May 18, 2015 by Leonie Andrews

Mt Aggie

It turned out to be a brilliant weekend weather-wise. A perfect pair of Autumn days. Striking blue skies, a crisp temperature of 17C and virtually no wind. So on Sunday we packed some sandwiches and headed out to Namadgi National Park for a spot of bush-walking and painting. Our destination was Mount Aggie, at 1,421 metres (4,662 ft), which sits on the ridge-line which marks the western border between the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales.

Mountain views, from Mt Aggie, Australian Capital Territory, 17 May 2015

Mt Aggie may not be the loftiest of peaks in the range but it’s summit is readily accessible by a fairly short and easy walking trail. From the top there is a truly panoramic view out over the Bimberi Nature Reserve and Kosciusko National Park and even down to the Bogong Range in Victoria. We were particularly pleased to see a Wedge-tailed Eagle flying overhead shortly after we reached the summit.

We had a great time drawing and only shared the summit temporarily with another small group of walkers. I tried to capture the ridges disappearing into the distance, using the double spread of my Moleskine watercolour book. I think I’d need 3 double pages to capture the full view.

The view to the northwest from Mt Aggie, watercolour and graphite, 17 May 2015

It was a truly magic day. I’ll leave you with a shot of this small paper daisy, one of the last flowers of the season.

Paper Daisy, Mt Aggie, 17 May 2015

May 17, 2015May 18, 2015 by Leonie Andrews

Lao Food Fair

Yesterday the local Lao Buddhist temple held its annual food fair. The place was packed and the food was delicious. We took it in turns to choose dishes to eat and in the interim sketched the scene.

Hundreds of people were there and overhead flags and bunting fluttered.

Two views of the flags and people at the Lao Food Fair, watercolour, 16 May 2015

After a while we shifted to a spot in the shade. I decided to paint the symbolic decorations on the top of the temple roof. Unfortunately I didn’t quite allow enough space for the very top of the central spire.

Decorations on the roofline of the Lao Buddhist Temple, watercolour and gouache, 16 May 2015

Did I mention that the food was really good. Having eaten our fill we bought some to take home for later.

May 13, 2015 by Leonie Andrews

On the buses

It’s been a while since I caught a bus into town so today I challenged myself to do one drawing for each leg of my journey – so 4 drawings in all. I used my small notebook (9cm x14cm) and my Duke 209 pen.

Here are the two on the way into town.

Smart phone trance, pen and ink, 13 May 2015

Every seat taken, pen and ink, 13 May 2013

After my appointment I caught up with my partner who was drawing in Garema Place. While he was finishing off his sketch I took the opportunity to draw Matthew Harding’s sculpture ‘Cushion’.

Cushin, by Matthew Harding,2001, cast stainless steel, pen and ink and watercolour,13 May 2015

On the way back home I finished these two drawings.

Relaxed Man, pen and ink, 13 May 2015

Shadows, 13 May 2015, pen and ink

May 12, 2015 by Leonie Andrews

Breakfast at Bean and Grain

This sketch of breakfast at the Bean and Grain cafe, at the Fyshwick fruit and vegetable markets, was done in several stages. I started it several weeks ago but didn’t get a chance to finish it until last week. I decided to add my breakfast plate (after the yummy serve of bakery-made crumpets was gone) for a bit of extra interest.

Bean and Grain bakery and Cafe at the Fyshwick markets. pen and ink and watercolour,8 May 2015

May 10, 2015 by Leonie Andrews

Colour therapy

I decided to buy some of the Daniel Smith watercolours that I tested last week and a few days later they were in my letterbox. Along with my purchases came yet another sample palette, this time from David Taylor, an Australian watercolour artist. I sat down the other morning to do another test run of this set of colours – but I’ll spare you the details because I realised that I was just having immense fun mixing colours on the page.

What a revelation that I find myself so tied up in drawing and painting specific subjects that I have managed to forget how good it is just to play with colour!

Manganese Blue Hue and French Ochre

The earthy tones of Perylene Green and Transparent Red Oxide

LHS, Cobalt Teal Blue with a flash of Cadmium Red; and RHS, Quinacridone Gold blending with Bloodstone Genuine

I’ve decided to make a book of my colour samples, not only because I can use them as a reference, but also because I’m sure they will bring me great joy simply to look at!

If you would like to indulge in other explorations of colour I can highly recommend I Send You This Cadmium Red… A correspondence between John Berger and John Christie, Actar, (English language edition 1999). This book documents an exchange of colours, ideas and exploration of colour and its meaning and expression between Berger, an art theorist and novelist and Christie, a documentary maker and creator of artist’s books.

leonieandrews

Tag / watercolour