Some sketches...

I have been crocheting like mad on the ripple blanket 

for Granddaughter number 3 

but I have also managed a few sketches here and there.

I've not long completed the Sketchbook Skool course called 'Stretching'. 

One of the teachers, Lapin, enjoys sketching in old ledgers. 

Vehicles and people with big heads and small bodies 

are his speciality and our homework 

naturally involved these things.

I was happy with the way it turned out 

considering I used only pen and sketched 

super-fast while looking at my image in the mirror.
It has a quirkiness that I like.

It was loads of fun to do and no, 

it does not reflect a personality trait.

Another sketchbook spread from May 

Another Sketchbook Skool teacher was Jason Das 

who is big into Urban Sketching. 

I found his klass to be very informative.

I sketched him while watching his klass video.

He was part of a bigger spread

And a couple more from May

Brad and I visit the Mater Hospital each week to practise for choir. 

I did a couple of sketches whilst waiting in the hospital grounds. 

Many years ago, I used to do nursing at Aubigny Place which, 

in those days, was the Mater Private Hospital.

A new Mater Private Hospital was opened in 1993

and Aubigny Place is now a Heritage Centre for the Mater Hospital.

An old tree in the Mater Hospital grounds.

Cody signed up for a campaign! 

We are hoping to help bring an end to Puppy Factories/farms.

It is an incredibly cruel and callous industry. 

Visit Know Your Best Friend to add your fur-kid's voice

to this worthy campaign.

That's Cody in the photo below.

More urban sketching...

I've been on a couple of urban sketch-outs since my last post. YAY!

First up was sketching from the Goodwill Bridge. 

I sat just beside the Cafe on the Goodwill Bridge 

and, with a long black coffee close by, sketched the view in pen. 

I was in the shade to begin with but, after we had the morning tea break, 

the sun was hitting me hard to the point where I felt faint

so I quickly splashed on some watercolour before calling it a day. 

This was as far as I got and I'm happy to leave it that way.

I had planned to just sketch the ferris wheel 

but my pen took on a life of its own and, before I knew it, 

it had filled the double page.

 A couple of weeks later, I was back on the bridge for another sketch-out  

at the Queensland Maritime Museum 

which is located at the southern end of the Goodwill Bridge.

I  ended up on the bridge again sketching the view of the museum below. 

I had just sketched the light on the Carpentaria Light Ship when we decided 

to break for an early morning tea.
 

While having morning tea, it started raining so we all decided 

to stay undercover at The Ship Inn and sketch our view from there.

 This was my viewpoint.

The landscape double-page-spread isn't easy to photograph.

I very much enjoy meeting up with other artists who also enjoy sketching. 

If you're in Brisbane and interested in joining our Urban Sketch group, 

go HERE for the Facebook group and, 

go HERE for the Flickr group.

The Flickr group is new.

This week, I'm linking up to Sunday Sketches HERE.

Sketch-out at Queens Park, Brisbane

Last weekend I attended another sketch-out with the Brisbane Urban Sketchers group. 

This time, it was at Queens Park, Brisbane.

Rain had been forecast but we took the risk and it turned out to be a lovely day. 

I set about sketching Queen Victoria using my new-to-me Pentel pocket brush pen.

A close up of the statue 

 

 My sketch without the sun glare 

Medium - Pentel pocket brush pen, PITT grey pens, watercolours 
Paper - Moleskine 5"x8" watercolour notebook

After finishing Queen Victoria, I did a quick pen sketch of one of the palm trees in the park.

which I later coloured at home using PITT pens - landscape colour range. 

J-j, Leeanne and I showing off our sketches for the morning.

We were intrigued by this fabulous group who call themselves 

Steampunk Ghostbusters.

They looked awesome! 

We chatted with one of their members and  he said to think of 

H.G. Wells and Jules Verne when you think of Steampunk...
the days of steam-powered machinery.

Below, I had a little play with sepia in my graphics program.

They were doing a photo shoot to  advertise 

the Steampunk Charity Ball.

All in all, it turned out to be a great day. 

