USk BNE at UQ (University of Queensland)

In early June the Urban Sketchers of Brisbane visited the University of Queensland.  The focus was the Forgan Smith Building, which forms one side of the Great Court at the heart of the campus.  This historic building is arguably the most significant heritage building in Queensland and is a magnificent example of Art Deco architecture.  The building and inner cloisters of the Great Court are highly decorated with relief sculptures, friezes and grotesques symbolising significant events, ideals, thought leaders and university staff connected with the colleges.

Some of us arrived early, ahead of the appointed time, because we were so keen to sketch.  I began an ambitious view of the central tower as seen from inside the Great Court.  I finished only part of my intended result – bit off more than I could chew, I think!  It’s always amazing how time flies when you get into “the zone” of sketching.  We attracted some attention from passersby, some of whom may now join the group, so that was exciting.  Carol was even asked later by one of these "fans" to return to her original position for a posed photo.  Here is my photo of her in the same spot.  You can see the fabulous carving atop each column of this cloister walkway.

When assembled, our group began by sketching near the law entrance, which has a sculpture on each side as well as a frieze above.  We debated who this fellow ought to be.  Who in the history of law would wear a crown?  Perhaps King Solomon?

Moving to the other side of the cloisters, several of the group created wonderful sketches of the arches and views.  Meanwhile, I sketched my fellow sketchers.  It was wonderful to see how intensely they were observing and drawing and painting.

  

Below is the spread of collected sketches from the group at the end of the outing.

I finished my tower sketch off after the group dispersed -- you can see it here.

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Sketching with USK-ers interstate

 

Urban sketchers is a global community of sketching, sharing the places we live and travel to online. It is also a global community of people that you can meet and sketch with all over the world. There have been many stories and sketchers of people meeting up with local urban sketchers in a country they are visiting.

This page is about my experiences in the last month. I live in Sydney I had the opportunity to connect with urban sketchers in Brisbane, Newcastle  and then Melbourne in the Australian Christmas holiday break. In each city I sketched with the locals (and some other Sydney travellers). I had met some of them previously but also met new people. I initially contacted them online via facebook or their blogs and let them know that I was visiting and the dates and they arranged place to meet and sketch. Often an event was organised around my visiting dates !

This is a bit of a long post with my sketches and a some notes. I filled many more pages of my sketchbook in Melbourne, but they are not Urban Sketches. They will all get scanned and put on my flickr page. I will also write a separate Melbourne blogpost on my site with those adventures soon.

Have watercolour pencils , will travel !

BRISBANE

A day in Brisbane in early January included a group of JJ, Asuka, Leeanne, Geoff (who sketched with us in Sydney recently) and Chris (also from Sydney) .

Asuka, Leeanne, Geoff Chris, JJ and me (in a circle left to right) at Steam Café, Southbank. Thanks to JJ for the photo

We met for coffee and quickly moved into discussion of art materials and looking through each others sketchbooks. It is so different to see the sketchbooks in reality and turn the pages. JJ and I had a discussion on drawing feathers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sketched at Southbank in the shade of the trees looking over the river to the city. It was very hot and we were outside in the morning and headed for airconditioning from lunch onwards.



I revisited the same area later in the week to draw some more.

 



NEWCASTLE


Newcastle was an organised USK event where Sydney Urban Sketchers visited Newcastle. I have written the day up separately  http://australia.urbansketchers.org/2014/01/newcastle-alissa-duke.html.

It was a wonderful event and so good for many of us to connect with Urban Sketchers we had met online and for the Newcastle sketchers to meet us (and vice versa) and show us their city . Thanks Phil .



Thanks Judy for the photos

MELBOURNE

Both of my visits interstate coincided with extreme heat. It was 41 degrees in Brisbane and 44 degrees (for 4 days in a row) in Melbourne. But still we sketched, finding shade in the morning and then air-conditioning. A hardy bunch !

I was in Melbourne for a week and fortunate to have all my days free , so lots of time to line up sketching activities with Urban Sketchers in Melbourne.  Kym, Evelyn and Angela - combinations of the three, and others as well. I had met them two or three times before, so it is like meeting up with friends (which is actually what it is). We took every opportunity to meet and sketch: before they started work (a 7am start one morning!) their lunch hours and any other time. My visit also coincided with another Sydney sketcher travelling. Chantal was in Melbourne and visiting her sister Suzette. We had a morning with them too.

DAY 1

Sketching with Kym before she started work. The staff at The Quarter on Degraves Street  took our photo and put it on instagram. We received lovely reactions and had some great conversations everywhere we sketched. In most cases cafe staff love it when you sketch their food, cafe or coffee. I think that it is because you are taking the time to appreciate on paper the food they have taken time to prepare and look at it in a way that other people do not.  

