Month / February 2015

by Leonie Andrews

Back to the beach

Well it wasn’t quite like our last trip to the beach. There was virtually no one on the beach for a start. School has been back for a week and the weather was less than perfect. But the East Coast current has finally pushed the warm water down to the south coast so despite lashings of misty rain we did get into the water and have a good swim. Most importantly we also took our sketchbooks with us.

The southern point past Surf and Wimbie beaches, watersoluble graphite, pen and ink and pencil, 9 February 2015

The southern point past Surf and Wimbie beaches, watersoluble graphite, pen and ink and pencil, 9 February 2015

I had fun playing with my water soluble graphite, using my fountain pen to draw into it while it was still wet. Those fuzzy lines will, I think, prove very useful to depict all sorts of indeterminate tree-strewn backgrounds.

We did move back off the beach to have our obligatory fish and chip lunch sitting at one of the picnic tables. We had a great view of this sign which came with its own ornamental seagull mascot, no doubt hoping for a bit of our lunch to come it’s way. I was struck by the ‘Dogs Bite’ sign, particularly as all the other signs had the more usual ‘Dogs Prohibited’ on them.

9Feb2015a

Beach signs, Surf Beach, 9 February 2015, watersoluble graphite, pen and ink, watercolour pencil

We’ll be looking to make some more beach excursions before the Autumn weather sets in.

 

by Leonie Andrews

This could be the start of something big *

You just never know how things will start. You see several sketchers ‘found’ each other through the Urban Sketchers Australia group and we decided we’d see if there was enough interest to get a Canberra group off the ground. When the call went out just over a week ago for sketchers to meet at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) this Sunday morning we weren’t sure just how many people would turn up. We were really pleased that there were 9 people who answered the call. The NGA offers all sorts of drawing opportunities so after brief introductions everyone went off to find their particular place to draw.

Some of the group comparing their sketches, 8 February 2015

Some of the group comparing their sketches, 8 February 2015

Several of us went to the Fern Garden, one of the rather hard to find gems of the Gallery, as access is only via the back end of the building sort of stuck behind a carpark and service areas. I love the shape of the tree ferns so that was where I started.

The Fern Garden, designed by Fiona Hall, pen and ink, pencil and watercolour pencil, 8 February 2015

The Fern Garden, designed by Fiona Hall, pen and ink, pencil and watercolour pencil, 8 February 2015

Other people had quite a different view of exactly the same area. Forget the ferns, this sketch by one of the other participants, was focused solely on Hall’s underlying structure of pathways for the garden.

The pathways in the Fern Garden, Copic Multiliner, 8 February 2015

The pathways in the Fern Garden, Copic Multiliner, 8 February 2015

Later I moved around into the Sculpture Garden, which was proving to be a popular place to be. I completed a second drawing, this time of Bert Flugelman’s iconic Cones. It was also a popular choice to draw, you can see Sharon B’s version here.

Cones by Bert Flugelman, pen and ink, Copic Multiliner, liquid graphite, 8 February 2015

Cones by Bert Flugelman, pen and ink, Copic Multiliner, liquid graphite, 8 February 2015

The two hours we allocated to drawing went by so quickly. We reconvened at the cafe to share our morning’s work. There were sculptures, architecture, gardens and chairs. Lots of watercolours, ink, pen and pencil as well.

Canberra sketchers, our first get together, 8 February 2015

Canberra sketchers, our first get together, 8 February 2015

An another shot of our collected works.

Another view of the finished sketches, 8 February 2015

Another view of the finished sketches, 8 February 2015

It was so much fun that we are doing it again next month. If you’re interested in coming along just meet us on Sunday 1 March, at the coffee shop outside the entrance to the National Gallery of Australia at 10.30 am.

PS we will be exploring other areas of Canberra, but the group decided that there was still plenty of material to be explored at the NGA so we’ll have another session there before moving to other venues.

PPS if you can’t wait until then you might like to go along to the National Portrait Gallery’s monthly ‘Drawn In’ event, on Sunday 22 February from 1-3 pm, where you can draw with the accompaniment of the Night Cafe Jazz Trio.

