Barcelona Symposium Debrief

Monthly USKSYD meeting this month was a BCN debrief!

Alissa, Chris and I shared our symposium experiences and described the workshops we did and what we got out it. Here is a combination image of all the sketches I did during the workshops (I didn't do anything on other pages or in another sketchbook …but most of the notes have been added since I got home)

It was then lunchtime …so no sketching got done as a group today. Still it was great to get the USK buzz going and have friends to share our experiences with (non sketching friends don't quite understand what the fuss is about!) It was a lovely warm day of about 30C so lovely to spend a morning in the gardens! Wow - warm weather for early spring.

On the way out I did a quick crazy sketch… couldn't come to the Botanic Gardens and not sketch! Then I had to remember to vote on the way home!  I was planning to sketch the queue to vote but at 2.30pm there wasn't queue at all (so no sketch)…

Trip to Canberra and Adelaide

Back in March, another urban sketcher, kaz e dru, and I took a trip to Canberra and Adelaide to see the Toulouse-Lautrec and Turner exhibitions in each respective city. While I didn't draw anything from the two exhibitions, we found other places, especially outdoors, to draw.

CANBERRA

As always, the Australian War Memorial provides ample inspiration for any sketcher. This trip we stayed outside and had a look around the Sculpture Garden.

ADELAIDE

We spent more time in Adelaide as we had both never visited this city before. It is so different from any Australian capital I've been to. It's close to being pure vintage, particularly its architecture. We spent a day at the Botanic Gardens and I painted the Palm House a few times.

Then another day I ventured out and around the city and did my own sketchcrawl.

Another day was spent at the zoo. Always a challenge to draw moving animals but always up for it.

We ended the trip by having a wonderful, scrummy meal at Ruby Red Flamingo in North Adelaide. A very laid back atmosphere and very colourful setting.

This is only a small selection of my sketches from this trip. I cannot upload them all here as there are too many, but if you would like to see the rest and with some detail on the hows and whys of my artwork, please click here and visit my blog.

Thanks,

Meegan

 I too was at the Sydney 38th Worldwide Sketchcrawl in the Botanic Gardens. I'm sketching in a handmade book of toned grounds. I had to choose whether to work consecutively as I usually do, or whether to choose the ground for the subject. 

It had been 46.4C degrees the previous day (that's 115) and the Gardens were looking a little more ochre than green as they usually are, so I chose those colours for the background. Luckily it was much cooler and cloudy, so we went first to the succulent garden where it usually gets very hot, very early. I felt like drawing something hard edged after that, so we went to the statue. And finally we went to a stand of bamboo where we could sit in the shade (sun out by then).

The other two sketches are from another visit to the Botanic Gardens the previous week. I was still finishing my previous sketchbook then, and playing with selective colour.  We got eaten alive by mozzies while sketching the spiral ginger, then we moved on to a spot near Twin Ponds to draw this little woodland area with paperbark trees.

38th Sketchcrawl in Sydney

We had over 50 sketchers turn up at the Botanic Gardens (thanks to Sydney Sketch Club!) and a great day meeting new people. What a crowd – very very exciting. We had 46C yesterday (hottest day on record) but today was lovely and cool and the isolated showers forecasted did not bother us all day.

My sketches from today

Sydney Inkorporated

That's such a terrible heading... Anyway, apologies for not having contributed in awhile I have been holding off until I got my own blog sorted out.

After my success at Cockatoo Island I was keen to test it out some more - making sure it wasn't a fluke. I had  a quiet week so decided to head out around Sydney. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great - I think I had one or two days free of rain, but it was quite satisfying and am dying to get outdoors again.

St Stephens Cemetery, Newtown

National Maritime Museum

Macquarie Street

Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens

Dixon Street, Chinatown

If anyone would like to see more of my colour inks please visit my blog scratchyas.com  Cheers!

Tropical Centre, Botanic Gardens

Last Saturday was Week Two of my "Keeping a Sketchbook " course. Just as well I'd organised wet weather venues because it rained. We were at the Botanic Gardens, and for the wet day we went to the Tropical Centre which is an unusual building with unusual plants. Last year we had a rainy day in there during Autumn of the Arts and we loved it. Same again.

Not many people were about because of the rain, so we nearly had the place to ourselves. There are so many things to draw in there that I want to go back and back and back. It is hot and steamy which is OK if it is not hot outside, but if the sun is coming in you can't stay too long.

I drew along with the class, but quickly so that I could go round and talk to them all.
They drew amazing things and I was so happy.

This coming Saturday we're at the Maritime Museum (inside or out, depending on the weather).

Lotuses blooming in Sydney

For three or four years now I've drawn the lotuses in the main pond at the Royal Botanic Gardens. This year we haven't had much sun, so given a sunny day last week we were down there at the lotus pond. This year they have huge leaves and not so many flowers. Maybe they will come later because it has been so cool.

After lunch we looked for interesting trees to draw. We went on a wild goose chase looking for trees we'd found last summer and couldn't find again. In the end we found some marvellous new ones and I need to revisit them, particularly the one on the left, to draw them in a bigger space. Neither tree had a tag saying what it was.

Last Spring Sketchabout at Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens

Finally made it to a sketchabout this season, and we headed off to the Palace Rose Gardens. They're so beautiful, and I dot think I did them justice. Which is why I decided to paint succulents and bamboo instead, ha, ha.

Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney

Sketching in the Royal Botanic Gardens on Saturday, we all gathered along the Spring Walk. Just beautiful - pink blossom on the trees, white May blossom, a huge variety of spring flowers and then at the front wonderful border plants like these polyanthus. I was daunted by the panorama so this is what I drew.

