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by Leonie Andrews

Bye bye Betty

There was sad news today that Betty Churcher, to date still the only woman to be the head of the National Gallery of Australia, died earlier this week at the age of 84. It was a cruel irony that, prior to her death, this champion of the visual arts was losing her sight, because of a melanoma in one eye and to macular degeneration in the other.

What will stick in my mind is her commitment to sharing her knowledge of art with the broader Australian public and her commitment to drawing. On realising that her eyesight was failing, Churcher determined to visit her favourite works of art both in Australian and international galleries. The result are two stimulating books, Notebooks and Australian Notebooks which include her drawn studies of works of art. Her studies were made with such close observation that her drawings often reveal elements of extremely well-know paintings that I for one have totally missed.

She was truly a national treasure. So so long Betty, we’ll miss you!

Betty Churcher's drawing of The Sock Knitter by Grace Cossington Smith, 1915 in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Betty Churcher’s drawing of The Sock Knitter by Grace Cossington Smith, 1915 in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales

by Leonie Andrews

Pen wrangling

I have run into a bit of a problem with my fountain pen, the Duke 209 with the bent ‘fude’ nib. Having used up the ink in the cartridge provided I was keen to change over to a different colour and brand of ink. The only problem was that as soon as I did so my pen just stopped working as well as it should. It was scratchy and the ink wasn’t flowing. I figured that as the ink had dried out since I used it last, that there might be a problem with a blockage to the ink flow. Quite frustratingly the nib on my pen didn’t want to come out of it’s holder, so I had great difficulty trying to see if dried ink was the issue there.

Catbus, (one of my favourite characters fro m the animated film My Neighbour Totoro, Windsor and Newton Calligraphy ink, 21 March 2015

Catbus, (one of my favourite characters fro m the animated film My Neighbour Totoro, Windsor and Newton Calligraphy ink in Sepia, 21 March 2015

I could manage to get some indifferent and inconsistent lines out, but I thought that pushing the pen to get those marks was probably causing some damage as well. Enter Youtube.

There’s no doubt that you can find just about anything you want (and plenty of things you’d rather not know) on the internet so I did a search for fountain pen troubleshooting to see if someone out there could help with my problem. And they could. It seemed that I had several standard problems, the nib wasn’t wet enough, the tip of the nib was out of alignment and possibly my nib needs polishing, although I haven’t checked that last one out.

I followed the suggestions made at The Pen Habit and at least now I have my ink flowing more smoothly and the scratchiness of the pen has just about disappeared. My partner finally managed to get the nib out by brute force and the nib has been cleaned. Whether this pen will continue to work well into the future is something I’ll just have to find out. At least it was inexpensive so I feel I haven’t lost much if it does ultimately turn out to be dodgy. Here is another version of the Catbus, following pen modification.

Catbus, second version, Windsor and Newton Calligraphy ink in Indian Red, 29 March 2015

Catbus, second version, Windsor and Newton Calligraphy ink in Indian Red, 29 March 2015

by Leonie Andrews

Cafe Wednesday – Legs 11

In my ongoing attempt to make more interesting cafe drawings I’ve been experimenting with drawing people’s feet and legs. This, of course, also has the benefit of not having to look at the person’s face while you try to draw them!

I started yesterday with this drawing and what do I see but I managed to sneak in a full figure after all. The composite nature of these drawings does mean that the scale isn’t consistent between the two pages. But I’m prepared to forgive myself.

Leg studies at the Italian Bakery in Mawson, pen and ink, 24 March 2015

Leg studies at the Italian Bakery in Mawson, pen and ink, 24 March 2015

As soon as you think you’ve got a strategy then everything changes again. Here are today’s legs and a bit more.

People and leg studies at Biginelli's at Kambah, pen and ink and Copic marker, 25 March 205

People and leg studies at Biginelli’s at Kambah, pen and ink and Copic marker, 25 March 205

I’d done what I could with the legs, when the people whose feet I’ve drawn on the lower right hand side of the page, insisted on moving their table right next to ours (we were outside so it’s fair game). At such close proximity even my foot drawing strategy was endangered. I was just about to settle down to read the newspaper when I noticed the gentleman who I’ve drawn in the upper right hand side of the page. He was a good distance away and was totally focused on reading his paper. Not only that but he was dressed head to foot in black which really brought my attention to drawing the shadows that were cast on his knee. And no, the poor man doesn’t have 6 legs that’s just where he ended up on my page – next time I might give him a page all to himself.

by Leonie Andrews

Depot Beach

When my watercolour set started filling with flying sand I realised that today was not going to be one for plein air painting. I got this far when commonsense overtook me.

First try, watercolour, full of sand particles

First try, watercolour, full of sand particles

It wasn’t a pleasant day. The nor’easterly was whipping up the waves as well as the sand. To give you an idea here are some of the waves that were breaking on shallow rocks off the beach.

Offshore waves breaking on rocks off Depot Beach

Offshore waves breaking on rocks off Depot Beach

We were staying at Depot Beach, part of Murramerang National Park, for a few days. Usually the wind doesn’t really get going until the afternoons onshore breeze, but not this trip. My partner retreated to the calm of our cabin while I made a quick graphite sketch of the trees so I could paint them later.

Determined not to leave the beach without taking a short walk, I made my way along the rock platform which was partially sheltered from the wind. Here I found a cluster of Zebra Top Shells (Austrocochlea porcata) clustered around the base of a rock, on the side away from the incoming sea.

A cluster of Zebra Top Shells, 17 March 2015, graphite

A cluster of Zebra Top Shells, 17 March 2015, graphite

The other unusual sight on the beach were myriad pebbles and larger pieces of pumice. These have been washing up on Australia and New Zealand beaches for over a year now.

Pumice pebbles on Depot Beach, March 2015

Pumice pebbles on Depot Beach, March 2015

The Pumice comes from an underwater volcano located on the ocean floor on the Kermadec arc some 1,000 kilometres north of NewZealand.

Later that evening I sat down to try and reconstruct the painting I tried earlier in the day. I was pretty pleased with the result.

Spotted gums at Depot Beach, 17 March 2015, watercolour and graphite

Spotted gums at Depot Beach, 17 March 2015, watercolour and graphite

My Spotted Gums (Eucalyptus maculata) retained some of their liveliness as a result of the initial drawing. Although the painting does have a touch of the ‘modernist’ watercolour about it, due no doubt in part to the subject matter, as coastal scenes were very popular in the mid 20th century. By way of comparison here is Kenneth Mcqueen’s Under the Casuarinas, Maroochydore, c. 1938

Kenneth Mcqueen, Under the Casuarinas, Marouchydore, c 1938, Queensland Art Gallery.