists to pay her some attention.

I sketched the structure of an abandoned suspension bridge, which was used for wheelbarrows carrying coal. It's now surrounded by some houses used as airbnb. I wonder what the structure looks like inside the houses.

On the way back I sketched the couple sitting across from me. I thought about putting on some colours after getting home but decided to leave it as the way it is.