At lunch, hopeful ibis came around and were being chased away by some people, but I drew them very quickly. They weren't getting anything to eat, so they moved off quite fast.

After lunch I couldn't decide what to draw so I just settled down near some friends. Just for fun I drew blind contour tulips - the paint wasn't 'blind' but the drawing pretty much was. I didn't like them sitting on the page on their own, so I backed them with the lyrics of "Tiptoe though the Tulips."

A busy May

I am not sure where the month of May went...but it is gone by without me feeling like I have been out sketching much. In compariosn with March and April I certainly haven't done much urban sketching.
At the beginning of the month I join a group of over 100 sketchers in a Every Day in May challenge. I was unable to continue with it for the last two weeks but had fun earlier in the month. Here are two of the 'more' urban sketches.

On the day when we were to draw salt and pepper shakers we went around various cafes in Crows Nest to find the most interesting to draw. Cafe Ticino (which also happens to have the best Earl Grey tea in Crows Nest) had a choice of three varieties.

Draw a fence - the backyard where I grew up is unusual as until recently there were no fence between our house and the neighbors. We often used to share the lawn with our neighbours growing up - especially useful for backyard cricket when either of us had visitors and we often played hide and seek type games across the two properties. We never thought that there was a need for privacy from them. The only reason for the fence was because the current neighbours bought a dog but even then both they and my parents didn't want to lose the openness.

I also made it back to the Botanic Gardens a few weeks ago - it is amazing how much the season has changed in the 2 weeks of absence.

And finally, starting this week I am using sketching for a most important purpose.... that is to lose a few kilos so that I can have a nice 'cake allowance' during my trip to Lisbon in July. Sketching my food is the best way for keeping my on the straight and narrow! It is also good training for fast travel sketching. (more of my trip preparation soon)

Sketchcrawl 31 Sketches

We had a very successful sketchcrawl in Sydney on Saturday despite terrible weather. Throughout the day, we got approximately 30 sketchers in total. A small group of 6 met at Tara Tearoom in the Rocks for a morning cuppa (I wonder whose idea it was to meet there??) and then we met up with others at the Opera House.


I tried twice to sketch the Opera House – both times it started raining and it was easier to continue with my umbrella up then to pack up and head for shelter!

Here are some photos of the keenest sketchers David, Lola and me (although I am talking in the first photo and packing up in the second) Thanks to Jennifer and Mike for these photos.


We had 23 sketchers at lunch and then all met up in the Botanic Gardens for the final Garden Sketchabout. We went into the Tropical Centre which was covered from the rain – but still rather wet. Lots of weird and wonderful plants in there. We finished up with an afternoon tea. What a great day!
The Garden Sketchabout has been a wonderful event and despite the fact that we only saw sun 2 out of the 6 weeks (very unusual for Sydney!) we establish a great core group of sketchers. Surprisingly many people were there every week. We also got to explore lesser known parts of our wonderful botanic garden – I still have a long list of places to sketch!! Thanks to the Gardens staff and especially Kerry Brown for hosting such a wonderful sketching event – something that will continue through out the year.
Also there is going to be an exhibition of sketches from the sketchabout next week - check about the sketchabout blog for more details... and if you are in Sydney please come along!
The rest of my sketches from the day (11 spreads in total) are on my blog

Twin Ponds

I drew this bridge between the twin ponds in the Royal Botanic Gardens, and some of the birds that wandered by. My favourite is the dusky moorhen on the water. They have a red face and a hooty-tooty call.

Garden Sketchabout Week 2

Another great day - despite the rain!!! If there is a desire to sketch, the weather might be a challenge but where there is a will there is a way!

Warmup sketch before the start of the sketchabout - this is the wonderful brand new sculpture and very fun to draw. What was not so fun was the rain and the wind. I did manage to get the linework done sitting on my stool holding onto my umbrella - but the painting side was a bit too hard...so I added it later.


Great turnout for a very wet day - 23 approx sketchers. We were given access to Rathbourne lodge and were able to sit under the verandah and sketch the courtyard.



Not quite the options that we had last week but it was really nice to have most of the group together.

Look forward to seeing everyone next week ....Even if it is raining - there is so much to see and sketch in this wonderful garden!!!!

First Garden Sketchabout - Liz's sketches

Well today was the first of six Garden Sketchabout at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney as part of the Sydney Morning Herald Autumn of the Arts festival...and can I just say up front that it was WONDERFUL!!!!!


Alissa and I got to the gardens before 11.30 and shortly after arriving we found a sketcher already in action! She joined us in a 'warmup' sketch at the lotus pond.

In true Liz-style I managed to sneak in a second warm up sketch before we went to meet up with all the sketchers at 1pm. What a great turn up - over 40 sketchers I think! This page also contains a quick sketch of a chinese lantern that I did while talking to a sketcher from England! I also love drawing maps of where I go each week and a business card of the restaurant from the afternoon tea which didn't fit on the upcoming page (too many cakes- but more of that later!)

After an initial welcome the sketchers scattered all over the garden. I was doing too much talking (so out of character?!? NOT!) and found it hard to concentrate on sketching. It is occasions like these that training your hand to 'reflex sketch' comes in handy.

Another sketch from the same spot - funny I am always drawn to the built structures visible in the garden!


We then had a wonderful session at the band lawn - meeting more sketchers, swapping sketchbooks and a group photo.

9 of us from the Sydney Sketch Club finished the afternoon with a special Sketchabout afternoon tea at the Restaurant. Do I need to say that we had a great time in many ways!

Finally, for me, I walked back across the Harbour Bridge and sketched the gardens in context. this shows how important the garden is to the city of Sydney!

What a wonderful wonderful day - I am one hyped up but somewhat exhausted little sketcher now! And we do it all again next Saturday!