Australia 2012

I arrived to Australia on July of 2012. Since then, I have been wondering around different places with my sketchbook and watercolors. Here are some of the sketches.

Opera House, Sydney

St. Pauls, Federation Square, Melbourne

Sydney Opera House Concert - Alissa Duke

On Saturday I went to the Sydney Opera House to see the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs perform  "An English Christmas" concert . It was a lovely concert, thoroughly enjoyable with some  angelic voices .  I sketched on the way, at interval, and once during the concert . I sat next to another lady who bought out a sketchbook too ! and then I met choir friends for drinks afterwards. All in all it was a very enjoyable afternoon.

I was unsure of what time and opportunity I would have to sketch, but I carry my sketchbook, watercolour pencils and Lamy Safari Ink Pen with me everywhere I go, just in case. As it happened, I only had time for ink in each case.

The exterior of the Sydney Opera House is immensely sketchable from any angle! My first sketch was as I walked up there from Circular Quay. The day was so grey and the wind was very blustery, that I did not spend much time at all, wanting to get inside as soon as possible.

The second sketch was once I seated inside (way at the back). I was on an aisle seat, and no one sat on the otherside of me until the last moment, so I felt free to sketch. I started with the organ, thinking that even it got no further, I would have something down on paper. I was fortunate to get about 15 minutes of sketching in,before the lights dimmed.

The next sketches were at interval, sitting in the drinks/ foyer area inside the Concert Hall shell, looking out through the large glass sections out onto Sydney Harbour. I thought it was important to sketch some people too.

And finally during the concert  group of about 12 singers moved onto the stairs infront of me. Their silhouettes were too tempting to draw and I got my pens out straight away. Then I quickly sketched some audience members and then the orchestra and choir. Then my sketchbook was put away and I sat back to continue enjoying the glorious singing and music.

Random ramblings

Work has been frantic lately and I realised I have all these one off sketches I have done over the last month and not uploaded them to anything. They are all disconnected from each other but worth sharing.

Still thinking about my architectural struggles, I took my sketchbook with me on a grocery run and stopped at a local park to draw the aquatic centre. I spent a few minutes studying the scene before launching into it, reading the patterns, etc. It worked out okay but it is very clinical and lacks a lot of character.

Catching a bus all the way from town in peak hour on a rainy day can be a very long journey. Initially I was going to draw whatever I could see out my window whenever the bus stopped, but as the bus filled up that became more interesting.

Met up with a few other Urban Sketchers on the nastiest last night in winter, what a performance Mother Nature put on. We found some refuge on the ferry pier, and I found the rain splattered windows looking out across to the Opera House really exciting. It was like an Impressionist's painting because it was softening the definition of the scene.

The first Sunday in Spring was too good to stay indoors, so I headed out for a few quick sketches. I had thought some more about my architectural studies and wanted to practice another approach. I hate putting in pencil lines but obviously the benefit of that is everything is in proportion and it all fits on the page. To avoid that I decided to paint very faint gestural strokes enough to give me some guidance. It seemed to work quite well, and by doing that it also took the pressure off "will it fit? have I left enough room?" and can now enjoy the sketch more thoroughly.

I did a two stage breakdown of another building (from a photo) on my blog if anyone would like to see it.

Cheers,
Meegan

a visit to Sydney Opera House : Alissa Duke

Today I realised I had been doing a lot of drawing recently, but not so much sketching. I knew I was going into the city yesterday evening, so I browsed through The Art of Urban Sketching to get me in the mood for sketching around the Opera House. I had planned to draw the lights of VIVID , where lights are projected on some iconic buildings around the Harbour. But is was so very wet that I decided that as I had seen the light display a few nights ago, I would not make my self uncomfortable in the wet and cold,. So I went towards the Opera House and sketched around there in the shelter and warmth.

I walked past a busker who had gathered a large crowd, He was up on a platform,  juggling fire.

