Enjoying holidays in Western Australia.

We often look forward to visiting family interstate in December and this year we made our way to Margaret River, Western Australia. It's situated 3 hours drive south of Perth.  Away from the bustle of cities but close to beautiful beaches and surrounded by wonderful huge Karri Tree forests.

 

We stayed at the lovely home above known as "Ithaca". When building the home from scratch they felt it may take as long as Homer's return voyage home to Ithaca to complete (20 years!). They say it's still unfinished but in its ideal bush setting and beautiful collections of old treasures inside, in my eyes it is a stunning home.

 

On several days I chose to draw from the various items framed upon the wall or displayed around the home. Very relaxing!

 

We took a day trip to Busselton and whilst the rest of the family had lunch I attempted to sketch the Courthouse Gallery. The building was used as a Courthouse for 120 years before ceasing its service in the 1970's. The sun was burning hot, and the wind also dried the pigments on the palette so I wasn't overly happy at the time but a local watercolour artist did stop to chat whilst I drew which cheered me.

 

 

For the last evening of our stay we drove back up to Perth and stayed at the grand Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle. Fremantle is an old portside suburb that's be given a facelift and retains some fantastic buildings full of character. I hope I make it back with more time to sketch there another time. I have to give credit to my own family and in laws for tolerating my sketching at almost every opportunity on this trip! This sketch above was very rushed but in reality it was probably the speed I need to get back to after such a lazy holiday!

Store Espresso, Camperdown

During this sketch I was determined to add a person as a part of a record of my experience in the café. The staff were attentive, courteous and also happy for me to draw and paint. Much appreciated! 

 

Baristas seem to be a good place to start introducing figures because they are so often only viewed in parts - rarely the whole - and even if they move, there is a very good chance they will return to the same position soon after. Plus, in my view,  anyone who has the ability to make a great coffee deserves some kind of immortalization. 

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.

Play time. Week 8 of Liz Steel's sketch course.

Another fun day, but tinged with a little sadness that it was our last class. What a term we've had. Liz has taught us so much and continued to encourage us constantly throughout the duration of the course. There's been a shift in my sketching and the intensity of colour used , but I also recognise a change in confidence and my willingness to tackle things I would not previously try.

  

 

 

 

For our cafe sketch this week we went to Chica Bonita - a lively little restaurant in Manly with wonderful decor, music, vibe, food, drink, lighting. Everything just right for getting us to play. I ordered a watermelon margarita to further aid the loosening of the lines and decided to draw it against the backdrop of the tiles from the table and next to a feature from the wall. This sketch incorporates every bit of play technique I could remember from the earlier studio discussion - sketching with watercolour pencils, using a white chinagraph pencil (it resists the watercolour paint), salt (from my margarita glass), scraping wet paint with the credit card, white gel pen, wet on wet colours, splashing and most of all remembering not to be too serious about the outcome.

 

Thanks once more to Liz, its been a great learning experience. You can read more about this weeks class here on her blog.

 

Links to my posts on the earlier classes:

Week 1

Weeks 2 & 3

Weeks 4 & 5

Weeks 6 & 7