About us
SF Sketchers is an umbrella group, listing sketching events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Meetups are free and open to everyone, regardless of experience or skill.
We post for a wide range of groups, mostly following the UrbanSketchers.org model, but also including portrait parties, nature journaling and other kinds of sketching activities. In a typical meetup people get together briefly at the beginning, spread out to sketch in the area and meet up again at the end to share sketches and chat. There is a "no criticism" rule and people tend to be kind to each other.
We are sponsored by Arch Art Supplies, one of the vanishingly few independent art supply stores left in the Bay Area. They specialize in supplies that sketchers use, from old standards to cool new stuff from all over the world. Give them a visit!
Because our Meetup fees are paid by Arch, all events listed on the site are free. However we send out a quarterly newsletter listing classes and other fee-based events led by members.
Looking forward to sketching with you!
Upcoming events
89
Virtual Event: Draw 100 People in One Week, 2026
·OnlineOnlineIt's on again! Marc Taro Holmes (Montreal) and Liz Steel (Sydney) are inviting sketchers around the world to join then for the 10th annual #OneWeek100People challenge, March 9-15 2026.
Here's Liz's invitation: The goal is to sketch as many people as you can from life or from photos and see if you can reach 100. You can do this any way you like—simple pencil/pen drawings are totally fine—and you can take more time if you need!
Marc and I originally did the challenge in 5 days which meant a goal of 20 per day—but you can take extra days if you like.
The idea is simply to push yourself to do more people sketching than you would normally do. There is something special about striving for a big goal of 100 people sketches!Find out more about the challenge on Marc’s blog here. I love his emphasis on quantity rather than quality. In fact the first time I met Marc (in Lisbon in 2011) he said something that has always stuck with me: "Quantity has a quality of its own". This challenge encapsulates that concept!
If you post your work to Instagram please use the hashtags #OneWeek100People and #OneWeek100People2026
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Note from Laurie (SF Sketchers): This is a virtual event, so you don't have to meet in person. However, if you'd like to get together with some other people in a cafe or other public place, post your invitation with date/time/location in the comments section below.
Some online events where you can rapidly sketch a lot of faces live are Drawing is Free at Monday 10 AM and Pencils4Tea (San Francisco time—one hour later than usual because we're on Daylight Savings and Europe is not yet) at Thursday 11 AM, where each pose is timed to a song. Free, all welcome.
Post some of your sketches on the SF Sketchers Photos page too! Check out some of our sketches from 2025 2024, 2023 and 2022.
– Sketch by Laurie Wigham
36 attendees
St Patrick's Day Parade
Uno Dos Tacos, 595 Market St. (At 2nd and Stevenson), San Francisco, CA, USSketch Irish dancers in colorful costumes, marching bands, horses and who knows what else. We’ll be sketching in the parade staging area while all the parade people are standing around their floats getting ready to march. Special attention will be given to the unique role that Irish immigrants played in shaping the city’s early history, while also reflecting on the broader immigrant journey.
Read more about the event here.10:30 Meet On the steps outside Uno Dos Tacos on Stevenson Street at 2nd (the parade should be staging down 2nd Street from here.)
11:30 This is when the parade is supposed to start, but it takes a while to get a big parade moving so there will be people standing around being sketchable for a while.
12:30 CHANGED LOCATION. Meet at Bluestone Lane cafe at 55 2nd Street to share sketches and chat in na quiet spot away from parade noise.
Optional extra**: Head down to Civic Center plaza afterwards for assorted activities, including Irish football, hurling, camogie, rugby, music dancing and hospitality.**
BRING
• Something to sit on, like a folding stool.
• Warm clothes, hat and gloves.
• Lots of green and orange paint/pencils/markers, and maybe some glittery gold and silver markers too.GETTING THERE
Montgomery is the closest Bart/Muni station. Parking will be really really scare, so take public transit if you can manage it.RAIN PLAN
The parade will march, even in a downpour, and there is probably plenty of sketching shelter under nearby buildings. Watch this space for any special instructions if the forecast looks wet.– Sketch by Laurie Wigham
11 attendees
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