October 3, 2014 by Leonie Andrews

Still catching up!

It’s spring and the umbrellas are out again!, pen and ink and acrylic paint maker, 16 September 2014

In the final weeks before my show I’ve been drawing, but haven’t had time to post. In the main I’ve been taking my cafe breaks (and even fitting in the gym!) so I don’t injure myself with all the repetitive stitching that goes into my exhibition work. So here they are, several more weeks of cafe drawings.

The curbside at Biginelli’s Cafe, pen and ink, 17 September 2014

Back at Biginelli’s and drawing faster, just like Jo suggested!

At Biginelli’s again, a week later, pen and ink, 24 September 2014

A not so quick drawing, mixing blind drawing and a more ‘observational’ approach.

The Italian Bakery, pen and ink, 20 September 2014

I’m still working on drawing people. Strangely, to me at least, getting a rough idea of the hairstyle seems to help with the drawing.

Group sitting at the Italian Bakery, pen and ink and acrylic marker, 27 September 2014

Finished at last, a celebratory coffee with a passionfruit and polenta cake!

My Cafe at Manuka with umbrella and a man on the phone, pen and ink and acrylic marker, 1 October 2014

September 11, 2014 by Leonie Andrews

Three Sketches

Three sketches from the past week.

I borrowed my partner’s Rotring Tikky water proof pigment pen, 0.5 nib, to try it out with some watercolour. I like the line so I’ll probably get my own. There are several nib widths, both smaller and larger, so I might end up getting several.

Rotring pigment pen with watercolour, 5 September 2014

I’m continuing to work on drawing people. This one is a combination of pen and ink and acrylic marker.

Portrait, pen and ink and acrylic marker, 6 September 2014

I continue to be captivated by construction. There is building work going on across the way from where we regularly buy coffee. Here is a look at the current state of scaffolding and wire safety fences. The biggest problem is the wire which was lighter in tone that the building behind it. I had trouble working out how to get the different grey tones working while I was on location, so I added some watercolour when I got home. When I scanned my amended version of the drawing I could see that the upper half of the windows weren’t looking like they were part of the whole. So with some additional drawing I came up with the final version.

Three stages of the construction sketch, 9 September, pen, ink and watercolour.

The final version, I’m hoping some impression of the fencing is given, without resorting to adding a white grid over the drawing. Perhaps in another drawing I could focus on a much tighter section of the scene and see what I can do by reserving the paper as part of the sketch.

Construction site with scaffolding and safety fencing, 10 September 2014

July 8, 2014 by Leonie Andrews

Sketching Catch-up Mt Taylor

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blind drawing, kangaroos, Mt Taylor, pen and ink, powerlines, snow
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Looking back at my small sketchbook today I realised that I haven’t posted any drawings from the last two weeks. So here goes.

On 30 June after a weekend of vile wet and cold weather we finally had a clear day. Suffering from mild cabin fever we took the opportunity to walk along the fire trails on the lower slopes of Mt Taylor, part of the Canberra Nature Parks reserve system. The main reason was to get a view of the snowfalls on the Brindabella Ranges (please excuse the dodgy panorama which I stitched together in Photoshop rather than with a special program).

Snow on the Brindabella Ranges, 30 June 2014.

The fire trail also runs beneath the powerlines. I quite liked the looping repetition of the lines.

Powerlines on Mt Taylor, pen and ink, 30 June 2014.

As I finished this sketch I became aware that I was being watched by two locals, a female Eastern Grey kangaroo and her joey.

Eastern Grey kangaroos, pen and ink, Mt Taylor, 30 June 2014.

At the bottom of the fire trail we came across evidence of other artist’s in the area. Someone, some many, had been making Goldsworthian interventions in the bush. Good to see. (BTW the small rocks come from the fill put on the fire trails for maintenance, they haven’t been taken from the bushland).

A ‘Goldsworthian’ intervention on the lower slopes of Mt Taylor, 30 June 2014.

June 22, 2014 by Leonie Andrews

Tales of the city

Here are some drawings I’ve done over the past few days. First a blind drawing of the Academy of Science building, also known as the Shine Dome and familiarly called ‘the Martian Embassy’ by locals. Behind it stands one of the newest developments in central Canberra, the Nishi Building in the New Acton precinct.

The Academy of Science Building, also called the Shine Dome (a.k.a ‘the Martian Embassy’) and the Nishi Building, New Acton, pen and ink, 20 June 2014.

Outside the Nishi Building, (which I’ve written about here) is the sculpture ‘Carbon’, it appears to be extruded from the buildings’ understorey and extends along the facade.

Carbon, by Steven Siegel,
pen and ink, 20 June 2014.

The city of Canberra was designed, originally by Walter Burley Griffin, who was inspired, in part, by the Garden City movement. In practical terms for Canberra residents today it means that the city incorporates large areas of bushland. Along with the natural landscape come lots of native animals and animals and cars don’t interact on an equal basis. Every day kangaroos die as a result of being hit by cars. Yesterday I came across one such victim not far from my own house. It was a female Eastern Grey kangaroo, our most common kangaroo species and while the species is not in any way endangered it is still a sad experience to find one of these beautiful creatures dead on the roadside.

A dead Eastern Grey Kangaroo, pen and ink, 21 June 2014.

March 24, 2014March 26, 2014 by Leonie Andrews

Dancing Shiva

The statue of Shiva, Lord of the Dance (Nataraja) at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), has been danced into a controversy with what appear to be convincing allegations that the statue was stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu, India. The allegations have also contributed to the resignation of the Director of the Gallery, Mr Ron Radford.

So with heightened interest I took the opportunity to make a ‘blind drawing’ of the statue while visiting the NGA today.

Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), 11th-12th century, bronze, National Gallery of Australia (well for now anyway), 24 March 2014.

Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), 11th-12th century AD, bronze, National Gallery of Australia (well for now anyway), 24 March 2014.

This truly is an amazing work of art and devotion. The more I studied the statue the more the slender limbs came into focus. On each of the arms and legs bracelets and anklets adorned the moving figure.

Shiva’s raised foot, drawn from the rear of the sculpture, 24 March 2014.

This is a work that clearly evokes deep feelings, even in people from outside of its originating culture, so to consider the negative impact of its theft from a place of worship is disquieting to say the least. I strongly feel that the statue should be repatriated as a matter of urgency.

UPDATE

Only two days after I drew the Shiva Nataraja at the National Gallery of Australia, the sculpture has been removed from display. This follows the Australian government receiving a formal request from the government of India for the return of the statue. The ABC TV program Four Corners on Monday also aired a program looking at the case of this sculpture and raising doubts over the purchase of a number of other works by both the NGA and the Art Gallery of New south Wales from the same dealer. The dealer is currently under arrest in India.

leonieandrews

Tag / blind drawing