Cockatoo Island afternoon sketching - Saturday 22 March

To coincide with the first official Urban Sketchers workshop in Australia we are pleased to announce a sketching event open to everyone - both to sketch Cockatoo Island in the late evening and also to provide an opportunity for those that where unable to attend the workshop to check out what was done.

Meeting at 4:00pm in order to catch the end of the Expressive Urban Sketching workshop and then start sketching at 4.30pm till 7:00pm. We will meet back at the cafe at 7pm for a show and tell and finally heading off for dinner for those that are interested.

Please note Saturday 22 March is the opening weekend for the Biennale of Sydney  and it is expected that the island will be packed with people visiting the exhibitions.

There are special ferries operating but you need to book a ticket beforehand for these and might not be still operating at 7.30pm…but normal ferry services will be operating as well so recommend you use those instead. Although it will be very busy we do not expect that arriving at the island at this time will be quite as crazy.

Please note exhibitions close at 5pm.

USKSYD: Sydney Park St Peters

A great day today in St Peters with the Urban Sketchers Sydney gang. A huge thanks to Rod for hosting the event. He gave us maps, a little background to the area and then took us on a tour of old St Peters area including the amazing graffiti zone of May Lane.

The idea was to sketch in the park (an old brickworks) for the first half of the morning and then head to the back streets but most of of us didn't leave the park. We have decided we need to go back next month to explore those lanes.

Here is the group photos and a slideshow of work done today.

USK SYD event on Saturday 8 March - St Peters

Special thanks to Rod Byatt for offering to host March's USK SYD event in St Peters. 

Sydney Park is like no other park in Sydney (its stark contours are used for tv adverts) and the Graffiti Zone is not to be missed -  it is the best in Sydney and amongst the work are examples by artists who have gone on to become international prize-winning artists outside the graffiti field. I personally don't know this area well and whenever I drive past the bricktowers of Sydney Park have always wants to stop and sketch…so very excited at this chance to have an opportunity to do so.

Details:
Saturday 08 March
Meeting Point: The meeting point at 9.30am is the Sydney Park carpark off Princes Hwy, Note: The carpark is nearly full by 8.45am on Saturdays given the popularity of the park, so arrive early or look for street car parking in nearby St Peters or the carpark off Sydney Park Road.

Two sketching options for the morning
1) to stay near the brickwork towers and parkland beyond, OR
(2) spend half the time at the brickwork towers/Sydney Park and half at the May Lane graffiti zone.
If anyone's interested in more sketching options than just the bricktowers and park, they can join Rod on a quick 20min walking tour (9.40-10.00am) covering the local built environment in nearby streets (pointing out subject matter used by other artists), ending up at the graffiti laneway and Sydney Park. This will be a quick walk-around with no time for sketching: individuals can return to locations if they want - they're all just 5mins away from the Brickworks.

Please note: Sydney Park is very exposed so please bring adequate sun protection(sun screen, hat etc) and your own seating!

More details: Sydney Park ( http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/explore/facilities/parks/major-parks/sydney-park)

Getting there:
If you’re heading to the park by public transport, St Peters train station is just across the road. There are also a few bus routes that stop nearby, such as the 370 and 422. Look for routes that travel down Sydney Park Road, Princes Highway and King Street. Three car parks are available but as mentioned above fill up quickly.

Everyone is welcome - no need to RVSP. Please invite anyone else you think might be interested.


Finally….
Mark the date: Saturday 21 March we are planning an evening public sketching event at Cockatoo Island 4.30-7.30pm at the end of the Expressive Urban Sketching 2 day workshop. It will a be great opportunity to sketch the island, visit the Biennale exhibitions and meet other sketchers that are visiting for the workshop. We have people coming from regional NSW,Victoria, South Australia, Queensland AND Canada coming - not to mention the guest instructor Paul Wang from Singapore.  More details will follow shortly.