Crows Nest house (without ink lines)

I am having fun at the moment with not sketching with my beloved ink pen... It is quite different having my paint exposed without the security of the inklines and I am enjoying the challenge of something new! Here is a 10 minute sketch I did this week of a quirky house in one of the streets of Crows Nest... I wonder what it used to be – a shop? - and why it is in the middle of a series of small cottages. On the left is some recent new paints ....

Tulips-Coffee-Candle

I've been sketch slack lately.
Things will change...
Next week I am going to FNQ sketching for a week.
This is a very old silver coffee pot holding some very fresh Tulips.
The candle is not in the wind

The view from Birkenhead Point

Birkenhead Point is a shopping centre that was converted from some old  warehouses in the 80s. There used to be a pub where you could get a BBQ lunch and sit on the lawn & watch the view. The pub has long gone and there are blocks of high rise apartments everywhere blocking the view.

The shopping is factory outlets, so we went over there looking for a few things and planning also to sketch. The shopping centre has been completely modernised recently and we had thought perhaps to draw inside.

Unfortunately the shops were not of interest so we walked down to the foreshore where they have now made a long narrow park. There is a marina on one side and just around the corner is this view of Cockatoo Island  with Spectacle Island in the foreground. I've previously drawn this building, while on the island and also the drawing office, right at the top. And the cranes if course.

So, a satisfactory day though NO new jeans and NO new sketching jacket.

Archibald2012 & Be What I Am Fully

Hi, Friends, how have you been? I sketched Archibald 2012, the most prestigious portrait competition in Australia. Here, NSW Gallery entrance.

None of watercolour work was in. Most finalists' paintings were oil or acrylics. "John Yu With Artist" (Jun Chen) caught my eyes, as the colour "green" used in the face and the strong brush strokes fascinated me.  

You can guess how huge paintings were. It was the main stream. But I'll keep my own style.

The other day, I sketched a psychologist and popular writer, Hugh McKay at his book launch. Although the work size is A4, I'm happy with it. That's the point! "Be what I am most." 

OK, I'm loosening up landscape with washes. We saw the huge rainbow over City after a heavy shower. Beautiful and full of hope! 
I've begun to get how to loosen up. Only the problem is landscape does not move around that bores me so much. No joke. I love capturing movements.

To learn new techniques and master them takes time. I always want to take in new skills and enrich myself.


Although this post seems to have too many topics, what I tell myself is "Be what I am most." I do not need to be someone else, but myself fully. Even without a signature, my work should tell who made it -- Sadami. So, I explore skills, pursue originality and will be what I am fully. 
Friends, Happy Painting!! 

35th Worldwide Sketchcrawl

Last Saturday I too was at Cockatoo Island. on the 35th Worldwide Sketchcrawl It was my fourth trip out there in three weeks and every time I go I see more things I want to sketch. Way back last year when we went to the Powerhouse Museum a few times I decided I wanted to draw pipes. I made myself a concertina book to fill with pipe drawings but there was nothing in it till now.

The morning was very foggy but it lifted in time for the ferries to be running and once out there it was a beautiful warm day. Most of these pipes were in the shadow of a cliff, and it can be very brisk out there on the harbour if there is a breeze. On Saturday though, it was just lovely.

There were about 30 sketchcrawlers, and although the island is not that big, people just disperse once you get off the ferry. We all met in the cafe for lunch at 12.30 and there were enough of us to pretty much take it over.  I had another very yummy BLAT. Very generous with fillings!

Cock a two Is Land

Will remember this day as a turning point in me understanding Sydney ... not.
I was born in Sydney. Educated there. Lived there once married for a while.
But I had never been aware of Cockatoo Island. Shame!
And then the sketch crawl ... I'll be back

35th Sketchcrawl BRISBANE

Our group met at the QUT at 9.30am for a 10.00am start.  We sat sat for an hour sketching, then headed off to the Goodwill Bridge.  Half an hour there, then Southbank.  We sketched for half an hour, then headed off to the food court for lunch.  After lunch we had a difference project.  IMAGINE THIS  It was fun, the leader of the project had A3 sheets of paper with faded out photos on them of buildingds in the street we were on.  Our task was to take the photo and add our artists impression, of how we could improve on the architecture to make the building more appealing.  It was a super exercise.  We spent half an hour on this, then headed to out last stop, the Queensland State Library.  It was a super day!  Weather was magical.

QUT

Southbank side of the Goodwill Bridge, looking at the mangroves.

Lighthouse at Maritime Museum (From Goodwill Bridge)

At the Beach SouthBank

Southbank

Folks having lunch at Southbank

Lunchtime Southbank

Qld State Library forecourt

Qld State Library forecourt

Qld State Library forecourt.

The Imagine This project.