I’m a bit late getting to post about this as there has been a lot happening in our Family and Life in general over the past three weeks…
On Australia Day, 26 January 2023, I achieved somewhat of a milestone with my Watercolour Sketch a Day project.
On the above date, I had completed a Watercolour Sketch a Day, every day, for 4 years. As of today, it is 4 years, 17 days.
As the 4 years straight of Watercolour Sketch a Day fell on Australia Day, I chose to do a Line and Wash sketch of a mammal that is unique to Australia, the Platypus.
It was my first attempt at sketching/painting this subject and I found it rather challenging!
I feel sure that I will attempt this subject again.
For more information on this unique creature, visit the following link.
Last Saturday, I went on my second Meet of the Urban Sketchers Sydney group. This time, the Meet was held in the grounds between the Sydney Town Hall and St Andrews Cathedral.
The main object of the day was to attempt a sketch of a moving subject, the newly built ‘Sydney Light Rail’, a red and deep grey, modern-style tram.
There were 40 or so Urban Sketchers in attendance and most started with the Light Rail as the subject. Quite a few of us went in the other direction and chose stationary subjects i.e. buildings or parts of buildings. I chose the side entrance/steps to the Sydney Town Hall.
Sydney Town Hall
To be honest, I found this subject challenging enough and when it started to rain a little it was even more challenging. After I finished this sketch, I did wander over to the Light Rail and started to sketch it. It was kind of weird how the subject kept disappearing… I didn’t get to finish the sketch at the time but it certainly was an interesting challenge and experience.
We then had the ‘Throw Down’ and once again it was marvellous to see all the different interpretations and styles of those present.
Throw Down
I am so glad that I came across this group on Facebook. Urban Sketchers Sydney is full of friendly and inspirational people and I am looking forward to attending my third Meet in November. I wonder where it will be? 🙂
My creative journey
Began with a camera
This went on for many years
I was an enthusiastic amateur
Joining and starting camera clubs
Was so much fun
I made many friends
My creative life had begun
I entered competitions and exhibitions
Sometimes I won
All in all
It was just good fun
Along the way
I became a Photographic Judge
Which gave me a different perspective
It gave my photography a nudge
Briefly, in the Nineties
I started to sketch
Though photography remained King
I felt the itch
I took a basic drawing course
In two thousand and ten
Three years later
My photography business opened
The business ran
For a couple of years
Then I decided
To do something else
In the meantime my love
For sketching and painting had grown
It was battling photography
For the Title and Crown
Oil painting at that time
Was my preferred expression
It became my ‘go to’
My new expression
Joining Art groups
Has helped me to foster
My desire to create Art
They helped my creativity to prosper
Then I returned
To the first painting medium I tried
The one that had captured me
That reminded me of Slides
Line and Wash
Then caught my attention
It became part of me
A lifelike extension
A Watercolour sketch-a-day
Would give me loads of practice
It continues to this day
Feeding my Inner Sanctum
Oils too
Remain a passion
For me, I think
They’ll always be in fashion
Photography still
Has a special place in my Heart
It started my creative journey
Of me, it will always be a part
Though at this time
Sketching and Painting are my direction
They will for a long time
Have my attention
Last Saturday-week, I went on my first Urban Sketchers Sydney ‘Sketch-meet’. It was held in Surry Hills, literally 5 minutes walk from the southern reaches of the Sydney CBD.
I had joined their Facebook group late last year after it popped up courtesy of Facebook’s algorithm however, life came up in one form or another between then and this month which prevented me from attending the monthly outing.
Sydney turned on some beautiful Winter weather for the day with 19C/66F forecast and predominantly Blue skies. A warmer day than we can usually expect.
I arrived a bit earlier and met up with one of the sketchers, who had already started sketching. As time went by, more and more sketchers turned up until there were approximately 40 people in attendance.
One of the leaders of the day, Julie informed us where the important things were like local amenities, cafes and pointed out buildings and other places of interest that we might like to sketch.
We are then given 2 1/4 hours to sketch/paint and once finished, we all met as a group and enacted a ‘throw down’ as they call it. This is where everyone puts their creations in a group on the ground so that we can all see the different interpretations of the scenes being sketched/painted.
After that, a group photo is taken and posted on the Urban Sketchers Sydney Facebook page.
I chose a subject with too many windows I think and it was certainly a challenge perspective-wise. It certainly was relaxing, sitting there in the glorious sunshine. One of the attractions of sketching is that it is such a meditative experience.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning and I am looking forward to the next one!
Thank you Urban Sketchers Sydney for a great Sketch-meet!
For my daily Art practice today, I chose to do another interpretation of a previous sketch that I had done, which was based on a reference photo that I took on Norfolk Island on our holiday, earlier in the year.
“Lighters” (wooden boats that up until recently were used to unload to, from cargo ships) continue to be an endless source of fascination to me.
Day 1,249 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day
Today I used the following materials:
Canson 300gsm Watercolour paper
ArtSpectrum Waterproof Pigment ink
Manuscript Dip Pen with Mapping nib
Winsor and Newtown Artist quality paints
Neef brushes
Perylene Maroon
Burnt Sienna
Ultramarine Blue
Sepia
I seem to have an attraction to peeling paint and rustic subjects in terms of sketching and painting, which is really not surprising as in my enthusiast photography days the same sort of subject matter attracted me, particularly in early morning or late after night.
Day 1,151 of a Watercolour Sketch a DayMy reference photo
I look forward to doing another version of this as I feel I would like to do one that is somewhere ‘between’ the two sketches above.
Last week as I was scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed I happened upon a course through Domestika. I had registered an account with them some time ago but never actually purchased a course.
This particular day a course came up called, ‘Architectural Sketching with Watercolor and Ink’. This of course, ‘was music to my ears!’ Amongst other subjects to sketch and paint, architecture is right up there so my interest was piqued almost instantly. Even better, it came up as a ‘Weekend Special’ and was reduced from AUD$79.00 to $12.90 so it was too good not to take advantage of.
The course is being delivered by Alex Hillkurtz, a Storyboard Artist in France who has worked on over 20 Feature films.
At date, the course has been completed by over 114,481 students and has a 99% rating.
Thus far I’m on Unit 2, Preparation and am looking forward to doing more of the course on the weekend. When I finish the course I will post the end project here.
In the meantime, here is the link if you would like to check out the course for yourself.
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