A beautiful day at Cockatoo island

Sketches and photos from a beautiful morning at Cockatoo Island with USK SYD last Saturday - as usual great bunch of sketchers and inspiring chats!

Cockatoo Island - twice.

It was a unanimous decision on the part of my Keeping a Sketchbook class to go to Cockatoo Island. They were so keen they were at Circular Quay for a ferry earlier than the one we'd planned. Homework had been to read Cathy Johnson's art tip about working on a toned ground and I supplied a number of colours of paper. These buildings on the terracotta ground are what you see as soon as you arrive. I've been meaning to draw them for ages, and now I need to do them again.

Cockatoo Island cranes always appeal to me. Each one seems to have its own personality and when you've sketched them, you add even more personality. Unfortunately they are cleaning them up and painting them. They were so beautifully distressed, but they were falling apart.
This one is on the east side looking back towards the city, the harbour bridge and Centrepoint Tower.

The sketches on blue were done when I went back a few days later. I still had plenty of coloured paper. This crane is on the west side of the island with Iron Cove bridge in the background.

Lastly, we went inside the turbine workshop to sketch the old machines. The afternoon sun was coming in a window high up on the left and catching the left top of the machine. Many more fantastic old machines in there. I hope to sketch in there again soon.
Canson Mi-teintes paper with Copic Multiliner black pen and Prismacolour white pencil. (No pen on the machine).

more cranes in Sydney

Today when I walked past the building site afterwork, all the cranes were moving . The engines were going, the pulleys were moving and the place seemed alive !

walking home from work- Sydney

My walk to and from work each day in Sydney takes me past some busy areas. There is a very large busy building site. I can see it all from above from the tearoom at work, but walking past at street level there is boarding that blocks off a lot of the view.



Then I walk past lots of tourist areas, including Darling Harbour, with the day cruise boats and this jet boat. My friends from Brisbane had just been on one of these in Sydney Harbour so I decided to draw it. Then I wanted to include the monorail, then I had to draw all in between. There are so many layers. I somehow did not leave room for the expressway and buildings at the end of Cockle Bay.

It was not what I started out to draw , but this is how it ended. - a slice of Sydney

Sydney building site: Alissa Duke

Barangaroo near Darling Harbour in Sydney city is a big building site at the moment. But you can walk down along the wharf and see what is happening. I am also fortunate that the building I work in overlooks the site. I want to come into work one weekend and draw the cranes and trucks from above. They look like Tonka Toys.