Latest from the cafe, after a somewhat unfortunate drawing of a person at the cafe – drawing people isn’t my strong point – I decided to move on to a subject that was more forgiving, the wheelie bins outside the cafe.
Wheelie bins at the Cafe, 2 April 2014.
I think I’m getting the hang of using just enough of my paint markers.
It’s early days working with my new paint markers. I took several colours with me when I went for coffee on Saturday morning, being mindful that I didn’t want to ‘paint’ my subject, just sketch it. The view is out the bakery window and looking at the back entrances of the shops across the road.
The Italian bakery, 22 March 2014 pen and paint marker.
As my partner commented the trick is not to lose the drawing amidst the colour. I’m not sure that I have the balance right yet. I also scanned this image in ‘grayscale’ to give me an idea of how my tonal values are working. It’s something I hadn’t thought about before and I’ll probably do again. If anything it probably reinforces the benefits of limiting my colour palette.
‘Greyscale’ version of the Italian bakery, 22 March 2014.
Waiting for my lunch I sketched the table setting.
Table at the cafe 24 July 2013
Yesterday I went to the first of a series of four lectures on contemporary Japanese ceramics, which are being held at the National Gallery of Australia. While waiting for the audience to settle in I did a quick ‘blind’ drawing of the image on the screen of an ikebana arrangement by Kawana Tetsunori, a master of the Sogetsu School of ikebana.
Kawana Tetsunori, ikebana arrangement, 18 July 2013
I love the serendipity of life. When I looked up Kawana San’s website I realised that I had seen a major installation work of his, ‘Five Elements Water’, at the National Gallery of Victoria in June 2009. Not only that, but I had made a number of drawings of the installation.
Five Elements Water, Kawana Tetsunori, NGV Melbourne, June 2009, brush pen on paper
Five Elements Water Kawana Tetsunori, NGV Melbourne June 2009, brush pen on paper
Five Elements Water Kawana Tetsunori, NGV Melbourne June 2009, brush pen on paper
The lecturer, Dr Wendy Ella Wright, was drawing attention to the link between post-WWII Japanese ceramics and their use by more contemporary Japanese schools of ikebana. OK, enough of the ikebana diversions.
I also did a second drawing of a work by Hayashi Yasuo called ‘Cloud’. This piece was made in 1948 and has a very glossy black surface. I’ve been unable to find out how large this piece is.
Cloud, Hayashi Yasuo, 1948, water colour and pen
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