*I hope you enjoy this ‘vintage’ clip of Steve Allen, (the composer of this song and TV host), with his guests, including a surprising cameo towards the end of the clip. This Could be the Start of Something Big

by Leonie Andrews

Cafe Wednesday and cafes with people

I’m trying really hard to get more people into my drawings, really I am. So since last weekend I’ve been focusing on the people in the cafes a bit more. Given the usual problems of trying to capture lots of people at any one time I’m using the standard approach of making composite drawings of people, in the one setting, as they come and go.

At Guru Coffee shop in Tuggeranong, 1 February 2015, pen and ink

At Guru Coffee shop in Tuggeranong, 1 February 2015, pen and ink

My next attempt, trying to get some individuality into the people turned out to be not as effective as I’d hoped. Well that is unless you were expecting a Wolverine look-alike to be at the next table.

The Italian Bakery Mawson, 3 February 2015, pen and ink

The Italian Bakery Mawson, 3 February 2015, pen and ink

A few minutes later I noticed that the loading dock across the road from the cafe was open so the walls could be painted. I only just got to the drawing as the man painting the wall, pretty much obscured by the telegraph pole, put down his paint roller. Some late arrivals at one of the outside tables provided a bit of foreground action.

Painting the loading dock, 3February 2015, pen and ink

Painting the loading dock, 3February 2015, pen and ink

And on Wednesday I went back to my old ways, although I am trying to mix things up by drawing on newspaper pasted onto a Japanese calligraphy paper. I really just like the texture using the newsprint. Not at all archival, as my partner pointed out, but I think that’s unlikely ever to be an issue.

Glasses and other tableware, 4 February 2015, pen and ink with Copic Multiliner

Glasses and other tableware, 4 February 2015, pen and ink with Copic Multiliner

And if you are looking for a good laugh about drawing strangers I can highly recommend Hallie Bateman’s comic on ‘How to draw people on the subway’.

by Leonie Andrews

Voyage around a loungeroom

In 1790 Xavier de Maistre took a journey around his bedroom, during which he locked his door, put on some pyjamas and examined his room in detail. Last week, without the pyjamas, I traveled to a house in a nearby suburb where, along with 11 other people, I undertook a big journey into a range of ideas about making art. We made our journey through reading and discussion and we even made some art!

One of the most interesting aspects of the week was the shared library. Everyone attending was asked to bring several books that were favourites. We ended up with two bookcases just about full. Those who couldn’t bring books from their own library borrowed books from the local public and university libraries. This allowed us to be inspired by a range of artists and writers who we may not have encountered before. Ruth Hadlow, the workshop convenor also suggested ways in which we could use these books for inspiration, and to help develop new ideas to use in our work.

One artist whose book of sketches is one I’ll be tracking down to add to my library is Kevin Connor. Connor says “when you are up against a brick wall or in doubt, draw!”  – he also suggests that the best place to draw from is with your back to a wall, preferably in a friendly coffee shop or bar, so no one can look over your shoulder! Inspired by the intense lines in Connor’s drawings I took up my own pen to make this quick sketch of my coffee mug.

mug, ink with two feathers held together, 28 January 2015

mug, ink with two feathers held together, 28 January 2015

I used a small piece of Japanese writing paper, which I’d already used to blot some other pieces of work. To make the marks I held the shafts of two feathers together and worked directly from my bottle of ink.

A few days later I decided to draw a piece of clothing, one of the items we’d been asked to bring to the workshop. To get a piece of paper large enough to work on I roughly glued two long narrow sheets together. Without giving it too much thought I grabbed a sheet of newspaper I’d been using to catch spills and tore it roughly into the shape of my garment. I slapped the newspaper onto the backing paper with a mix of PVA glue thinned with water. I didn’t know whether this would work or not, but I knew I had nothing to lose. Once again I took my feathers and started drawing. It was interesting to see the difference between the areas of paper that had glue on it and that without glue. I also used the soft end of one feather to make larger marks.

Different textures on paper with and without PVA. The ink blooms on the untreated paper

Different textures on paper with and without PVA. The ink blooms on contact with the untreated paper.

The completed work was really lively and suggests some interesting strategies for making future work.

The finished drawing, ink on newsprint and Japanese paper.

The finished drawing, ink on newsprint and Japanese paper.

It is difficult to describe just exactly what I did during the past week. It was mentally exhausting, but I produced useful ideas for new work and had a ball making new drawings. What could be better than that!