COVID INTERNATIONAL

SKETCH BY STEEN MALBERG SKETCH BY INGRID KJAER SKETCH BY LEILA SØRENSEN

SKETCH BY KATYA STUKALOVA

Sketching Covid: one vaccination at a time

INSPIRED BY STEEN MALBERG & USK COPENHAGEN’S 15-MINUTE ‘OBSERVATION ROOM CHALLENGE’, WE REACHED OUT TO SKETCHERS ON SIX CONTINENTS TO SHARE EXPERIENCES, AS COUNTRIES ROLL OUT COVID VACCINATIONS TO THEIR LOCAL POPULATIONS. AS TOLD TO CATHY GUTTERMAN, ANNE TAYLOR & JANE WINGFIELD

After having my 1st vaccination against covid-19, I saw a video of Yo Yo Ma playing his cello in Massachusetts, during the 15 minutes he had to wait in the observation room after his vaccination, to check for an allergic reaction. This inspired me to think we sketchers could capture this historical moment (personally and globally) in a drawing – with big thanks to all who have struggled for our health during the pandemic.

After getting my second jab, I posted my sketch as a 15-minute challenge on the USk Copenhagen Facebook page. Quite a few drawings came in from my sketching friends. Some found it was not possible to draw there, as it could intimidate people sitting close by. Restrictions changed social behavior – and gave new sketching opportunities. While getting used to the face masks myself, it was interesting to sketch people in the same situation.

Though I see myself as a watercolour painter, I find plain pencil drawing more discreet in some situations. In the COVID-19 drawings, I challenged myself to add just one or two colours with coloured pencil, to make the drawing more vibrant. Test and vaccination centers shot up in unexpected places – thousands of people were hired and trained to keep the pandemic in control. Thousands got vaccinated efficiently there on a daily basis! During sketching, it was great talking with the staff working there – kind, helpful and big smiles. Thanks to them all.

Steen Malberg

SKETCH BY RIKKE REJNHOLD VILHELMSEN

JUSTINE WANG, PERTH: Perth has so far been very lucky to be able to meet up regularly, and rarely with masks. In Western Australia, there are strict border and quarantine measures to ensure the virus is kept out as much as possible. When there are infections, snap lockdowns are usually short but these contain outbreaks and keep infection rates low. It also helps that we are one of the most isolated cities in the world! The longest lockdown Perth had was a ‘soft lockdown’ from March to April 2020 but the group opted not to meet up until May. During this time, the admins suggested weekly home sketch challenges on Facebook with prompts including “view from your window” or “transport.” We felt that it was important to encourage our members to keep sketching and to foster community spirit even if we couldn’t meet in person. JEFFREY LEVINE, NEW YORK CITY: As a medical professional in New York City, I experienced the frightening toll on front-line staff as well as patients isolated from loved ones. I must give credit to the nurses, social workers, therapists and other staff who stepped up to face the terrifying challenge of a new and potentially lethal contagious disease. I see its lingering effects on my patient population, particularly those who require healing and rehabilitation after long stints in intensive care.

You can read more about Jeffrey on page 46.

ARTUR DIAS, BELÉM: Desenhar as pessoas na fila de vacinação me trouxe uma sensação boa, por sentir uma dinâmica social positiva, que é a resposta da sociedade aos esforços das autoridades de Saúde. Quanto ao desenho, escolhi o local e estabeleci pontos fixos onde desenharia cada pessoa, uma vez que a fila estava se movendo rápido. Usando o método da Profa. Betty Edwards, fui olhando as shapes, os claros e escuros em cada pele, roupa e plantas. Assim surgiu este desenho, feito com lápis 8B, no Caderno Canson Art Book 14 x 21,6 cm.

Drawing people on the ‘vaccination row’ gave me a good feeling of a positive social dynamic, which is society’s answer to the efforts made by the health authorities. About the drawing, I chose a place to stay and established fixed points where I would draw each person, as the row was moving quickly. Using Betty Edwards’ method, I looked at the shapes, lights and darks of each person’s skin, clothes and plants. I sketched with an 8B pencil on a Canson Art Book 14 x 21 x 6cm. DANANG TRIRATMOKO, INDONESIA: I tested positive for Covid-19, I think from a meeting. I self-quarantined in the hospital. and documented my stay drawing my ‘neighbor’ and my own arm. After spending about four weeks in self-quarantine both at hospital and at home, I tested negative. Thankfully my Covid experience was not as bad as others. I was mostly asymptomatic and was able to keep working during my quarantine, and join seminars and meetings. My colleagues didn’t know that I was in hospital.

DONALD SALUNG, INDONESIA (LEFT): I hope friends here don’t have to go through what we’re having here in Indonesia. Just as it looked like things were getting better, we were suddenly hit with the Delta variant which is worse than the previous surge. Our country is now back to micro lockdown mode. All plans cancelled and postponed.

