Many art clubs and student groups across Da Nang have created their unique drawing style and their amazing sketches to depict such tourist places in the city as the Han market, the Han River Bridge, the Con market, Man Thai Fishing Village in a bid to promote and preserve the city’s cultural heritage and identity. They express their love and feelings through their drawings.

Members of the Urban Sketchers Club (DAU) capturing memories at the Linh Ung Pagoda with sketches.

Le Hong Thien, the leader of the Urban Sketchers Club ( DAU) under the University of Architecture said that the club was established in 2017 with the aim of connecting people who share the same passion for drawing and architecture, regardless of gender and age. Besides, preserving the images of famous tourist places in the city amid landscape erosion over time is a part of the club’s bigger goal.

“The establishment of our club aims to bring together young people who share the same passion for drawing in efforts to save featured images of Da Nang through sketches amid rapid urbanization as Da Nang boasts a rich culture and beautiful landscape, and it is truly a great place that inspire to make landscape painting with diverse topics. Furthermore, the club regularly organizes outdoor painting events, not only in Da Nang but also in its neighbors such as Quang Nam and Hue.", said Mr. Thien happily.

Architect Nguyen Dinh Viet, a consultant of the Urban Sketchers Club, said that the club has chosen to pursue sketching as this type of drawing styles captures moments and depicts an activity or thing in black and white or mixed colors. The club's members conceive things from their own perspective and then draw a thing or a landscape in order to convey a story or message with their drawings.

The club now has around 50 members, and it operates every Monday and Sunday. On Monday, the club will organize activities at the University of Architecture in a bid to equip new members with sketching and drawing knowledge. On Sunday, the club organizes outdoor painting events for its members at specified locations. Many people joined the club when they did not know how to use a paint brush or how to plan a drawing but their drawing skills have been improved thanks to the guidance of club’s members.

Recently, an outdoor painting event held in front of the headquarters of the Da Nang People’s Council has attracted a large number of the club’s members and some foreign tourists.

Student Do Chau Anh, a member of the club, said that sketching and painting are two types of fine art with many differences between them. A sketch can be used to express the artist’s intention and better describe the emotion of the drawing. It takes at least 30 minutes, 1 hour or even longer to finish a sketch but the time for the production of a finished sketch depends on the artist's inspiration.

“I love sketching, I have joined the club for nearly 2 years. In my first days of joining the club, I could not express emotion in my drawing, and I drew very messy in the beginning. After a long time of learning from my predecessors, my drawing skills have been improved significantly," Do Chau Anh shared.

Sudent Ho Kim Thach, another member of the Club, who moved from Ha Noi to Da Nang to live and study, remarked that joining the club helped him set foot in many famous places to visit in the city, including alleys, small alley with ramshackle houses and ancient ones.

Thach said: “With our love for sketching, we together draw the city’s landscapes and people to express ourselves and feelings. At the same time, I also want to spread meaningful messages about the people and land of Da Nang to local residents and tourists.”

With their great efforts, the club’s members have won many awards in major drawing competitions across the country, including the National Architecture Student Festival and the Ha Noi Creative Design Festival, both in 2022. Most notably, the club’s members have bagged 9 out of 10 top honours at the logo design contest themed "A Wish for Peace" which was organized by the Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee.

Assessing the effectiveness of the club's persformance, Mr. Ngo Tuan Anh, the Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union organization of the University of Architecture highlighted the important role of the DAU in helping its members improve their drawing and professional skills.

Over the past time, the club’s members have contributed a lot to sketching historical sites in Hai Chau, Son Tra and Hoa Vang districts, hereby, contributing to preserving, promoting and spreading the value of these sites.

Reporting by HUYNH TUONG VY -  Translating by H.L