March 4, 2016 by Leonie Andrews

Concrete Cafe

In my first post knee-surgery outing (as opposed to doctor’s visits) we went to our local cafe. Changes, by way of a major upgrade of the pavement and landscaping of the shops, are well underway and the dinosaur is on a leave of absence. Instead there was a concreting crew waiting to pour several large slabs which will form the new, level area for seating.

Don’t forget to check your pens!

You can tell I’m a bit rusty because I made a real beginner mistake – I forgot to check my pens before I left. One was completely out of ink and the other has a dodgy nib that really needs changing.

It took a while to get going with the sketches as I fiddled around finding a pencil and approach that I was happy with. In the end I began by focusing in some of the boots that were sitting ready to be used.

Gumboots and smoothing the edge, graphite, white chalk and coloured pencil

Then the concrete truck arrived and before I knew it I had sketched a group of labourers that Kazimir Malevich would have been proud of.

Quick movement as the man spread the concrete.

By way of comparison here is one of Kazimir’s.

Kazimir Malevich, The woodcutter, 1912, Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

There were several slabs to be poured so I managed to capture the action by loking for the repetitive movements.

Edge detailing and more work boots, graphite and magic pencil

I really enjoyed trying to capture the way the men moved, although clearly bad backs are an outcome of such work.

Spreading the concrete, graphite, magic pencil and white chalk

February 16, 2016February 16, 2016 by Leonie Andrews

More faces

A quick trip to the National Gallery yesterday to see the small exhibition Black – more of that another time perhaps. En route passed this unidentified Indian goddess in the Asian gallery.

Unknown goddess (possibly Lakshmi or Gangaur), Patan, 17th cent. wood and pigment

Today I was back to play at the cafe again with my magic pencils and the odd bit of white chalk.

Two faces at the cafe, magic pencils Fire and America (left); Fire, America, Tropical and white chalk (right)

And some more.

Face, white chalk and magic pencils, America and Tropical

Obscured face, magic pencils Fire and America and white chalk

February 13, 2016February 13, 2016 by Leonie Andrews

Getting the ‘lead’ out

I’ve been using my Koh-i-noor Magic Pencils as my main sketching material for a few weeks now. Apart from being caught up in the sheer fun of multicoloured pencils that would be the envy of any pencil case, I find that they are ‘magic’ in other ways as well.

Koh-i-noor Magic coloured pencils

Koh-i-noor Magic Pencils

They are ‘magic’ because you can’t quite control where the colour will turn up.

Cafe drawings, Magic Pencils (America), with white chalk on the right hand side, on grey-toned Strathmore paper, 30 January 2016

They are ‘magic’ because they encourage me to play.

Two men, with multiple arms, Magic Pencils (Original, Fire and America), on grey-toned Strathmore paper, 13 February 2016

Two men, with multiple arms, Magic Pencils (Original and Fire, left; Original and America, right), on grey-toned Strathmore paper, 13 February 2016

They are ‘magic’ because they remind me to focus on the structure of my drawing – where is the light coming from? – not what colour is her t-shirt?

Woman and unfinished man, Magic Pencils (Fire and America, left; and Original, right), 13 February 2016

They are ‘magic’ because paying attention to the key elements of a subject is more important than ‘completing’ the picture.

Tatooed man, Magic Pencils (America, Fire and Tropical, 13 February 2016

They are ‘magic’ because they show me that drawing can be much so much more interesting than straightforward representation.

October 22, 2015 by Leonie Andrews

Seen in Mawson

It’s been a while since I posted. I’ve been busy with lots of other ‘stuff’ which will continue to take up my time over the coming weeks in the run up to my next exhibition at the Gosford Regional Gallery in December.

Here are two sketches from outside our favourite coffee shop in Mawson. This first sketch was done over two sessions. The first day I managed the thumbnail sketch and brushpen shadows. The second day I added the watercolour layer.

Shuttered facade on a real estate office, brushpen and watercolour, 17 & 20 October 2015

On the second visit I decided to try and quickly capture this motorcycle, which I was sure would only be there for a short time. Good practice – of course we left before the rider even came back.

Motorcycle, brushpen and watercolour, 20 October 2015

September 11, 2015 by Leonie Andrews

Out and about on a botanical Friday

Here are two drawings from different botanically-related outings today.

The first was drawn at the Yarralumla Gallery next to the Heritage Nursery where I’d been buying plants to help renovate our front garden. While there is nothing particularly different with this drawing, the notebook its drawn on is something fairly new, a Leuchtturm Whitelines Link® notebook. This notebook is designed to be used in conjunction with an app for your smartphone so that it can be digitised and shared easily on a variety of platforms. Enough of that for the moment as I plan to explain more and do a bit of a review in another post.

Yarralumla Gallery, pen and ink on a Leuchtturm Whitelines Notebook, 11 September 2015

Our second outing was to the Australian National Botanic Gardens, not as you may expect to see the plants, but rather to check out the newest farmer’s market in Canberra. This was only the second week of the Eat Local Friday market’s operation so we didn’t know what to expect. There were plenty of people there and they seemed quite keen to get among the produce. It is unusual to see a market in such a pleasant setting and I’m sure that the extra foot traffic will benefit the gardens. I set up at one end of the stalls and was pleased to have plenty of people to include in the scene. I struggled with capturing the light coming from behind the stalls, so it looks like that’s something else I’ll need to work on.

Stalls at the Eat Local Friday markets at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, brush pen, watercolour, pen and ink, 11 September 2015

I was quite intrigued at the number of people who walked several metres past the last stalls and then asked whether there was anything else there. No more stalls I’ll grant you, but only the whole of the gardens at the height of it’s springtime flowering!

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Tag / cafe drawings