January 14, 2016 by Leonie Andrews

Taking the line to the landscape

Following on from my ‘two pencil’ practice in my last post, I decided to try the technique out on some nearby landscapes. We are down at the coast for a week. At one end of the beach are some small but interesting cliffs, full of bulges and striations, layers and different colours.

The cliff at the northern end of Long Beach, near Bateman's Bay, NSW. Graphite, coloured pencil, gel pen and watercolour

I had so much fun working on this piece. As I was by myself I had plenty of time to fill the whole page with colour. In trying to keep the loose approach I applied my paint with some small sticks I picked up on the sand.
I’ve done two more drawings since, but I haven’t had as much time to work on them.

Snapper Island from Surfside. Graphite, colour pencils, gel pen and watercolour.

The bay and nearby coast provide plenty of subjects to sketch. My most recent one is a bit further down the coast at Guerrilla Bay, one of the most popular dive and snorkeling sites around. Jimmy’s Islet protects the bay from the worst of the weather.

Jimmy's Islet in Guerilla Bay NSW. Watercolour, ink, graphite and coloured pencils

We’ve snorkeled here for the past two days. The variety and number of fish and the size of the various seashells makes you realise just how degraded many coastal areas are. This bay is part of a marine park so we have had some great experiences particularly spotting Banjo Sharks on both days.

January 13, 2016 by Leonie Andrews

Re-thinking

Unlike some people I was too overwhelmed to find, let alone review my sketchbooks from 2015, so I took the easy way out and reviewed my Flickr posts instead.

I think that while exploring new ideas and techniques I lost my way. I started out with some drawing exercises to expand my techniques and also had classes with some great teachers at the Urban Sketchers Singapore symposium mid-year. But I didn’t integrate what I’d learned with my own style. So while individual results may have been good, I often found the quality of the drawing disappointing.

So it’s back to exploring and applying some previous exercises and being conscious about using all the techniques I’ve learn to express my own style. To avoid getting stuck on what to draw I’ve been working from photographs taken by Nic Walker , of the Sydney Dance Company, (published in the Sydney Morning Herald of 21 November 2015).

Pen and graphite used together, drawing from photograph by Nic Walker

The first step is to return to ‘blind drawing’, focusing on keeping my eyes on the subject and not looking at the page while drawing. Then applying some loosening techniques by drawing with two pens or pencils or a combination of both.
I also tried another loosening technique, drawing while holding the pen or pencil at the very end.

Right: graphite held at the end; Lower left: Copic Multiliner held at the end, drawings based on photographs by Nic Walker

It was interesting to see how the quality of the line varied between the graphite and the Copic Multiliner. Where the graphite flowed easily across the page, the Copic stuttered and hesitated, bringing a quite different quality to the line.
These simple exercises have already produced encouraging results and things like line quality to keep in mind for future drawings.

January 9, 2016 by Leonie Andrews

Vale Ellsworth Kelly

I’m a bit behind the news, but I learned today that Ellsworth Kelly had died on 27 December 2015. I have posted previously about his shadow drawings and I find that there is still much to explore in his lifetime of work.

One quote from the New York Times Obituary that struck a chord with me was about ‘finding’ his art in his surroundings:

I realized I didn’t want to compose pictures, I wanted to find them. I felt that my vision was choosing things out there in the world and presenting them. To me the investigation of perception was of the greatest interest. There was so much to see, and it all looked fantastic to me.

Drawing Cut into Strips and Rearranged by Chance (detail) ArtistEllsworth Kelly Date 1950 Dimensions sheet 16.5 × 77.25 × inches Materials ink on paper, collage http://www.walkerart.org/collections/artworks/drawing-cut-into-strips-and-rearranged-by-chance

January 4, 2016 by Leonie Andrews

A Little Pomp and Ceremony

Sculpture of Kin George V, Rex , Imperator 1927 by Sir Bertram Mackennal , pen and ink sketch, Old Parliament House Canberra

Today was the first sketch outing of 2016 of our Urban Sketchers Canberra group. We met in the foyer of Old Parliament House (now the Museum of Australian Democracy). There were sixteen of us, including two new members and a visitor. I was thrilled that we had such a good turn out while so many people are still on holidays.

