Urban Sketchers Sydney at Mortuary Station

Mortuary Station, Regent Street, Sydney, from yesterday’s Urban Sketchers meet. This Gothic inspired style Sandstone structure was built in 1869. It’s original purpose was to receive the dead of the city, as they began their journey by train (along with mourners) out to Rookwood Cemetery. Such a detailed building that I appreciate so much more having sketched it. It as designed by James Barnet who also worked on the Sydney GPO in Martin Place and several other Sydney Buildings.

Urban Sketchers Sydney at Millers Point

Many historic buildings to sketch at Millers Point for the USK Sydney meet yesterday. My favourite is this one. The Lord Nelson Hotel was first licensed in 1841 when its landlord was William Wells, a former convict. It s believed to be the oldest existing hotel building in Sydney. (from the green historic plaque on the wall)

Urban Sketchers Sydney meet at QVB.

It's been a busy few months and I'm a little behind with my posts!

The June sketch day for Urban Sketchers was at Queen Victoria Building. I chose to sit at a café outside the beautiful shopping arcade and make a study of 149 York Street which was once the Gresham Hotel, built in 1890.

Then in July we headed down to The Rocks - one of my favourite historical areas of Sydney. We had been offered to participate in the Aroma Festival by sketching on disposable coffee cups. They were surprisingly good to sketch on (once you get used to the curved surface) and took both ink and watercolour quite well. (The image looks a bit weird as we used the panoramic feature on our phones to try and capture the rotated surface of the cup).

Before and after the cup sketch I took the opportunity to sketch The Russell Hotel in George Street. This is one of my favourite hotels in The Rocks area due to that fairy tale like Scots-Baronial Tower. Many of the architectural features have been retained since the hotel was built in 1887.

Exploring The Rocks. Week 1.

Sydney Opera House. Tracing contours with expressive lines.

When thinking of The Rocks in Sydney, my mind begins wandering down it's quaint little laneways. Picturing Colonial buildings tucked away in tight spots, hosting cafes and restaurants and its fair share of the upmarket tourist shops. With my thoughts in that space, I often forget that only a few hundred metres away, across Circular Quay, sits the Sydney Opera House in all her glory.

 

So it was an unexpected, but welcome surprise that the Sydney Opera House was the on location sketch subject in our first week of Liz Steel's "Exploring The Rocks" workshop. After a dose of theory in an old Rocks prison cell (roughing it with fabulous coffee and fine French pastries), we left for a grassy park and sat in the shade of a tree, sketching away. A great benefit of a teacher who is also an architect is the added insight into the structure of a building and the tips on what to focus on. Most memorable was that the front part of the podium on which the house sits was designed partly to reflect the shape of the heads at the entrance to Sydney Harbour.

Sketching Architecture - Weeks 3 and 4

 

Week 3 of Liz Steel's Sketching Architecture course was on perspective. I took a page full of notes and great tips during the theory session which were all things I'd like to recall easily when I'm sketching on site. Depicted above is The Union Bond Store. A single bay sandstone warehouse at 47 George St, The Rocks, Sydney. Constructed in 1841. It still features its gantry beam and paired warehouse doors on each floor. To the left is the “First Impressions” Sandstone relief sculpture symbolising the origins and settlement of the colony.

 

 

Our final class was on developing contrast and textures. As the sun was having a hard time shining there was little in the way of cast shadow. We focussed on textures using a variety of methods such as wet on wet watercolour, splashing, using watercolour pencils under and over the watercolour washes, as well as scraping pencil lead over sandpaper to create fine specks of colour.

 

The last sketch session was at Susannah Place - a terrace of four small brick houses built in 1844. It’s remained largely unchanged from its original layout and features through to the 21st century and so shows us how some of the working families of this area have lived for many generations. It’s another of those places that always catches my attention when I’m walking through the Rocks (always tempted to take the little laneways instead of noisy George St).

 

I've been grateful for the opportunity to attend Liz's classes in Sydney this year. It's been rewarding to learn from her and see her demonstrate first hand so much that I have never managed to learn elsewhere. I have great hopes that she'll run more architecture course in 2014 and that I'll be in the position to take them.

 

 

 

Luna Park Sydney

Before the craziness of the September school holidays hit, Ethna, Suzi and I made a dash to Luna Park Sydney for some colourful sketching. The park was originally built in the 1930s and although it has gone through various rebuilds it still holds an old day charm. The concept of the front gate face was taken from the Melbourne Luna Park and the old Steeplechase Park of Brooklyn, New York. The current face is based on the 1950s Sydney version.

 

 Luna Park is situated near the North end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It felt a little surreal on this super windy Spring day to sit with our backs to such landmarks as the Opera House and Bridge in order to paint the garish face.

 

 

I had left my watercolours at home in a hasty departure, so used pastel pencils instead to add colour to my sketches. The second sketch of Coney Island was much faster and easier to do after the detailed front gate. The world's only remaining functional funhouse of its era, Coney Island remains mostly unchanged in concept, games and décor style since being built in 1935.

 

 

 

My biggest annoyance of the day was not using watercolours as this was the first two pages of the Stillman and Birn A4 Beta Series I had decided to break open. So on returning home I bumped up the colours with watercolour... and watercolour pencils.. and white gel pen. The 270 gsm paper held up well to all of  this abuse and it was good to work in this large portrait size.

More pics here on Urban Sketchers Australia

Chinese Garden of Friendship

 

Some very relaxing sketching was to be had at the Chinese Garden of Friendship, Darling Harbour Sydney last Friday with Suzi, Ethna and Lorna. Well at least the environment was relaxing (a good balance for my brain straining to understand the Pavilion design and how to draw the tiles). Smack in the middle of the city we were oblivious to all except what we sketched and the sounds of the waterfalls. 

