Emotions React
Tag: sketch
Urban Sketchers Sydney – October Meet
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.
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.
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? 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/groups/usksyd/about/
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
3 October 2022
Sketching Loosely
The Sydney Urban Sketchers
and it is the ‘adventure’ I’m writing about.
My Creative Journey In Visual Art
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
Written by David Johnson
22 September 2022
© CommunicatingCreatively/David Johnson 2022
Reveal
First Time at Urban Sketchers Sydney!
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!
Written by David Johnson
14 August 2022
Day 1,249 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day! – “Boat Detail” – Norfolk Island
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.
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.
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.
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
3 July 2022
Architectural Sketching with Watercolor and Ink – Domestika
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.
https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/1092-architectural-sketching-with-watercolor-and-ink/course
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
30 June 2022
A Space To Learn, Create & Express!
As I’m not a full-time Artist I need to be organised enough to find those capsules of time that enable me to play and create. From 1982 to say 2014, Photography was my ‘vehicle of creative escape’. In 2010, I completed a 6-week Drawing course and over the ensuing 8 years Drawing/Sketching/Painting (Oils) and Photography jockeyed for the position of my No. 1 ‘escape from life’ method.
In late 2018, Watercolour came storming back (along with Line and Wash) and, they became an increasing part of my existence. With the commencement of my Watercolour Sketch a Day/Daily Art Practice on 26 January 2019, both of these forms are the predominant way I like to express myself in terms of Art.
In-between though, Oils have been present although my Oil habit has been in hiatus this year, until last week. I intend to do more in Oils and have several ideas in mind for paintings.
Back to my initial sentence.
Not only do I need to find capsules of time, I needed to have a proper space. No actual studio here however. Over time, I have been re-purposing our 3rd bedroom.
On Thursday I purchased an Art and Craft desk which has an adjustable drawing surface. I used for the first time today and love it.
I now have a desk dedicated to Watercolour/Sketching, a desk dedicated to Oil painting and my computer desk. No more re-purposing desks/clearing space for something else and wasting time in the process.
Whilst I do most of my sketching/painting on weekends (apart from the Watercolour sketches that are done each day), I am now looking to schedule some nights during the week when I can avail myself of my ‘creative space’.
There is also a comfy 2-seater cane chair where I can sit back, pick up my Fountain Pen and write Poetry, read or just contemplate…
A space to learn, create and express.
Written by David Johnson
4 June 2022
PS: After writing this I came across the following great article about Artist’s Studios by Judith on her site, Artistcoveries.
Communicating Creatively 