On Sunday our local Urban Sketcher’s chapter met for our May get together. It was great to welcome two new participants and catch up with some others who I haven’t seen in a while. We met in the centre of the city which is referred to as Civic. We were in part of the system of pedestrian plazas and near the Canberra Centre Mall.
While the weather didn’t deliver the hail that was forecast, the wind was quite blustery. Some brave souls sketched outside, but others took advantage of a seating area that overlooked the City Walk. I stayed outside as I had become fascinated with one of the more recent sculptures that have been added to the pedestrian areas. Anne Ross‘ work The Other Side of Midnight, 2012, is in three parts the centrepiece of which is a running girl flanked by two running hounds.
The Other side of Midnight, central figure, coloured pencil on cold pressed paper
I had some more time before meeting up with the others so I pulled out my new Strathmore sketchbook which is the toned tan. It will be interesting to compare the sketches I’m making in this book compared to those in the grey-toned book I’ve just completed. This second sketch was a more traditional view of the plane trees that are planted in City Walk.
Plane trees, City Walk, coloured pencil on Strathmore toned-tan paper, 1 May 2016
In my haste to capture the scene I botched the perspective and scale up – something I didn’t realise until I looked at the sketch after I got home. Oh well, there’s a lesson there! After having the obligatory group shot we went down to the food court for lunch and a catch-up.
If you are in the neighbourhood and would like to join us our next Urban Sketchers Canberra outing will be to the National Portrait Gallery, on Sunday 5 June at 10.15 am.
leonieandrews 
In the tree picture, i love the pattern in the top left lines of trees – the green, purple , black and white. The intricate areas like this really set off the rest of the picture and open up the space at the front of the view. I like your use of white too and have gone back to some other posts where you have used it. I’ve never used coloured pencils out sketching, but i may pack a few in future. The trees and benches are a great scene, i’ve done one myself, but more difficult than we might initially think. I put down my front trees then somehow didn’t have the space between them for what i could see behind!
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Thanks for your comments. Since I’ve been drawing on the toned paper white has become nearly indispensable. I’ve found that since I’ve stated drawing with pencil my watercolour technique has gone south. About running out of space, I know that feeling!
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Doesn’t look botched to me, lovely sketches.
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That’s the best thing when the sketch goes away from the actual place much can be improved! 😀
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