 

 

 

I was very pleased to find a low angle to draw this Pavilion from in order to fully appreciate its height and grandeur.  I trialled 2 permanent Pigma pens in a Sepia that I had picked up from Larry Post. I used the Micron 01 to draw the Pavilion and then the Brush Pen to add the heavy shading. It gives a good punch to the shadows which I then was able to add more watercolour over the top of to even out the colours with the rest of the sketch. The foreground rocks and the trees were completed in my usual black ink.

 

 

This was the final double page spread in my A4 watercolour moleskine after I had finished the watercolours at home. Would have been great to get the full dragon wall in my sketchbook but time did not allow. I had a lot of fun drawing those clouds above and the water below the dragon. I would like to do more of this style at some stage.

 



Sketch trip to Bather's Pavilion, Balmoral Beach

This building is a favourite of mine. Opened in 1929 the Pavilion was a beautifully designed change room for the large crowds of bathers who would visit Balmoral Beach, Sydney. In the 1960s the use of the Pavilion declined. It was then changed to a restaurant and in more recent years its been developed into a fine dining restaurant, a separate café and a kiosk.

Thanks to Ethna and Suzi who joined me on the day. It's always fun to have the company of other sketchers and share what we find interesting. Suzi kindly took a video of the Pavilion whilst we were there. You can see me for a quick second sitting on the beach sketching away in the sunshine, enjoying the sound of the waves on the shore behind me.

Queen Victoria Building Sydney - from the inside

A quick venture into the city on Friday gave me time for a 30 mins shot at onsite sketching inside the beautiful old Queen Victoria Building in George Street, Sydney. The building in its current state is a shopping complex but has had various purposes in the past and was first built in 1898. I'm keen to sketch the outside but finding a good spot to view the building from where I won't be trampled by the busy street traffic (both car and pedestrian) will be a challenge. On this day I settled on the comfort of a café inside. The decorative arches and pretty coloured glass above the shop windows offered a good start.

 

 

The initial foundation lines are watercolour pencil which I don't erase but wash away when I introduce the watercolour paint later. Then with my extra fine nib in my fountain pen I add the black lines with a waterproof ink which once dried can withstand the wash of watercolour paint. Often, as I have done here I tend to add more pencil work than necessary (I should be leaving much of the details like the coat jacket and tie for just ink to save time).

 

 

I finished the colour and much of the ink details at home afterwards.

Urban Sketching - The Boat House at Balmoral.

This week I headed to the recently opened Boat House at Balmoral Beach, Sydney

Ideally I would have grabbed a seat outside with water views but the café was so busy that my only option was inside. Fortunately the décor all around is beautifully styled so its not hard to find an entertaining angle.

All of the drawing and most of the watercolour was completed onsite in about an hour and a half. I added a little more shading and colour intensity when I arrived home. I took a photo of two fishing buoys and found a postcard by The Boat House for inspiration on the opposing page in my sketchbook. Completed with watercolour pencils for foundation lines, waterproof ink, chinagraph pencil and Daniel Smith watercolours.

 

On another note, I sketched for the first time in the dentist waiting room today and it really helped me stay calm and distracted. Definitely worth trying again in the future.

Urban Sketching in Old Balmain.

Balmain is full of historic big houses as well as sweet old little homes. If you journey down Darling Street past all those cafes and wonderful shops you will find Balmain East, also known as Old Balmain.

 

 

 

I could walk and sketch for days about the small suburb and still have more old buildings to choose from. On the corner of Johnston and Darling Streets I found a fine cafe to settle at and drew this building opposite. I'm not sure of its original purpose but it was established in 1870 and the cracked walls and peeling paint just added to the character of the interesting facade.  

Fighting the urge to detail

Last Saturday I went to Pyrmont to sketch with a group of experienced Urban Sketchers. They tend to work more quickly than I and with more detailed and accurate results. My aim on the day was to only use one hour or less per sketch (we draw for 2 hours). My preference here is still to offer more to these wonderful old sandstone townhouses by trying to capture its design and surface with further detail.  I am familiar with the term less is more but I have a real problem in recognising when is best to STOP. So time constraints for now seem to be still the only way I can prevent myself from trying to "finish" this in the way I am most accustomed too.

 

 

The rest of the week just flew by and suddenly it was Friday and I'd had no other opportunity to sketch. I took my sketchbook to my hair appointment and fitted this in before the weekend returned.

The French House, Waterloo. Sydney

Coffee, cake and good company at The French House, Dank Street, Waterloo. I drew the pen lines whilst seated outside under the fabulous balcony and then finished the colours later when I returned home. The chandelier proved a challenge - trying to see details whilst staring into lights is just not a good idea! I love the grandeur of the decor at this cafe. Its decadent but helps me dream of travelling to see beautiful French architecture again one day.

Little Paper Lane

 

If you love fabulous stationery shops jam packed with awesome goodies (I do!) this place is like heaven. I had been hoping to draw Jayde Leeder's Little Paper Lane for a few weeks and to catch the lovely Christmas themed windows but things have been a little crazy (really, why am I surprised by this?!).  As luck would have it, my little girl had a birthday part in Mona Vale on Saturday so I had a chance to sketch the cute facade with fluro trees and Santa letterbox between party drop off and pick up.

 

I particularly liked the woven hanging baskets out the front and will have to head back when we move house to scout out some wonderful items for my new home.

 

Litte Paper Lane can be found at Shop 5/1 Waratah Street, Mona Vale (Northern Beaches, Sydney) or you can buy online at http://littlepaperlane.com.au/