Sketchbook Skool

Over the past six weeks, I've been attending skool...
Sketchbook Skool to be exact.

Sketchbook Skool is an online course for sketchbook artists of all skills,
 from Beginners right through to Advanced.

Sketchbook Skool - the film from DannyGregory on Vimeo.

Their first semester is called 'Beginnings'
and you can read more about it or sign up for it HERE.

This course encouraged us to
step outside of our comfort zone and try new things.

It encouraged us to make sketching a part of our daily lives.

It gave us access to a fabulous online community of like-minded artists.

The course teachers were absolutely AMAZING!!  

Week 1 - Danny Gregory 

Week 2 - Koosje Koene 

Week 3 - Prashant Miranda

Week 4 - Jane LeFazio

Week 5 - Roz Stendahl 

Week 6 - Tommy Kane

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I had seen Danny's 'Art of Breakfast' video once before but, this time around,

I felt inspired to sketch one of my own favourite breakfasts. 

My first time using a dip pen in my journal, not to mention contour drawing too.

Medium - Pen and watercolour 

Paper - Moleskine 5" x 8" journal

Below, is Danny's 'The Art of Breakfast' video,
just one of the wonderful things we were treated to in his klass.

The Art of Breakfast: a film about Danny Gregory from DannyGregory on Vimeo.


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 Koosje's klass was wonderful too.
She took us out on location to do some sketching.
I feel it tied in well to my own recent outings with the Urban Sketcher's Brisbane group.
This was a sketch I did during one of those sketch-outs.
Sorry, not the best lighting on the day I took the photo of my sketch.


Medium - ZIG Millennium 005 pen and PITT 'Shades of Grey' pens.
Paper - Moleskine watercolour notebook approx. 5" x 8"

Koosje also offered some tips on using coloured pencils and gave a great demo too.
I confess that I still haven't managed to do all of my homework for her klass yet
but I'll post my efforts here when I do.

In the meantime,
here is a coloured pencil demonstration by Koosje
shared from her YouTube channel.




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Prash's klass was a sheer delight!
I fell in love with his happy-go-lucky attitude from the start.
He spoke about his love of journalling
and how it has become an integral part of his life.
I want to achieve that too.
You all know I've whined often enough about finding time
to develop a habit of daily sketching in my journals.
Prash reignited that desire within me so now I'm more determined than ever.
I loved his watercolour demo and all that he shared with us.

Here is one of Prash's videos that I came across on his blog.
In this video, Prash takes us on his sketching tour of incredible India.


Madhya Pradesh - The heart of incredible India from luv kalla on Vimeo.


A bit of homework.

Below, a tree in the distance which I sketched from my backyard;
I was practising gradation of the sky.

Medium - Pen and watercolours 
Paper - Moleskine watercolour notebook approx. 5" x 8"

Stay tuned!

Weeks 4, 5, and 6 to follow....

Sketching around Brisbane and a bit of history

On Saturday, April 19th, I participated in a Worldwide Sketchcrawl.
A day where sketchers around the world gather together, in their local groups,
and sketch for the sheer love of it and a sense of community.

This was my first time participating in a Sketchcrawl
so it was quite exciting for me.
We met at Queensland University of Technology.
The problem was that, being Easter weekend,
 the QUT and it's facilities were closed.
So, not to be defeated, we sketched buildings from the outside.
I also chose to sketch in the gardens at Gardens Point
within the campus grounds.

Aaron (son) came along and, after a morning of sketching,
we all went to The Pancake Manor for lunch.
The food was delicious!
I actually wouldn't mind going back there to sketch
as The Pancake Manor was refurbished from an old church
so it has a great sense of atmosphere and character.
St. Lukes Anglican Cathedral was constructed in 1904
but was no longer used as a church
once the newly built St. John's Cathedral was opened in 1910.
However, St. Lukes did remain active for Anglican purposes until 1977.
 It was leased out and became The Pancake Manor in 1979. 

