March turned out to be the month that we finally returned to cafe sketching – so far. I must say that I am a little bit rusty and am having to re-learn some of that flow I had previously. The fact that we have drawn every week for a month is quite a development in itself.
So without further ado…
Yesterday (20 November 2017) we went for a pleasant walk around our local landmark Black Mountain. A walking track circles it below the summit. The walk is posted as taking 45 minutes to complete, but allowing for stopping to botanise and sketch we managed the circumnambulation at a cracking two hours and ten minutes!
Black Mountain telecommunications tower.
In September I had a two week run at the Canberra Contemporary Art Space in Manuka, showing work that had developed from my residency in Tokyo two years ago. In between visitors (good numbers of people walking in from the street), I managed several sketches from behind the desk.
The view from the desk, including the gallery on the right and the view out the door on the left.
A more detailed view of what I could see out the doors of the gallery.
The spring blossom across the road attracted many passing photographs.
I was reminded earlier today that the phrase is ‘meditation practice’ not ‘meditation perfect’*, so I’m nicking that idea to apply to my art. I don’t know many artists who think their work is ‘perfect’, but sometimes I seem to operate as if that should be the default. So in the spirit of it being Friday I’m cutting myself some slack and having fun with my art ‘practice’.
Returning from interstate last week I was making this rather stiff drawing of 4 people who appeared to be related …
Waiting at the airport, 3 related women and one girl, coloured pencil
… when this bloke stuck himself right in front of my subjects.
What gets in the way of art, becomes the art!
The pen I was using wasn’t running smoothly as the cap is a bit loose and the ink dries and causes blockages. I sort-of revived it a bit by putting water from my brush pen onto it, so while the sketch is a bit pale, I think it’s way more interesting than my first effort.
The next day the pen wasn’t much better, but I couldn’t resist sketching this cheeky magpie, hanging around the cafe for a feed. The first parts of the sketch were pale and then with help from my partner we managed to get the ink flowing a bit better . Once that was done I realised that I had made a much more interesting range of marks than if the ink had been flowing properly.
Necessity becomes virtue as the paler initial marks allow for more interest in the feathers and offer a contrast to the background
I picked up that pen again today, but not before actually checking and re-filling it. This morning I didn’t find my fellow cafe-goers very exciting subjects, so I decided to include some of the graphics from the nearby reptile shop to make things more interesting. I decided the whole could be improved if I added some paint when I got home.
Cafe habitues with green paint
I then decided, in short order, that the result wasn’t quite what I was after. So I resorted to even more paint.
My fix
I’m feeling much happier about this version.
Sadly I have to report that since the big make-over of the small precinct where we go for coffee, that our dinosaur has ‘left the building’. It has been replaced by two trees some ground-cover plants and a lot of wood-chips. Making my sketches ‘interesting’ will become more of a challenge with the dinosaur.
*Phrase thanks to Headspace
We took a quick trip up the road today to Goulburn, one of the oldest cities in New South Wales. As always we were attracted by the various period buildings throughout the city. This visit we allowed enough time to make a number of sketches.
While waiting for my lunch I quickly sketched one of the commercial premises on the main street. I found the combination of dark and light patterns a perfect subject for playing with my fountain pen.
Auburn St shop, pen and ink
After lunch we shifted down to the railway lines to paint, not the attractively restored station, but rather one of the storage buildings further along the track.
Railway shed, watercolour, 5 August 2016
Our final stop was back in Belmore Park, in the centre of the city where we decided to make a quick sketch of the Victorian era Court House. I swapped styles yet again to try out my black and white and a punch of colour technique. I was pretty pleased with the outcome except for one thing – I left out a whole section of the upper level of the building – oops.
Not quite the Goulburn Courthouse, watercolour, pen and ink, 5 August 2016
There was nothing for it but to have another go.
The dome of the Goulburn Court House with the missing bits added in, watercolour, pen and ink, 5 August 2016
One of the things I realised when I looked even more closely is that the top of the dome is quite literally crowned with a copy of Queen Victoria’s imperial and state crown that featured in the print of the Queen, a copy of which graced my grandparent’s home. Our day of sketching ended somewhat abruptly when a bus load of school boys arrived and quite literally parked out the view and raised the decibel level in the park quite dramatically.
For these sketches I got to try out my Stillman and Birn Gamma series Vellum Suface sketchbook, (150gsm).
leonieandrews 