Then I tried to capture the greyness of the day. This is when I realised how damp the day was. None of my pencils would take to the Moleskine watercolour page – it was not wet, but sodden with atmosphere.

I walked up to the Opera House forecourt, which was deserted due to the weather. Everyone was in the undercover cafes and bars. I did one or two quick sketches before going inside to see ChorusOz perform Carmen. Some of my friends were in the chorus

I had thought about sketching during the concert. The lights were still on, so I could see my sketchbook and I had figured out what I what sketch. However the seats are so close that I did not feel comfortable taking out my sketchbook. So I I waited until the performace was over and quickly sketched a small section of what I could see as people started to leave

Opera House sunset

I was also one of the group sketching the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday evening. It rained at lunchtime and I got drenched. Then it rained again at about 10pm and I got wet getting home. But while we were sketching the weather was perfect. The gold reflections on the Opera House sails contrasted nicely with the touch of violet in the sky.
Sepia Pitt Pen on Como paper.

Sunset over Sydney

I headed out as part of the welcoming committee for a fellow sketcher from the US, thinking what gawd-awful weather we've been having lately and that we weren't going to get a few hours to sketch outdoors. But just when you think you have mother nature pegged, it turned out to be a perfect evening with a beautiful sunset thrown in. I tried to capture all the reflections on the sails, but they kept changing all the time.

Sydney Opera House Sketches

I did the first sketch of the Sydney Opera House while waiting for my Ferry (that is about 10 minutes) from the Ferry Wharf next to where I live. It's a very quick sketch (goes well with my personality) and I was able to add some color in the Ferry. The trip from Luna Park to Circular Quay is about 5 minutes but is great to cross the Harbour. I did the second sketch when the ferry was entering in the wharf. 

A great way to start the long weekend

I left work at 5.30 and realised what a lovely evening it was how light it still was so I drove down to Milsons Point for a quick sketch to start the weekend.

It is so obvious to sketch the Opera House but I never get sick of drawing it plus it makes me feel like I am on holidays (a tourist in my own city!)

What did strike me tonight was HOW much else there is to sketch down here...Luna Park, rides AND people etc. I think I will try and make this a regular habit.

Only need to be down here for 1-2 hours - ahhh nothing beats getting out for some sketching!!!!

More maritime museum sketches- and more....

As per Wendy’s post... A group of Sydney sketchers had the most wonderful day sketching and catching up (always about sketching related topics!)
Here are my sketches from the morning.



In the afternoon I headed off in search of a a good tea and scone...walking to the other end of the CBD to visit the Tea Cosy tearoom....





I am shortly heading off to go to overseas for 3 weeks. 2 weeks in the UK and 1 week in Lisbon for the USK symposium so Saturday was a good ‘warmup’ for me. I am pretty happy that I got to sketch the opera house just before the trip. Last year sketching the Opera House on the day after I returned from my big one was very very special! This kinda ties the two together... the sketching journey continues whether you are at home or away.....

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

Welcome!!!

Welcome to the blog for Urban Sketchers in Sydney. I am really excited that over the last 6 months or so we have got together a band of sketchers. My hope is that we can use this blog to share our beautiful city with the world!!!

So please start sketching and posting... And if you like, please introduce yourselves!


If you don’t know me... I am an architect who never seems to stop drawing and painting! I have lived in Sydney all my life and love it!!! Becoming the Sydney Correspondent for Urban Sketchers has really changed my life – being part of such an inspiring group of artists has been a huge spur to my sketching and has also given me the confidence to sketch on location more and more.

I hope to go out sketching tomorrow and post some new sketches but I thought I would start with re-posting this one from a few weeks ago. Here in Australia we have had terrible floods in QLD, NSW and VIC, bushfires in WA and then tropical cyclone Yasi. Now our thoughts are with our friends in New Zealand and those in Christchurch! Our deepest sympathies are with those who mourn or are living in dread of confirmation of lost loved ones.