Sketching at the Lismore Museum

Hi everyone its Shantele here from Northern New South Wales. One rainy day in Lismore I decided to sit out the front of the museum and do some urban sketching. The building itself is the old municipal building. It was built in 1928 and housed the council chambers until 1991 when it was turned into the museum

I was born in Lismore and grew up here and am ashamed to say that I have never been inside this museum. I have visited museums all over the world, and often look for them when heading to a new country or town. But it took me 14 years to visit the one in my home town!

There are fantastic exhibits inside that provide information about the regions local aboriginal culture, european settlement, and shipping history. Lismore has been known to flood a few times with the river passing right through the town. So there is a lot of information on the regions history with flooding and shipping.

I just wandered around and drew a few things that caught my eye, like the old hand carved pegs, and a baby's dress printed with newspaper print from 1935. There was also a fascinating “sea medicine chest” full of lots of lotions and potions for all sorts of aliments, that was used by a surgeon on the steamship SE George in 1895.  I was the only one there so I didn’t have to fight for space to sketch. It was fun to walk around and sketch and for just a gold coin donation it is worth the visit.

Australia Technology Park

Fellow USK, Lisa Foong and I met up last Saturday to go to the Finders Keepers markets but also planned to do some sketching as well. The Aust Tech Park (ATP) is located right next to Redfern Station and in its former life was the Railway yards for Sydney trains. For those who watched the Sydney based series of Master Chef that is where it is filmed.

The big old wonderful bricked building have found another lease on life as a convention centre, with smaller IT research organisations seeming to have office space there as well. Like Cockatoo Island a lot of the heavy machinery is still there, pride of place for everyone to enjoy, especially us sketchers. I don't know why I love drawing them so much.

Plus there was an old red rattler carriage on display outside as well.

We had a peek inside one of the buildings which seemed to be the old metalworks area. It looked like a section of it was still in use but the rest housed all the old tools and machinery. It was locked but the security guard did say it was open to the public during the week, and in a few months time it will be open on weekends too! How exciting for us sketchers.

Two weeks in Japan, two urban sketch catch-ups

I visited Japan for a two week holiday and had the wonderful opportunity to catch up with the Tokyo urbansketchers organised by the ever generous Kumi-san (see her sketches here).

Urbansketcher Session 1 - Kumi-san, Hoso-san, Miyu-san and Lionel-san (below)
We visited the Yebisu Beer Museum with beer tasting. I would never have picked going to a brewery as I went to so many of them as a uni student for our studies. But the tour guide gave a good coverage of not just the way that they made it but why it got to be so popular as Japan adopted Western culture. 

It was great to see the different sketching style of everyone and as we had lunch and sketched around the table, we got to chat about interesting things at the same time.



Solo sketch 1 - Asakusa (below)
The sketch below is of Asakusa's Kaminarimon. I struggled with sketching it in the light drizzle but I love the effect it had on the page. I balanced the palette on a fence and had to keep adding the colour as it ran down the page.  

Solo sketch 2 - Kamakura (below)

The shape of the roof of the temple/shrines aren't square so it was tough to get the shape and proportions. This shrine was engulfed by greenery and was very peaceful. A little cat wandered across which I have captured in the sketch on the right. The paper on the left hand side came out with the Mattcha and sweet at the Bamboo shrine. I am loving how you can use the pocket in the back of the Moleskine to store these tickets and ephemera to stick in once you get back to the hotel. 

Solo sketch 3 - Rikugien (below)

This was my second attempt at the Matsu tree. As I am not used to sketching this kind of tree, it was a bit difficult to get the spiky look of the leaf. You can also see the "inkan" or stamp I bought at Sekaido (Art shop in Shinkjuku). 

\

Urbansketcher Session 2 - Kumi-san and Taizo-kun (below) and later with Ina-san, Tetsu-san, Takashi-san and Keith-san
The second urbansketch catch-up with Kumi-san!! It was the Sanja festival in Asakusa. Lots of people in Happi (top) and went up and down the street carrying the Omikoshi (a mini shrine). The lantern at the Kaminarimon was raised to allow the omikoshi to pass under it.  

An amazing fun day. We had lunch at the restaurant overlooking the Kaminarimon followed by a jazz session by Akiko-san and Ikemen-san (sorry I don't remember the guitarist's name and this is what Akiko-san called him). 

Although I was born in Japan, I don't get to go back as much I like. It makes it so much more enjoyable to visit a town, when guided by such kind locals such as Kumi-san. 

