If you saw a dozen 20-somethings sitting at Mitch’s Tavern on a Friday night, you probably wouldn’t think anything of it — until you noticed that table was littered with sketchbooks, paper and graphite pencils.
Drink and Draw, a group of N.C. State students and alumni, meets at Mitch’s to do two things: drink beer and make art.
“Alright, the next one is going to be hipster Batman,” Sam Brubaker, senior in art and design, said.
Twelve pens scribbled furiously.
The Drink and Drawers have two minutes to complete the prompt before the time is up. The goal is not to make the best artwork, but to fulfill the prompt quickly in the most creative way possible.
Nick Fair, founder of Mitch’s Drink and Draw, said the time constraints — and beer — improve people’s drawing skills.
“People, especially new drawers, don’t like to draw in front of other people. They kind of tense up and want to impress people. … It’s a scrutinizing environment,” Fair said. “If we’re drinking a little bit people get a little more social and it’s easier for them to draw, easier for them to take critiques or give advice.”
When the group first met three years ago, Fair said it was just four friends hanging out together.
“We were in studio together, and we were like, ‘Let’s go chill somewhere and just doodle and draw what we think we want to draw, and we’ll help each other learn that way,’” Fair said.
Drink and Draw drew in 18 members Friday night.
Alyssa Torres, senior in environmental design in architecture, said she appreciates the relaxed atmosphere.
“One of the most appealing things to me about Drink and Draw is how nonjudgmental it is,” Torres said. “My drawing skills may be lacking, but it’s about being clever and having fun, not about whether that was the proper shading angle or not.”
Though Drink and Draw is currently made up entirely of N.C. State students and alumni, it is not an official University organization.
Fair said he is working with the University’s Industrial Designers Society of America chapter to make an official student branch.
“Obviously, if it’s a student version you can’t necessarily have drinking,” Fair said. “We’d still call it Drink and Draw, but we’d just drink soda,” he says.
Looking toward the future, Fair said he would like to make Drink and Draw more of an outreach for new artists.
“I’d like to help younger artists and designers meet older ones, get experience, and in general make connections…make it a networking thing,” Fair said. “Mostly, this is just a way to keep local designers and artists connected and able to have fun together.”
