Tag / landscape

by Leonie Andrews

One Small Step

Today we met up with friends to explore the site of the former Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station where the first pictures of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the Moon were transmitted to the rest of the world. (Yeah-nah, not ‘the Dish’ at Parkes).

The infrastructure is largely gone, but there is now a set of information panels and a series of sculptural elements by Canberra sculptor Michael Harding.

The site of the former Honeysuckle Creek tracking station.
Other locals out enjoying the day!

Our intention had been to sketch on site, but it didn’t happen. We went prepared to BBQ our lunch only to discover that the gas in the BBQs had run out.

In the end we drove back to the Ranger Station and cooked our meal there. While not quite the view I was planning I did complete a sketch of the nearby rural landscape.  

Tharwa Landscape

This is the first sketch in my new sketchbook. So you could say “one small sketch” (sorry that’s so lame).

by Leonie Andrews

Dunes

I told you about my video exploits in a recent post so, when we had our first visit to the coast in over 18 months, I couldn’t resist taking my filming gear (my smartphone that is) as well as my sketchbooks.

Southern mahogany (Eucalyptus botryoides with and understorey of Burrawangs (cycads – Macrozamia communis). Drawn with aquarelles on hot press paper.

It is a lovely landscape to explore. We even did some kayaking on Lake Durras, which might also make it into a video yet.

From the kayak on Lake Durras.
An early morning sketch of the bridge over Durras Creek.

My latest film shows you some of the lovely scenery on the dunes and adjacent coastal forest at South Durras Beach, on the coast of South-Eastern Australia.

https://youtu.be/jDyAxzDIcss

by Leonie Andrews

Try again

It’s often a struggle to get the drawing you see out of your head and onto the page. Several weeks ago I had one of those days. We drove out to the country looking for a sketching spot and found a promising site down by the river.

As I looked up from the river bank I could see one of my favourite local shearing sheds higher up the hill. This is built in corrugated iron which has developed a lovely patina over the years. Behind it was a hill and the whole scene was enclosed below that skyline.

24Apr2016a

Shearing shed, watercolour

I did make some quick pencil sketches before I started, but even so I struggled to get the proportions of the shed to the skyline accurately represented. I had taken along my watercolours to use for the first time in ages. I tried, but I had forgotten ‘in my hands’ how to use the paint. So I was unhappy with my result.

Then I had another thought, to work back over one of my original thumbnails with the pencils I also took along. There was no pressure to get it ‘right’ I allowed myself to play with non-realistic colour and the drawing flowed!

24Apr2016b

Colour pencil over the top of one of my original sketches