I neglected to take a photo of the Pancake Manor so,
while searching on Google,
I came across a wonderful blog
about Brisbane and its history.
 I know I'm going to be visiting this blog a lot
as I continue to learn more about the beautiful city I grew up in.
Trevor Newman, aka. the foto fanatic, is blog owner
of Your Brisbane: Past and Present,
and very kindly gave me permission to use his photo for this post.
Please view the original photo HERE.

The Pancake Manor
Photo Credit - © 2011 the foto fanatic - All Rights Reserved
via Your Brisbane: Past and Present

SOME SKETCHES FROM THE DAY

This is Old Government House, sketched freehand, directly with pen.
Watercolours were added at home. I was trying to be fast, messy, and loose
hence the rickety appearance. 

Medium - Pen and watercolours

Paper - Moleskine watercolour notebook 5"x8"

A palm tree sketched at Gardens Point beside Old Government House.

Of all things, I went and forgot my water-brushes on the day

 so couldn't use my watercolours. 

Luckily, I'd packed some watercolour pencils so

 I used those and applied water when I got home.

Medium - Pen, watercolour pencils
Paper - Moleskine watercolour notebook 5"x8"

MORE PHOTOS FROM THE DAY

When we first arrived in the city, we noticed bands everywhere!
As it turned out, the Australian National Band Championships
were also taking place in Brisbane city that day. What a treat!
Their Facebook page HERE.

They gathered at Queens Park.

The atmosphere and sound was amazing!

We spotted these gargoyles on our walk to The Pancake Manor.
A sketch opportunity for a later date perhaps?

I am SO glad to have joined an Urban Sketch group because, not only do I love to sketch,
but it gives me the opportunity to see and learn more about this great city of Brisbane.

I'm an Urban Sketcher!

Goodness, time just flies by!

I've been so busy!

 I'm especially excited to  

say that I've been on a few sketch-outs 

with the Urban Sketchers - Brisbane group.
There is also an Urban Sketchers - Australia group.
I was so nervous on my first time out with the group
but, the people were so lovely,
I couldn't help but enjoy myself.

Our group met at the Ship Inn at Southbank  

for a cuppa and chat,

then we spent time sketching at 

the Maritime Museum, 

followed by lunch at 

Turkish Mado.

These sketches were from my very first sketch-out
done with pen and watercolours.
The top sketch is in my pocket Moleskine sketchbook.
The bottom sketch is in my large watercolour Moleskine notebook
which is close to a landscaped A5 format.

 In early April, 

Brad and I took the bus into south Brisbane

only to find that his Specialist appointment
had been postponed without our knowledge. 

We turned a negative into a positive
and enjoyed a lovely morning
at Southbank Parklands instead. 

Brad read a computer magazine

while I sketched the following. 

A photo of the plaque on the statue

 South Brisbane Town Hall 

The finished page spread

The page spread above was sketched directly with
PITT pens, a ZIG 005 pen, and then some watercolours
in large (approx. A5) Moleskine watercolour notebook.  


A recent urban sketch group outing was at ANZAC Square
in Brisbane city.
As it was just prior to ANZAC day,
we were treated to some soldiers practising
their ANZAC day ceremony.
The down side was that tree loppers were also
in the square tidying up the trees for the special event.
Their trucks and cherry pickers got in the way of our view
but we didn't let it spoil the day or our efforts to sketch.

Again, I sketched directly with PITT artist pens
and finished it up with watercolours
in my extra large (approx. A4) Moleskine watercolour notebook.

The exciting news was that the Brisbane Times got wind
of our Urban Sketchers group and published an article
about our ANZAC Square sketch-out.
The article can be read at this link.

I love that ANZAC Square has quite a few of my favourite trees
the 'Queensland Bottle Tree' which belongs to the Boab family of trees.

Our choir performance on April 15th went very well.
Here is a pic of our 'Sing for Health' choir
and you can read an article about it here.
Bradley was featured in the article so I am one proud Mumma!
Bradley has been seeing an Occupational Therapist
to help cope with severe Tinnitus.
She is the one who organised the 'Sing for Health' choir.
Interesting to note that Brad's tinnitus has eased dramatically
since singing in the choir.

I have so much more to share but it
will have to wait until the next post.

~ Love, light and peace ~