I hope you all get to sketch with the Tokyo Urbansketchers some day - as I had a ball.

The rest of my sketches are on Flickr (see here). 

A

Sketching in Brunswick Street, Melbourne

A trip to a favourite art shop for supplies ended up with sketching over lunch. This is my messy page (above) capturing the scene around me, while my coffee and lunch got cold. At least I had fun.

I had drawn this building before (above - it’s across the road from where I was sitting) but I had not noticed the condition of the roof. There were several gaps or holes which I tried to capture. It’s still a beautiful building, but in need of some maintenance.

This is a sketch from last year. I am posting it to show where I sat – outside and under the shade. From there I could see the sign “Alimentari” on the oval sign (also see next image)…

There is a flower shop next door, with a spinning wheel – the big yellow petal – that kept spinning the whole time.

This area - Brunswick Street in Fitzroy- is interesting in that it’s quite arty; with lots of grungy as well as funky retail outlets, great food, good coffee and is a great location for people watching.

Cockatoo Island

I have been to Cockatoo Island twice in the last few weeks. Once with the Sydney Sketch CLub and the second time on my own. Love that place so much and never get sick of visiting it. So much to draw- either grand vistas or small details.

I have made to decision recently to start a large sketchbook to use on my sketching days out here at home. I normally only use this A4 sized sketchbook when I travel as it is heavy to carry. But it is so good to have the freedom to work larger.

 

My sketches from day in Newcastle: Liz Steel

So here are my sketches from our great day in Newcastle.

It was impossible not to spend the first hour or so talking - with so many new people to meet and  good sketching friends to catch up with. And therefore it was a little hard to settle down to sketch - so I  did a number of quick loose sketches of the Customs House tower and the old Post office.

The afternoon was more relaxing as a smaller group headed down to Queens Wharf area -such a beautiful day and a great place to sketch. I hope to be able to come back to Newcastle again soon.

I was working in a new Stillman & Birn Gamma book and also sheets of Cold Press Fabriano - more about it on my blog

Melbourne - Post 90th Birthday Party

Hi

I was down in Western Victoria again for a Surprise 90th Birthday Party! It was such a fun lively gathering for wise L in Horsham.  

We drove back Sunday so I had the Monday for some last minute sketches ... 

Next time I'll have to be more organised and arrange a catch up with some Melbourne sketchers!  

On the corner of Swanston St and Flinders St, you have 4 distinctly Melbourne buildings. The two that I sketched are St Paul's Cathedral and the Flinders St Station. The third is Federation Square and the only thing I know about it is that I had a nice meal although dead tired at Taxi when I was in Melbourne for work. The last building is a pub, the Young and Jackson. The Young and Jackson houses the once scandalous nude Chloe. So next time, I think I'll have to sketch the other two buildings. 

I found a nice spot on the steps of the cathedral to paint the Station ... but I painted in full sun. It blinded me a bit and the colours turned out a little bit wild and bright. I don't think I have learnt to ease off on the Quin Gold or Azo Yellow ... as I am used to using Raw Sienna.  

The painting of the Cathedral was done on the steps of the Station - pretty much underneath the central hand rails. It was tough as I painted it at what seemed like peak hour for Australian standards and I had people walking passed really closely - palette to the right, bag under my knees, no room for a water bucket so I was spraying the water into the palette which means no clean brush. 

So I had two challenging sketch locations ... can other people share some tips on where they sit and how they get some space. Does having a  small seat help?

The last sketch was done in very pleasant surroundings at two cafes! Toby's Estate and Phillipa's. I am always a bit torn between relaxing and enjoying the cup of tea or coffee or getting out the sketchbook!

I found links to the Flinders Street Station design competition here and here. They announced the winner of the competition in August 2013 - the same people that designed? the Tate Modern and National Stadium, "the Bird's Nest", in Beijing. They are now going to see if it's viable ... 

A

Paper: Moleskine Watercolour A4
Tools: Watercolour, pencil

You Am I

I saw one of the best rock and roll bands this country has ever produced last night at the enmore. Normally I'm quite satisfied with drawing one or two sketches, but I felt compelled to do more. They played two albums worth, so I had plenty of time to sketch. Here is a selection, for more please visit my blog here. Cheers, Meegan

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

Early morning sketch and walk

Good morning everyone and happy new year!... I started my morning with a brisk walk before breakfast at 6.30am and a quick sketch of a grand house on my return home. Just come back from an amazing trip to Singapore (met up with lots of the USKers there)  I was experimenting when in SG with working wetter with my watercolour so this morning I continued my experimentation with using my squirrel brush which holds a lot of water.