 

Breakfast with Kym at The Quarter café in Degraves Street

 

Old Treasury Building - historic museum and exhibition




with Angela and Evelyn at The Old Treasury building

with Evelyn at Time Out Café in Federation Square

with Evelyn at Time Out Café in Federation Square

DAY 2 

 

With Chantal, Suzette, Evelyn at Koko Black cafe where they let us sit all morning and gave us a sample of chocolate

 

 

 After farewelling Suzette and Chantal, Evelyn and Angela and I ventured outside into the heat.The joy of sketching with locals is they can suggest places to sketch and it is often an opportunity for them to sketch something that they have been meaning to do for ages. They took me to Town Hall. There are a number of pianos in public spaces called "Play Me I'm Yours" - which is what it is. A piano is there (all painted colourfully).  You can sit and play them. I do not play, so sketched them !

 



with Evelyn and Angela at Town Hall "Play Me I'm Yours" piano

 

I then found another piano and player outside State Library of Victoria


another "Play Me I'm Yours" piano. State Library. on my own

DAY 3

The earliest start 7am, for a prework sketch with Kim & Angela in one of Melbourne's laneway cafes. Plenty of time for continuing conversations that we had started the day before !

with Kym and Angela and No 5 Café
 

Then moving onto a tearoom that Angela had wanted to sketch. We sat outside looking in


with Kym and Angela at Hopetoun tearooms. the Block Arcade

My final sketch with a Melbourne sketcher was as Evelyn & I sat on the steps of the Parliament of Victoria. She sketched the panoramic view and is determined to bring the Urban Sketchers group here. I sketched the building for another project I am working on (which is another blogpost on another day) . We were sketching when a camera crew and others came out and were interviewing a politician/spokesman from Emergency Services about the ambulances coping with the demands in the extreme heat. So I sketched them !



on the steps of Parliament House. with Evelyn

 

 

 

Question - when is a sketch an urbansketch ... and when is it not ...?

Hi Urbansketchers

I am loving seeing all the beautiful sketches from the BCN Symposium! I think the best part about it, even for a non-attender, is you can still be inspired from the sketchers and their sketches. 

In Australia, many of us don't mind driving ... driving long distances with not that many towns in between with signs saying Town A - 300km etc. As a uni student, I remember the 24 hr bus trips we had to take during our summer vacation for our "practicals" and the thump thump thump of the bus' bumper bar hitting the kangaroos at night ... I now here that the companies fly the students! 

So saying that you would drive 500km over 5 - 5.5 hrs in a day with a couple of stops doesn't attract the "you're mad" look that you get in the UK. 

It's a similar distance to driving from:
London to Newcastle, Madrid to Sevilla, France to Bordeaux, Tokyo to Kyoto, Halfway between Vancouver and Calgary ..., Montreal to Boston, New York to Pittsburgh, Mexico to Oaxaca.

I got a little bit carried away couch travelling ...  

This leads me to the question of when is a sketch an urbansketch and when does it stop being an urbansketch? 

This wasn't a leisurely car trip where we can sit for a couple of minutes to take a photo or 10 mins to do a sketch! It's a go ... go ... go ... car trip as M keeps the pace up. 

I couldn't figure out how to draw with watercolour in a moving vehicle so I used the Sketchbook Pro app on my iPad with a bamboo stylus. I sketched the pictures below of the scenery from the car to kill the boredom of a 5.5 hr drive - so it's sketching from what I see. 

I couldn't draw the straight lines of the road so I left it out. The Australian roads aren't bad - but going 110 kmph and drawing a straight line on an iPad is difficult. 

This leads me to my question again of when is a sketch an "urbansketch" and when does it stop becoming an urbansketch as I left some key elements out - ie the road and other cars. 

They took about 5-10 mins and I drew one every hour or so or when I noticed different looking clouds. 

A

PS I bought a A$3 stylus from Miniinthebox as well, and it works well. I prefer the tip of the bamboo stylus for scribing. But I am sitting on the fence to justify the A$30 bamboo stylus for sketching alone. 

PPS I will leave a sketch of the "Feathers" drawer from the Queensland Museum that I did on the weekend, just in case the others aren't an urban sketch ... 

The photo ... 

The back-up sketch ... 

Brisbane, other urban sketching : Alissa Duke

Other sketches from my two weeks in Brisbane and travelling on the airplane. I did lots of other drawings as well, on planes, beaches at my friends apartment .  http://www.flickr.com/photos/alissaduke/

This is a lovely , but busy area in Brisbane, but I found a quiet place to sit before ork each day and sketch. I was fortunate to have lovely weather. The heat has not set in yet.

The view from my office window. Sketched in biro , over a few days, before anyone else arrived.

Walking along the bikeway on Coronation Drive on the way "home"from work. The light changed so quickly and I missed capturing  the colours I wanted to draw

The view from a friends verandah, looking over Bridbane city. Perhaps the sky as not that purple but the city silhouette was black.

On the bus from Toowoomba to Brisbane - other passengers - in pencil

and at the airport on the way home to Sydney ......(via Adelaide)