KUMI MATSUKAWA, TOKYO: ‘Tokyo to host Olympics under fresh COVID-19 state of emergency’ said the headlines. The number of infections in Tokyo continues to climb, while the vaccination rate remains low. USk Japan stopped scheduling in-person sketch meet ups in March 2020. So far we are doing good, I haven’t heard of any of our members who have suffered. Some small groups of sketchers still meet, usually outside of Tokyo. Watching games is really moving and encouraging especially in our grim circumstances. … I’d rather indulge in this quiet solitary stayhome activity…leisurely watching the games.

RIGHT: ‘INSIDE A CLINIC’

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”

Japanese Proverb

MOMOKO TAKADA, CHIBA (RIGHT): I sketched at Satomi Park located just across the Edo River from Tokyo. From the park you can see the skyline of Tokyo with one of its landmarks, Skytree. The view made me feel far away from the city and isolated from what’s happening in my country. The Olympics are going forward under the fourth state of emergency in the city. A poll shows over 80% of Japanese people oppose the Olympics. As I write this, it’s the day of the opening ceremony. We are requested to stay home and not to come to Tokyo to prevent the spread of the virus during the Olympics.

KAZUNORI HOSOUCHI, TOKYO: There were many people taking photos with wistfulness in front of the stadium. The chorus of cicadas hasn’t been heard yet. The timing of the Olympics coincides with cicada season in Japan, a much celebrated annual time that marks the peak of summer.

LEFT: OLYMPIC STADIUM SEEN FROM THE INTERSECTION AT JINGUMAE, SHIBUYA, TOKYO, 25 JUNE, 2021

ERIC NGAN, AUCKLAND: Here we go again! For the last 25 years, I’ve worked as an Event Producer on many events in the arts, cultural and sports sectors. On this occasion, I was bought on to the project team to help design and deliver a medical event – New Zealand’s first large scale public vaccination event. Plus, I helped write a guidebook so other similar events can be produced around the country.

The ‘Mass Vax’ was a collaboration with the NZ Ministry of Health, Auckland District Health Board, Manukau Institute of Technology, and Auckland Unlimited Major Events, aiming to vaccinate 15,000 people. Working through a 12-hour day there were some down time and breaks, so I whipped out the sketch book and recorded some of it from an Urban Sketcher’s lens.

• 3 MONTHS PLANNING • 6 REGULAR ZOOM MEETINGS EACH WEEK • 3 DAYS PACK IN. 1 DAY PACK OUT • 3 DAYS MASS VAX EVENT | 12 HOURS A DAY • 242 VACCINATION BOOTHS • 12 VACCINATORS • 50 ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT STAFF • 8 BUSES | 404 BUS TRIPS • 15,880 VACCINES ADMINISTERED • 16,000 STEPS PER DAY • 2 BLISTERS | 3 SKETCHES • 6 WEEKS LATER, REPEAT THE EVENT

FOR SECOND DOSE VACCINE

RECEIVING MY FIRST VACCINATION INGRID MARGARETHE, ECKERNFÖRDE: When the images of Bergamo and New York are shown on television in March 2020, I really become aware of the reality of the pandemic. On March 22, 2020, the first lockdown goes into effect. Sewing masks, washing hands, keeping distance, the so-called AHA-rules, and contact bans become everyday life. I miss my loved ones and the lightness of life.

The weekly Zoom meetings with NYC Urban Sketchers, starting March 2020, are a bright spot. We are connected by the same ‘passion’ and situation, under #nus (not urban sketching). Our encounters are vitalizing, the exchange inspiring.

I also organize virtual meetings for my Eckernförde sketch group. At the beginning of May, there are the first loosenings; in summer 2020, we have sketching meetings of the Eckernförde group again. Also with distance it is a pleasure to be on the road again. In December 2020, the second lockdown – Christmas without children and grandchildren. From January, medical masks become compulsory, the AHA-rules remain, the hope for early vaccination rises.

CATHY GATLAND, JOHANNESBURG: Covid entered South Africa and staff began sanitizing and donning masks around me as I sketched in a café, unaware that life was to change radically for a year and a half, and counting. It became eerily quiet, birds took ownership of the sky, colours seemed more intense. I felt lucky to have a studio and garden to spend endless hours in. USk challenges and other art filled the days, accompanied by podcasts and audiobooks.

In between lockdowns, I drew at an outdoor café with friends, took walks and joined tai chi classes in the local park. Outside, businesses and restaurants closed, streets emptied, the dire unemployment situation became more desperate. There were more cold, hungry people as winter progressed. Friends and family fell ill,. There was uncertainty and fear. Then relief came with the call for our first vaccine, at a streamlined Sandton building. We moved seamlessly through glass levels on escalators with no time to sketch until we got to the recovery room.

Seven weeks later, right after looters had ravaged parts of Johannesburg, we received our second jab, this time in the freezing parking garage of Milpark hospital. Long, eager queues, smiling guides, nurses volunteering on their days off. We were reassured, somewhat, that most people want this place to work.

“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” Nelson Mandela

‘COVID JAB CARPARK’