Tag / drawing

by Leonie Andrews

The Tibetan Belt

I was away last week and stayed at a house filled with beautiful objects including this belt which I believe is Tibetan. I loved trying to capture it’s intricacies while trying to balance out with making the study ‘too tight’.

Belt with silver and coral, watercolour and graphite , 29 May 2015

Belt with silver and coral, watercolour and graphite , 29 May 2015

Tibetan belts can be quite elaborate items as I experienced first hand when traveling there some years ago. This woman was herding yaks and sheep and as my cynical partner would no doubt rightly note she was keeping an eye out for tourists passing along the main highway!

Tibetan woman herder

Tibetan woman herder

by Leonie Andrews

Working Wednesday

No cafe for me today. I was back at Megalo Print Studio + Gallery for my first screen printing session in ages. Things are starting off slowly. I’m looking at images for the show I’m in at the end of the year, so no time to waste. I’m testing out incorporating some of my drawing techniques into my work.

Dye screen print onto plant dyed cloth, 20 May 2015

Dye screen print onto plant dyed cloth, 20 May 2015

My ideas often develop more quickly when I’m actually ‘doing’ rather than sitting and thinking, so here’s to ‘doing’.

If you would like to see how Megalo operates there is a great, short video on their homepage, filmed by Rowan Grant of Sixth Row Productions.

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

Seeing Double

I’m spending more time with my double pencil drawings, I’ve even done some further cafe sketches because the lines seem fresh once more.

glass and cup, pencil and ballpoint pen, held together, 22 January 2015

glass and cup, pencil and ballpoint pen, held together, 22 January 2015

With these drawing I drew focusing on working from the centre out, as the project method asks.

Plate and spoon, ball point pen and pencil, held together, 22 January 2015

Plate and spoon, ball point pen and pencil, held together, 22 January 2015