For architect, urban designer, and artist Peter Richards, sketching is more than a creative exercise — it is a way to explore identity, space, and community. Over the past five years, his free workshops and public sketching events for Open House events across Queensland have helped people discover the built environment in ink, pencil, and pigment.
Peter’s involvement with Gold Coast Open House (GCOH) introduced sketching into one of Australia’s fastest-changing urban landscapes. Here, drawing becomes a way to capture the dynamic character of the Gold Coast — not only its beaches, but its expanding civic precincts. With GCOH, Peter has led urban sketching sessions in locations from the Burleigh Surf Club to the Health and Knowledge Precinct, inviting people of all abilities to sketch on site, observe closely, and respond directly to the places around them.
Many GCOH sketch sessions begin with brief talks from Peter and fellow practitioners, grounding the activity in architectural insight and urban history. During GCOH 2025, Peter hosted his fellow Urban Sketchers for a talk at Griffith University, offering insight into how art connects with urban life. Speakers included Peter, who spoke on “Why Urban Sketching,” highlighting how observing the world through drawing builds awareness and community; Mark Elms, founder of Urban Sketchers Gold Coast, shared the story behind the group’s remarkable growth to more than 1,500 members in just a few years; and Natalia Norton, architect and dedicated sketcher, reflected on transforming everyday scenes — from Gold Coast beaches to the landscapes of rural Japan — into vibrant travel diaries.
Heading up the coast, Peter has also hosted Urban Sketching workshops as part of Brisbane and Sunshine Coast Open Houses, which have become highlights of both festivals. During Brisbane Open House in 2025, Urban Sketchers were invited to join an exclusive session at the Brisbane Airport, and in 2024 they gathered at the Thomas Dixon Centre for a series of sketching sessions that culminated in a “throwdown” exhibition displayed throughout the weekend. On the Sunshine Coast, Peter has delivered urban sketching workshops since 2021 in locations including the dramatic Caloundra Lighthouses, the vibrant main street of Eumundi, and the atmospheric Majestic Theatre in Pomona.
After years spent leading community workshops and sketching with Open House participants across the state, Peter is now turning the lens on himself! His upcoming solo exhibition gathers sketches from the Gold Coast, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, and travels across Australia and overseas, as well as the many sketching activities he initiates, contributes to, and champions. The exhibition, held at Scrumptious Reads Gallery, 92A Arthur Terrace, Red Hill, runs from December 1 to December 21 and invites visitors to experience the built environment through Peter’s eyes — expressive lines, layered detail, atmospheric colour, and a deep reverence for place.
A Meet the Artist Day and lunch will be held on 6 December. Visitors are invited to join Peter for an informal lunch and guided tour of the exhibition, with stories behind selected sketches from Queensland and abroad, insights into Open House collaborations and community sketching, a live drawing demonstration illustrating process rather than outcome, and an intimate look at how sketching shapes thinking, practice, and identity.
Peter is also offering three workshops throughout the day on 14 December. These provide a rare opportunity to learn observational drawing and urban-sketching techniques directly from someone who blends architectural expertise with artistic fluency. Bookings are available here.
Whether you are a sketcher, architect, historian, traveller, or someone who simply loves looking closely at the world, this exhibition and its accompanying events offer a rare chance to see place through the eyes — and the lines — of someone who has spent decades drawing it into being.
