Australian War Memorial

On my last day in Canberra I visited the War Memorial. The last time I was here I ran out of time, so I gave it most of one day - but it still wasn't enough. My whole intention was to draw and tried to keep reading the descriptions for another visit, but it was too interesting and displayed so well that is was hard not to absorb whatever I could. I limited myself to 1-2 drawings per room, but I still only made it to the WWII exhibitions. How I wish there was an express bus from Sydney straight to the War Memorial every week.

I also loved the combination of my leaf green, Mustard and Iron Grey Inktense pencils and stuck with them through this visit. This first sketch, however, is with watercolour and indian ink.

Capital time in Canberra

Took a couple of days visit to our country's capital to do a bit of sketching. Canberra has so much space and so perfectly planned it is so different from Sydney. It's also a lot greener too which was nice. And incredibly quiet. Today I've uploaded my bus stops of Canberra and a few other pieces. Tomorrow I will add some more.

These bus stops are out of some 70s science fiction movie, and may have reached iconic status as part of the Canberra urban landscape.


We took the train down, and I found a lovely combination of three inktense pencils (mustard, leaf green and iron grey) that I used in these window thumbnails.
This is the Carillion, a long-time landmark in Canberra. It is a free standing bell tower situated on Lake Burley Griffin. I remember the last time I was there I saw an outdoor performance of a Midsummer Night's Dream.
This is a large scale sculpture group of pears outside the National Gallery. It doesn't have the granduer of the glass pyramid at the Louvre, but it is synonymous with the gallery for so many generations.

33rd Sketchcrawl in Sydney

A small group of 8 Sydneysiders got together for a CBD 'sculpture crawl' to celebrate the 33rd International Sketchcrawl. Following a few days of poor weather we were very lucky to have the rain clear to quite a warm sunny day. It was suggested that we take the challenge of limiting time at each of 3 sketch stops to 30-35 minutes and everyone seemed to enjoy the chance to focus on the same subject/s, yet participants showed a diverse range of interpretation in both B&W pen work and watercolour renditions - firstly of a boar statue at the Sydney Eye Hospital, then moving to an outside area of the Botanic Gardens and finally to the forecourt of an office building named after the 16th Prime Minister of Australia.

Thanks to Jennifer for organising this event!

First Garden "SketchAbout" & Sydney Sketch Club

Hi, Friends, thank you for a warm welcome me, Sadami, a new participant. The experience is wonderful! I sketched "figures" in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney.

Alissa & Liz

Organizers, Liz, Alissa and Jennifer are so caring for all members. They welcome us and talk to each member with respect and rapport. It makes anyone comfortable and feels at home. Also, each member is totally autonomous and free, regarding subjects and media. Particularly, the volunteer Jeniffer helps us so much and took photos of members.

A friendly atmospher, no criticism but encouragements are wonderful. Get the image of Sydney sketch club? Isn't it nice?

The fountain is near at the entrance and so attractive. The Garden has many statues, too.

Of course, mischief Sadami always seeks interesting subjects. Here we go! A very cute scare craw, I'm afraid it easily makes friends with birds?! This little girl is in a section for pioneers' "first farm." Kerry from the Garden Trust explains the purpose of the event, "SketchAbout" (from March 12 to April 16) that has a competition and an exhibition at the end. The ultimate goals are public awareness of environmentalism and the maintenance of the Garden.

Kerry

Same minded people get together -- is absolutely fun. It is exciting to look at different techniques and unfamiliar media. The lady wtih green hair sketching me uses pastels. Great opportunity for exchanging info on techniques and materials.
The event will be run till 12 April. The Sydney Sketch Club will always have a meeting in the Garden every Saturday, shine or rain.
So, come and join us! All welcome.

More sketches and stories are in my blog, "Sadami's Graffiti." You'll find lots of feedback and comments on the post from all over the world:).

Happy painting! See you next time.