It is a large house with a lot of details... but for me my focus this morning was the entrance and the gables.

USK Paddington Reservoir Gardens

It was a much needed day out of sketching for me, and although Sydney was thrown into 40˚ heat leading up to our first Urban Sketchers Australia meet up, the gods were fairly decent towards us on the day. The gardens are a lovely refuge in the inner city and even though there was a constant stream of visitors we could still spread out and enjoy ourselves. It's also one of the few public places that provides free reading material and cabana beach chairs!

I brought along my Derwent inktense pencils, a couple of W&N colour inks and my W&N watercolours, and I was also drawing in a large format Hahnemühle sketchbook. I always apply my colour washes first and then my linework, and sometimes I look at my finished colour washes and think "does it need linework?" So I attempted one with and one without.

I guess they both work well, but it is nice to know I can create pictures without feeling the need to add linework. I created these pictures by using my Inktense pencils first not just to establish structure but for colour, and instead of using water to spread the colour, I used my watercolour set instead. So I think it retains enough linework but in a more subtle way.

So it was nice to start to my first USK Australia meetup by breaking some new ground. Looking forward to the next. For more of my work please visit www.scratchyas.com

More from Rookwood

I dont know what it is about cemeteries that I enjoy drawing but Rookwood has always been on my checklist of places to draw, so when the Sydney Sketch Club headed out for its Open Day I thought it was a great opportunity.

Although I never managed to actually meet up with the other sketchers (due to my inability of reading maps and understanding bus shuttle services) I headed up to the older Anglican section. Many of the graves in this area dated around the early 1900s and many seem to be neglected, which from an artistic point of view, is appealing.

As sad as it may be, some of the graves I saw had flowering trees growing from it which I thought was really heartwarming, and the weather was so perfect it was really peaceful and pleasant sketching away from all the noise. I couldn't think of a more idyllic location.

The last place I visited seemed to be an area dedicated to fallen Australian soldiers with a simple, but striking memorial called The Crown of Thorns. It goes to show how big Rookwood is, I used to come quite regularly with my family, as part of my culture's customs, but I never knew of this area.

The deceased are just as interesting as the living.

Harvest Moon Celebrations

On Saturday I turned up for the lunar Moon Festival celebrations. It's largely to celebrate the change in the seasons and falls on the day the moon is at its highest and brightest in the sky. There are many legends that are attached with this too, but I think the one I was told is actually attached to a celebration in July.

Anyway, as a member of a martial arts school in Sydney we practice lion dancing. Most of our performances occur during the New Year Festival, but this is the other big one on our calendar. And we visit shops and restaurants in Chinatown wishing them good fortune, and they return the good fortune by giving us a red packet with money in it attached to a head of lettuce or choy. However, it is either tied at the top of the doorway or from the awning and the lion must retrieve it, even having to climb a 10 foot pole secured only by the grip of 6 guys.

If you would like to see more drawings from today please visit my blog site. Cheers!

Another work trip to Melbourne

Two full on days in Melbourne for work (as usual)...so this is what I managed.



The flight down - taking away my ink lines... I don't really enjoy plane sketch but I do it out of habit. Fills in a little time and a great way to at least get one sketch done.  It is amazing how different my painting feels (from my usual ink and wash) although it is exactly the same.



Da Noi Dinner- South Yarra

An AMAZING dinner with the client - a Sardinian restaurant with a set menu (ie the chef just decided what to give us) Many antipasto dishes, then two 'mains' then a cheese plate and then some desserts.

I never have the courage to sketch in a work context... but as my sketching had recently become part of the conversation and my sketchbook passed around the table I thought I should go for it... AND funnily enough  a cup of tea shortly afterwards arrived on the table (followed immediately by some desserts) So here is my quick sketch done with sketchbook on lap, paint tin on table.After my 4.30am start, walking around site all day, I was somewhat tired...but my reflex action of sketching kicked in!  I didn't have my pen with me (so first time using pencil outlines under pressure)I added ink later and touched up n the flight home the next day)



Flight home..sketching is such a great way to fill in the long waiting time associated with flying. One day, I hope to be able to explore Melbourne with my sketchbook.... but it is unrealistic to expect this to ever happen within a work context!