Every time I pass by Jl. Suroyo in Probolinggo, I find myself amazed by the church. It has a striking feature, the entire building surface is painted red. At a glance, you can tell it was built around the 1800s. And for me, old buildings carry a strange aura — they feel alive.
So I planned to capture its beauty in my sketchbook.
At first, I felt hesitant because it had been a long time since I’d sketched a building. Sketching a building isn’t just converting what you see into a drawing, you have to get the perspective right.
Right after I left work on time, I rushed to the church, GPIB Immanuel, built in 1862. I only had an hour and a half to sketch. So here’s the result.
The main gate actually has a lot of detail, but I needed to present it as simply as possible without negating its essence. The parts I like most are the bell tower and the windows.
The color itself was also challenging to get right. I had an idea to distort it with another vibrant color, but I kept the red since it’s the church’s identity.