July 21, 2025July 21, 2025 by Leonie Andrews

Back at the Portrait Gallery

I know it’s only been a week, but I was back at the National Portrait Gallery again on Sunday for their monthly life drawing session, called Drawn In. The Gallery provides easels, boards, materials, paper, and pencils, but you can also take your own.

My book is watercolour paper, so I did my first sketch, a tonal study, with pencil, on the smoother side of my paper.

Trying to focus more on tone, than lines, although I used both

I decided to move into the Family Art room as it’s possible to use watercolour in there. It was certainly a different angle to sketch from. It was almost the reverse of the view that I did first.

Lots of friends from the Urban Sketchers were also there, so we rounded off the afternoon with cups of tea and coffee in the cafe.

July 14, 2025July 15, 2025 by Leonie Andrews

Urban Sketching at the Portrait Gallery

It’s been several months since I went out with the Urban Sketchers Canberra group. The weather, being as cold as it is, didn’t seem to promise a large turnout, but I was wrong about that.

I decided to do a composite sketch, showing various aspects of the Gallery, starting with part of the building exterior.

I then moved inside, collected a stool, and found a spot where I could see a cluster of other sketchers. I also decided to incorporate some quick sketches of two of the portraits into the background of my double page spread.

Because I couldn’t use my watercolours in the gallery, I moved to the ‘family’ room where messy art could happen.

I planned to add some elements from the cafe in the bottom right corner, but I ran out of time. Maybe I can do that another time.

March 28, 2022March 29, 2022 by Leonie Andrews

painting by memory

We found ourselves in an odd situation the other day. We went to see a major travelling exhibition, Shakespeare to Winehouse, which has come to Australia from the National Portrait Gallery, London. We knew that there was no photography allowed, but I was taken aback when the security guard asked me to put my pencil away as there was no drawing allowed in the exhibition either.*

Apart from being very annoyed I was at rather a loss because sketching is my favourite way of recording exhibitions. After going through the exhibition we beat a quick retreat to the coffee shop where I furiously wrote notes on the paintings/ photographs that caught my attention. Did I mention that you couldn’t even take notes in pencil in the gallery?

However, after we got back home, it dawned on me that I could at least try and paint some of the works from memory – it’s hard to keep a determined artist down.

This is a first for me and I can’t say that I had prepared myself for the experience. Nevertheless I managed two acrylic studies, neither of which give a terribly accurate rendering of their sources, but it was fun. (And yes, I do know that I can download all the paintings online. It was just more fun doing it this way).

Drawn from memory: partially completed, Richard Avedon, 1960, photograph of WH Auden in New York (NPG P614) – acrylic paint on collaged cardboard

Drawn from memory: Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1829, unfinished portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (NPG 7032)

If you are interested in 15 minutes of relaxing video you can watch me paint this study by following this link.

I have confirmed with the lending institution that both photography and sketching are allowed in their gallery. It just seems that our local host organisation has gotten all draconian. I don’t know why as so far they haven’t gotten around to replying to my complaint email. I will update this if and when I hear from them.
Shortly after posting this blog I heard from the local gallery to say that the restrictions were, in part, to do with copyright issues for living artists. Also that high visitor numbers in their relatively smaller rooms made photography and sketching a problem with obstruction (my words). They are at least holding out a ray of hope for the sketchers. Apparently, they are monitoring visitor numbers to identify quieter periods when sketching might be allowed.
The full text of both replies can be found on my Instagram account @leonieandrewsart.

December 29, 2018 by Leonie Andrews

Boxing Day

The National Portrait Gallery of Australia, held it’s regular drawing session on Boxing Day which gave us a good excuse to get out of the house. We were pleasantly surprised to run into several other members of our Urban Sketchers Canberra group who also had the same idea.

I wasn’t overwhelmed by my sketch of the group ‘Humbug’, who were the musicians playing that day. Lots of mistakes and abandoned as the group stopped playing part way through my sketch.

I was much happier with my second lot of sketches where I ditched the pencils and leapt in with the watercolour. It was easier to sketch the onlookers who tended not to move so much.

June 6, 2016June 6, 2016 by Leonie Andrews

National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

The weather was truly awful yesterday, but nineteen brave souls made it to the June sketchmeet of Urban Sketchers Canberra at the National Portrait Gallery. We also had four new people make it for first time, which was just fantastic on such a rainy day.

After brief introductions and such we split up to sketch the gallery. My first stop was to sketch the ceramic sculpture of Dr John Yu, by the artist Ah Xian. As is appropriate for a retired paediatrician, Dr Yu’s bust includes small children scrabling over it. The bust itself is made with a celedon glaze, which is apparently a favourite of the sitter.

Dr John Yu by Ah Xian, National Portrait Gallery, my sketch coloured pencil on paper

It was very pleasant to be inside the gallery looking out onto the rainy weather. My second sketch was of such a view down one of the cross corridors of the gallery.

I was walking back to join the group for our sketchbook throw down when I decided I had just enough time to draw one of the interesting double views that gallery architecture facilitates.

Two portraits, coloured pencil. On the left, partial image of Charles Teo by Adam Chang, 2011; and in the foreground, Acacias (stigmata), Tony Carden, by AñA Wojak, 1995

As always our group welcomes new members and visitors to join us. Our next sketchmeet will be on Sunday 3 July, 10.15 am at (New) Parliament House.