Sydney Town Hall

On Saturday the Urban Sketchers Sydney group gathered at Town Hall. Sydney Town Hall is one of Australia's finest examples of French Second Empire architecture. Designed by architect J H Willson in 1868, it is said to be inspired by Hotel de Ville in Paris.



 

In anticipation of Paul Wang and Liz Steels' expressive sketching workshop in March, I tried a loose watercolour sketch with some parts wet on wet, others wet on dry. The iron work at the top was too pretty to not attempt with more detail, so in between layers drying, I made a second sketch of the top with a new Hero pen Liz picked up on her Penang/Singapore trip.

 

 

 I love the varied lines from this bent nib pen. They lend themselves well to the intricate forms. This separate sketch was also helpful to determine what features to add in the watercolour only sketch.

 

If you are travelling to Sydney to sketch, this area offers more grand buildings nearby such as St Andrews Cathedral and the Queen Victoria Building. The difficulty is in choosing what to leave out.

Summer in Margaret River, Western Australia

This December our family flew to Perth, Western Australia to visit relatives for the Christmas break. In Perth we had one night at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle. It's restored wooden façade stretches the width of a full block and looks so grand with its large balcony. The park across the road provided a good view to sketch from and I tried to imbue the late afternoon shade that stretched all the way to the hotel's rooftop from the huge tree behind me in the park.

For several days of the trip the sun shone with all it's strength and I was pleased I had set out in the early morning to sketch this beautiful home in Margaret River. Even then the pen work was completed on one morning before needing to retreat indoors from the heat, then I returned the following morning to complete the watercolour.

 

I had attempted to draw this house a few years ago but gave up after being overwhelmed by both architecture and foliage! I'm so grateful for this year of being involved in the Urban Sketching community as I've learnt so much and was able to give this sketch another try with much more confidence knowing I could finish it.   Wishing all of this community a fantastic 2014 of learning, sharing and friendship!

Luna Park - The Carousel

We arrived at our USK Sydney meet last Saturday to a surprising sight.  Bushfire smoke had descended all around us, and at one stage the harbour looked to be covered by a white blanket. The contrast of environment, between sailing boats navigating their way through the haze outside, compared to the bright colours and loud sounds inside the fun park was like two different worlds.

 

Having missed sketching the carousel the first time I came to Luna Park, this time I made a beeline  to it. It's hard to ignore the response to all these colours when drawing Luna Park, so it seemed to be a good opportunity to once again go over the top with bright colours and wavy lines.

 

 

 

Commander Baldocks Galloping Horses and Racing Cockerels Carousel was originally built in the late 19th century in England and was installed at Luna Park in 2004.

 

Luna Park Sydney

Front Entrance - Ethna Gallacher

Luna Park Sydney is an amusement park situated near the North end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The park was originally constructed in the 1930s and although it has undergone various rebuilds it still holds an old day charm. Keen to play with colour last week, Ethna Gallacher, Suzi Poland and I (Chantal Vincent) found this a fun place to explore and discover unusual structures and a lively vibe.

 

Luna Park's prime location - looking back from the front gate

 It felt a little strange to turn our backs on two of Sydney's famous icons whilst sitting to sketch the garish face.

 

Ice Cream and the Big Dipper - Suzi Poland
 

Once we'd sketched the main entrance we each ventured inside and were happy to find further bright colours and fun designs. 

 

Coney Island - Chantal Vincent

 Mostly unchanged in concept, games and décor style since being built in 1935, Luna Park's Coney Island is the only operating funhouse of it's era left in the world.

 

Having only just scratched the surface of what can be sketched here we are all looking forward to returning on another day soon.