I’d already decided to sketch the sculpture of King George V, which is located in Kings Hall. This sculpture portrays the King in the robes of the Order of the Garter and is the second casting of this statue, originally commissioned for New Delhi. I couldn’t capture the full regalia from the angle I was drawing (another day perhaps), but the King shows a very fine leg in his hose and garter.

Inspired by his decorative garments I decided to try another location to sketch parliamentary regalia, in the House of Representatives chamber. It turns out five others of our group were already in there, with some fine sketches being made (see more here).

Replicas of the Mace, foreground, and the Dispatch box, rear right, in the House of Representatives chamber, Old Parliament House. Pen and ink, 3 January 2015

Resting on one end of the main table is a replica of the Mace, the original of which is now in the new parliament building, in the House of Representatives chamber. At the far end of the table you can see one of the Dispatch boxes. I was amused to learn from one of the guides that these replicas of the Dispatch boxes were made when the movie ‘The Dish‘was filmed in the chamber. The film company kindly left them with the museum after they finished filming.

After all this pomp and ceremony I decided to make my final sketch in the Senate Opposition Meeting Room, where I could sink into the comfortable large lounges, much as many a Senator has no doubt done before me.

The Opposition Senate Meeting Room. Pencil sketch, koh-i-noor coloured pencils, 3 January

The upholstery is in the maroon coloured leather, that is used in the Senatorial wing of the building. Original furniture and fittings were designed by John Smith Murdoch, the architect of the building. I’m currently testing out my new Koh-i-nor Magic pencils (more in another post). I think that the paper I used was not perhaps very well-suited to these pencils. I will try paper with a bit more surface bite to it next time.

And finally here is our group, along with His Royal Highness.

Urban Sketchers Canberra at Old Parliament House, 3 January 2016

December 27, 2015December 27, 2015 by Leonie Andrews

Federation Rocks

It would have to rank as one of the weirder birthday presents, but when the city of Canberra turned 100, in 2013, we got a set of boulders, one from each state and territory in the Commonwealth of Australia. They are collectively known as the Federation Rocks. We stumbled across this place when we followed a small stub of a road to see what was there.

Each boulder, with the exception of the ironstone from WA, has a small ‘window’ where the surface has been polished so you can enjoy the beauty of these rocks. They also have a descriptive plaque attached to them, hence the odd rectangle in the painting below.

Queensland’s contribution, a limestone boulder from Chinaman Creek, studded with marine fossils, 23 December 2015, graphite and watercolour

While the Chinaman Creek boulder from Queensland is the most dramatic of these boulders, I do enjoy the way they have been placed in a graceful arc.

From foreground to the rear, Chinaman Creek limestone (Queensland); My Goyder Syenite (Northern Territory); and Canberra Limestone, (Australian Capital Territory). 23 December 2015, graphite and watercolour

The ironstone boulder from Western Australia is the oldest in the collection coming in at nearly 2.5 million years old. The colours in it are so beautiful.

Brockman Formation ironstone, 2490-2450 million years old. Now that’s ageing gracefully!

At present these boulders grace a turning circle and small parking area which appears to be home to every spare road sign in Canberra. While I was drawing the boulders one of my sketching companions had lots of fun capturing the absurdity that is that turning circle.

There are plans for greater usage of this area. It is to be the entry point to the National Rock Garden, a relative to the National Arboretum which is located up the hill from this area. If you like quirky tourist destinations then I suggest you give this one a go.

The Federation Rocks are located at the corner of Lady Denman Drive and Barrenjoey Drive, (close to the National Arboretum), just drive the two hundred metres to the end of Barrenjoey Drive to find them.