Category / sketchbooks

by Leonie Andrews

Starting to draw in January

As Yoda once said “do or do not”. So some days I do and some days I do not!

One thing I do want to do this year is work on reducing the ridiculous amount of art materials sitting unused in my back room, in cupboards and all sorts of other places around the house. Now I have materials I prefer to use, the rest just sit there.

Drawing with colour pencils, trying to change the direction of my marks each time I put the pencil on the page. Also, trying not to be too ‘precious’ with my drawings.

I’m trying some tactics to use things like markers, in particular. I have seen several artists use them to make this ‘window pane’ background to sketch over.

Marker pen window pane background, ready to use

I did a similar preparation using other hot pink markers (forgot to take a reference photo) and this is what it looks like as a base with a finished drawing over the top.

Marker background colour pencil over the top. Still life from our table top.

The fact that I’m using this lovely sketchbook from Leuchtturm 1917 helps. It was part of the ‘goody bag’ I received when I taught at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Poznan last year. This isn’t the type of paper I would usually work with, but it’s very good for all these dry media.

One of my favourite  ‘goody bag’ items from Symposium 2025.
by Leonie Andrews

Urban Sketching at the Portrait Gallery

It’s been several months since I went out with the Urban Sketchers Canberra group. The weather, being as cold as it is, didn’t seem to promise a large turnout, but I was wrong about that.

36 people in the group photo.

I decided to do a composite sketch, showing various aspects of the Gallery,  starting with part of the building exterior.

The entrance to the Gallery

I then moved inside, collected a stool, and found a spot where I could see a cluster of other sketchers. I also decided to incorporate some quick sketches of two of the portraits into the background of my double page spread.

Sketching the sketchers
With some colour added

Because I couldn’t use my watercolours in the gallery, I moved to the ‘family’ room where messy art could happen.

The final double page spread.

I planned to add some elements from the cafe in the bottom right corner, but I ran out of time. Maybe I can do that another time.

by Leonie Andrews

All quiet …

You might be wondering why everything is so quiet on the blog front. It’s simple really. I am currently walking the Camino di Santiago across Spain with my partner. I am posting to other social media channels and I have run out of steam for the blog. Sorry!

We are sketching as we are walking. We walk up to about lunchtime, find our accommodation and then go out sketching in the afternoon .

The church at San Juan de Ortega
Looking from our hostel to the church tower in Villafranca Montes de Ocas
Abandoned buildings in Redecilla del Camino.
The entrance to Burgos Cathedral

If you are interested in following our journey we are both sharing our sketches on a dedicated Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092387762574

I am also sharing, a more or less daily dump of photos on my Instagram page (at) leonieandrewsart.

by Leonie Andrews

A brief encounter

I am at the end of a very brief encounter with Ikara-Flinders Range National Park and I would desperately love to be giving it more attention.

The southern end of Wilpena Pound with a headcovering of cloud.

We have just spent the second of two full days staying at Wilpena Pound. Tomorrow we leave. The weather has been vile. Cold, rainy and blowing a gale. But, but, but … it’s breathtaking.

The view from Razorback Lookout with a rainbow between showers (PS that funny line in the photo is one of the wires around the lookout).

We have sketched from our car, all of the first day and some of our second day. But my biggest frustration with this experience is finding my own voice because I seem to be painting other people’s paintings.

Wilpena Pound from Razorback Lookout, sketched from the car while it rained and blew a gale.

Australians will have some familiarity with the work of watercolourist Albert Namatjira and possibly with photographer Harold Casneaux, whose image ‘Spirit of Endurance‘, was made only a short distance from where we are staying.

Before (left) and after (right).Thinking like me on the left and then remembering all those deep blue shadows in Namatjira’s paintings.

So when I start painting I see Namatjira’s work floating in front of me. It’s a challenge to paint with that over your head. However, the more I  thought about it I realised that I should learn from those artists, before I worry about my own style.

Late afternoon light on Wilpena Pound.

Obviously I just need to get on with it.

Wilpena Pound from Bunyeroo Gorge drive.