Thursday, January 10, 2013

Sketching on holidays - Customs House, Geelong

When I first started using Instagram, places I have known for years started to have a different appeal. Where I would once walk past an old building perhaps without a sideways glance I was now searching for interesting corners or rusting old signs to photograph. Likewise with urban sketching, I am seeing my surroundings with fresh eyes.  This is most obvious to me when I return to Geelong for holidays to see my family and spend time where I grew up.


Here's a sketch of Customs House down by the foreshore in Geelong. I had previously dined here with my sister, but had never stopped to appreciate the combination of sandstone and bluestone in the building or the ornate gate. Sitting outside on the grass on boxing day I drew bricks, trees, lamp posts, counted windows and replicated the length of each blind. It may sound painfully boring to some but for me its like a meditation and I leave with a greater appreciation of architecture and design.

4 comments:

  1. I hear you, Chantal. I look at the world in such greater detail since finding instagram.

    Your sketch is gorgeous! You really are talented.

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    1. Thanks very much Cat! It's nice to have a past-times that slow us down :)

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  2. This is wonderful Chantal, I like how the black windows give it an almost abandoned look...

    Love things that make us look at the world with fresh eyes - I realised I haven't gone walking with my camera in a few weeks, and my senses have definitely dulled as a result. Must get out and about with it soon.

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    1. Thanks Emily! I agree - once our priorities change for work or whatever reasons the world can quickly start to pass us by again. I am actually really keen to travel again to cities and villages in Europe with the purpose of sketching. I think it will be a little while before I can do that with two young kids but I'm looking forward to seeing those places in a more observant way as I am starting to see Sydney.

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