We decided not to repeat last month’s Canberra Sketchers Group outdoor meeting and opted instead for the warmth of Canberra’s hippest accommodation Hotel Hotel. It was hip and happening and we were there.

We set up at the Monster Kitchen and Bar and managed to drink lots of tea and coffee and scoff plenty of tasty cakes and biscuits and didn’t even dip our paint brushes in the wrong glass once!

Watercolours amongst the coffees

The building provided plenty of places to sit and observe and lots to look at as well.

I opted for an external view to the cold and foggy Canberra morning, not that that was deterring the cyclists who parked their bikes outside the window.

Looking out to the cold, watercolour, 5 July 2015

It was only after I returned to the main table that I realised there were light wells overhead which looked up into gardens, wow! I did a quick sketch but, per usual would like to go back and pick a slightly different place to capture this scene. It gives one of those illusions where you can’t quite work out if what you are seeing is approaching or receding.

Looking up, watercolour 5 July 2015

In all our production was quite high – demonstrating the value of having several books ready to go so you could swap between them as paintings were drying.

Some of the mornings output, Canberra Sketchers Group, 5 July 2015

Next time we are meeting at the National Museum of Australia, 10.30 am on Sunday 2 August.