DSU Sketch Dump Club finds artistic niche in college
By Aaron Guillen, Staff Reporter
For avid sketchers and budding artists, Douglas College now boasts a club tailored to those who want to let their artistic flag fly.
New this year, the DSU Sketch Dump Club is a dedicated place to draw with friends, watch animated movies, and meet new people with similar interests.
“Anyone who enjoys drawing or just wants to get better at drawing, this club is for them,” said Sam Nelson, President of the DSU Sketch Club.
“It’s very informal. We’re planning to just hang out, draw, and watch movies. It’s a great way to meet new people with similar interests in a low pressure setting. There’s also no commitment so you can drop in on meetings whenever you can.”
The name of the club, Sketch Dump, was the brainchild of Vice President Deepti Singh, who thought of the idea because of the correlation between the definition of the phrase and what hopes she holds for the club. A sketch dump is a slang term used by artists when displaying a bunch of sketches all at once. Similar to uploading a bunch of sketches onto a blog, none of the work is finished, it’s simply being worked on continually. While not necessarily providing the finished product, the act of simply putting the pen to the paper has begun.
“I want to get better and I want to see how I can use it as a part of my career,” Singh said. “To [anyone] who is thinking of joining […] we want to help you improve. Let’s watch movies that influence what kind of styles you want to do. Most of all, just join us for a nice sit-down […] to expand your horizons with us, because we want to [develop as artists] too.”
Nelson arrived at Douglas in 2015 and saw a need for artistic expression, something he and Singh felt was missing from the college.
“I had just left the animation program from Emily Carr University to pursue a different major, but still wanted to keep up with my drawing,” Nelson explained.
“Surprisingly, there were no art classes or clubs or anything on campus. So, I wanted to start a club because I knew there were other students out there who felt the same as me. It was really hard to start the club because I didn’t know anyone who would support the idea. A year later, I finally met Deepti. We realized that we loved anime and drawing […] and decided to go through with starting the club this semester. We wanted to provide a space where artists could meet and discuss. It was a space that the school was lacking.”
Nelson and Singh were pleasantly surprised by the students’ reactions to the unveiling of their club during Club Days in mid-September. The duo hopes that artists of all skill levels will drop into the DSU Sketch Dump Club meetings in order to build a community of students that love what they draw, design, or sketch.
“It seems like there are many students at Douglas who were looking for the same things we were, a place to meet other people with similar dorky interests,” Nelson added.
“It’s always validating to meet others that like the same things you do. We haven’t started club meetings yet, but we’re looking forward to it! We hope that the club can help students embrace what they like and not feel guilty about it.”
