Solo sketch on Cockatoo ISland

It was fun to do a solo trip to Cockatoo Island. One pencil, one moleskin. Got there early. Perfect weather. In the zone. Trying some new techniques which I am really enjoying. Good to be back in THAT sketch zone.

USK SYD June- Sydney Uni

Details of June's event …everyone welcome! Please feel free to invite anyone that you think might be interested.

Calling all Melbourne Sketchers!!!

Saturday 29 June - Williamstown
Everyone welcome!

A beautiful day at Cockatoo island

Sketches and photos from a beautiful morning at Cockatoo Island with USK SYD last Saturday - as usual great bunch of sketchers and inspiring chats!

Sketching at Wynnum/Manly Waterfront whilst out on a bike ride.

Cockatoo Island

I wasn't going to be able to make it for the USK Cockatoo Island day yesterday so with the day off I had last week after Anzac Day, I made a solo trip over to make up for what I'll be missing! It was a beautiful, sunny day and I had the whole afternoon to just explore and sketch. The first sketch was done standing on higher ground in a sandstone covering what used to be a military guardhouse looking out to the southern docks. What caught my eye was the unexpected red container next to all the browns and greys.

For the second sketch, I choose somewhere closer to the wharf so that I can keep on going right up to when the ferry comes. It was getting dark by the time I left. There were people getting off the ferry with pillows and eskies when I was boarding, probably heading to the camp site.

Both sketches were done on location and colour applied at home.

Newtown

Sketches from last month's USK day at Newtown. It was a wet day but nevertheless, it was still a good sketch outing with great enthusiasm from everyone. A friend and her young daughter joined me for a couple of hours and we did some drawing from a small coffee shop along the main street when it started to rain. I caught up with the rest of the USKers after the rain stopped for a little more sketching and lunch.

Some more sketches from Newtown

a little late in sharing these...sorry!

From Ethna:

In spite of many visits to Newtown, I had never ventured far from the main thoroughfare of King Street, so it was exciting to plunge into the back streets and lanes of this lively suburb with the Urban Sketchers group in Sydney.
I'm often attracted to the narrative of the place when I'm looking for inspiration........so the open gate to a house here made me stop and I felt I'd found my sketch.....someone perhaps had just left through that gate, or someone was about to go in......
Cars abound in these narrow back streets so between dodging both them and a few showers, I managed to get something done........

Further down the lane I saw two apartment blocks very close together with a bit of sky inbetween (that blue sky is wishful thinking). It's amazing that even with all the bricks, concrete and glass, a bit of greenery from a balcony or aroung a corner somehow pops up and tends to soften the view.

From Peter Rush:


Looking down Victoria St.
The Sydney Urban Sketchers met up this month in my home ground - Newtown!

Newtown is well known for its urban grit . It's a feast of graffited back lanes with exposed pipes and ductwork behind the busy shops of King St. Perversely I couldn't help myself and sketched a remant of it's arcadian origins. This church is famous for its overgrown cemetery - well worth a visit for a future Urban Sketchers meet up.