Back in 1986, I went on a Con-Tiki tour of the Northern Territory in Australia. Whilst I have quite a few photos from that location (we stayed overnight there), and the trip itself, I have never got around to attempting a painting on any of the subjects I saw on that trip.
The Devil’s Marbles are a loose formation of mainly rounded boulders, plus some other shapes that are anywhere from 50cm (19.6 inches) to 6 metres (19.6 feet) in diameter.
The painting below has a mixture of them. I’m sure I’ll do more of the Devil’s Marbles, and other locations from that trip.
Baohong Aquarelle 100% Pure Cotton Rough Watercolour paper
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour pans
Daniel Smith Watercolours
Aquawash brushes
Neef brushes
Size 18 x 26cm (7 x 10 inches)
Till next time!
Written & Painted by David Johnson
8 February 2026
Here is a link to find out more information if you would like visit it.
Seems a great day to catch up on a few things, as, in Sydney, South-West it is 43C /109.4F today. Yesterday, it was 41C and the day before, 39C. Tomorrow, It’s supposed to be only 24C. Phew!
The following selection of images were taken across two walks I did this week in the same vicinity, one in that beautiful time of day before Dusk, and the others were taken earlier this morning (before the heat of the day arrived).
Last Wednesday, I walked 4.6 km / 2.86 miles & this morning I walked 7.25km / 4.5 miles.
Last Sunday, I had the absolute pleasure attending the workshop above. It was run by Linda Brown who is a professional artist from the Illawarra Region, south of Sydney. Linda is a fellow member of Red Point Artists, which is based at Port Kembla.
My Wife, Susan gave me a gift certificate for my birthday in March. The certificate was to be able to attend any of Linda’s workshop’s, and I chose this one as thought it sounded delightful, and it was. 🙂
We were asked to bring various natural subjects down, like Autumn leaves, twigs, bark, driftwood, shells, flowers, etc.
Linda guided us through different techniques during the day, which culminated in producing a Watercolour on Watercolour paper after first practising on sketchbook 110 gsm paper. This way, we could experiment on cheaper paper first.
As with any workshop, the people attending make it great as well, and there was a good mix of beginner to experienced artists, all ready to jump out of their comfort zones.
Here is my creation below, expertly guided by Linda Brown Artist. Thanks Linda! 🙂
Linda is running more of this type of workshop, plus others so if you see them advertised, I would highly recommend you check them out.
Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of being part of ‘Artists In Action’ again.
My first appearance at this event, last year was so enjoyable I thought I would do it again this year.
Some 30 or so local Artist’s, some professional, some semi-professional, and some enthusiasts, all combined to showcase their art and craft at the Camden Civic Centre in Camden, some 60km (37m) south-west of Sydney, Australia.
It was such a fun event again. People of all ages came in to view our art and craft. There demonstrations and workshops, and people could enjoy having a go at creating art.
At my table, I had some my art on display and in between talking to people, I went about doing a couple of watercolour sketches, including my, ‘Watercolour Sketch a Day’ that has been going for over 5 years now.
As I did last year, I encouraged people who
‘had always wanted to try sketching and/or painting’ but hadn’t,
‘those that had been doing it but had stopped’, or
those who think that they don’t have time’ to go ahead and try it/take it up again, as it offers:
some great mental health benefits
it’s fun and relaxing
All-in-all a fun day! Looking forward to next year’s event.
Yesterday, myself and approx. 50-60 other Urban Sketchers attended the September Sketch-meet. Our destination was the Sydney Opera House, which in a month’s time will have been open for 50 years.
I remember watching the opening in October 1973 on a Black & White TV set from our home approx. 13km/8 miles from the Sydney CBD. I still remember running up to the bridge over the railway line half-way between my suburb and the next so we could see a whole mass of balloons being sent into the sky from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Of course we could not see the bridge itself, but we did see the the a mass of balloons rise in the distance.
The Sydney Opera House is one of the most uniquely designed structures in the world.
I must say I was very pleased to attend this Sketch-meet as this the first standalone Sydney Sketch-meet I have been able to attend this year.
Rather than try to sketch the whole building, I chose to do a section of it and am very happy with the result.
As you can see from the first photo, it was perfect weather and it was quite a relaxing experience. I find the whole experience of sketching/painting, meditative, particularly when I do minute details, like the tiles in the ‘Sails.’
One of the things that I really look forward to at the the Sketch-meets is the ‘Throwdown’ as seen in the photos below. It’s wonderful seeing all the different styles and mediums that people use to create their Art. So inspirational.
All-in-all it was a great morning of sketching. It is so great to get together with a group of creators.
The ‘Urban Sketchers’ are a world-wide movement which is in over 60 countries, 394 cities with over 120,000 members. For more information, check out their website https://urbansketchers.org/ so you can find a chapter near you.
Last weekend my Wife and I went up into the country to stay at place we have been to many times over the years, Millthorpe, NSW, Australia. Millthorpe is about a 3 1/2 hour drive over the Blue Mountains, North-West from where we live, which is 60 kilometres / 37 miles South-West of Sydney.
We have been up there many times as Diane and her Husband, David were school friends of my Wife, Susan. They have 6 boys who are all adults now with only a couple living at home.
Pretty much all of the family came home that weekend as Sean (their second child) and his Wife, Emily were holding a 1st Birthday party for their first child, Nyssa, on Saturday afternoon in Bathurst about 20 minutes drive from Millthorpe.
The party was great and we dinner back at Millthorpe that night.
Millthorpe is a quiet little town of about 1,253 people, and is a Heritage-listed village. I’ll post a link below so you see more about this town if you are interested.
This time we stayed at the Rosebank Guest House. Normally, we would stay with David and Diane however they had a houseful this weekend.
Rosebank is a old Bank building with 4.5metres / 15feet ceilings and is run by a local Artist, Jenny Beach and her husband. We were the only guests staying that night so it was very quiet. They have an Art Supplies sale section within the guest house which is ‘indeed heaven’ for guests like me.
The guest house is beautifully furnished and has Art from Jenny and other local Artists lining the walls of every room.
Jenny (we didn’t get to meet her husband that weekend), was the perfect host, the accomodation was wonderful, and yes you guessed it, I bought some Art supplies. 🙂
On Sunday morning, I did a 1/2 hour walk around town mainly taking some reference photos for future sketches.
On the way home we stopped at Govett’s Leap in the Blue Mountains (the subject of my next post), and then a late lunch at a restaurant called, “The Bunker” at Springwood in the Lower Blue Mountains.
All-in-all another great little escape filled with good cheer, family, friends, Art and relaxation.
We are looking forward to our next escape!
Till next time!
Written & Photographed by David Johnson
30 June 2023
Click on the link (Home) to find out more about Millthorpe.
Last night, I attended ‘Art After Dark’ at a local, small Art Gallery, called ‘The Alan Baker Gallery’ in Camden, N.S.S. Australia. It’s about 3 minutes drive from where i live.
This was the third (and last for now) such event held there. I couldn’t attend the first one due to illness, and the second due to a prior engagement so I was pleased to be able to attend last night.
It was an intimate gathering, featuring a local musician Ria Brcic who provided a beautiful voice accompanied by an Acoustic Guitar in the background, whilst Artists’ demonstrations like live portrait painting carried on through the night.
There were also local Artists on display such as, Verena Heirich with her exquisite wearable art and Natalie with her ‘Creations Couture, both of which added a special flavour to the event.
The event ran from 6pm – 8pm and I enjoyed it immensely. Apart from seeing the creations of local Artists, it was a great chance to mingle, chat and share artistic experiences.
Communicating Creatively 