Moment catching and Sunday Sketches

Once a month, Candace Rardon hosts the Moment Catchers sketch challenge. Basically, it's where you sketch views of your weekend. It gives me an excuse to get out and explore Brissie.

This weekend, Bradley (son) and I decided to go for a walk at our local wetlands. I have posted about Berrinba Wetlands before so, if you are interested, you can read about those times HERE.

The information centre I guess you would call it although it's always empty when we are there.

The huge sign at the start of the walkway.

From the lookout point, I was excited to see quite a few pelicans gathered on the rock formation busily preening themselves and soaking up the warmth of the sun. I ADORE pelicans!

We crossed a few different types of bridges on our walk

I always feel a little sad when I see a downed tree. I wondered if it was from the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie...we did have gale-force winds.

We also met this little character.  Relax....it's not a snake! It is, in fact, a Burton's Legless Lizard and I do plan to add him into the sketchbook spread below. Lizards have a long, pointy head and they also have eyelids and a fleshy tongue...key characteristics that snakes don't have.

And now to my sketch from our venture.  I apologise for the poor lighting. It is not a complete page spread but I'm liking how it so far. I will also be adding text about our time there.

Now for my contribution to Sunday Sketches hosted by the lovely Alexandra Macvean.  I decided to sketch a pair of eyes. Here, the paper is still quite wet hence the rippling.

And the final stage

To see the work of other participants for this week's Sunday Sketches, click HERE.
To find out how to join us each week, click HERE.
Hope to see you next week!

A day trip to the country

I've been a little under the weather on and off over the past few days but, today, we decided to take a drive out country for the monthly Moment Catchers challenge hosted by Candace Rardon.  You can check out her beautiful blog HERE.

Rain, and even a thunderstorm, had been forecast but I'm glad we ignored the warnings because it turned out to be a beautiful, albeit very hot, day. Thank goodness we have air-conditioning in the car!

First up, we went to Beaudesert where we stopped for lunch at a small park which backs onto the town's main Jubilee Park. Jack and Cody, our fur-kids, came along too.

Bradley doing some reading in the shade...

...while I did a quick sketch of the windmill not far from where we sat. This is a work-in-progress shot and I do plan to finish it up from photos I took.

My sketch was rushed because a certain someone, who shall remain nameless, complained that they were bored and wanted to hit the road and explore the surrounding areas. He figured sitting on the car, ready to go, was a big enough hint.

So, we hit the road again and drove out Kerry way before heading home.

A quaint little country church named St. Johns. I may sketch this soon.

We pulled over at one point to take photos of the lovely view. I love those clouds!

And that was our day. What did you get up to this fine Sunday?

I'm also linking up with Sunday Sketches this week hosted by amazing illustrator, Alexandra Macvean. You can check out her blog HERE. To see the work of other participants, click HERE.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

Sketching by the lake

We've had another horrible week of high heat and humidity. The nights are hot and muggy too so no relief. I dream of faraway places with snow...

This weekend marked the second month for the new Moment Catchers project over on Candace Rardon's BLOG. I was considering a trip into the city for some Urban Sketching but opted for Forest Lake instead.  It is a man-made lake smack-bang in the middle of suburbia. It is home to quite a few species of waterbirds, turtles, etc.

It was such a hot day so I found a shady spot on a park bench to sketch this tree.

Then a splash of watercolour with more pen detailing

Next up was the water dragon sculpture in the lake.  The heat ended up getting the better of me and we headed home where I finished the sketch off with watercolour.

See below for more daily sketches from the past week or so.

I find sketching with ballpoint pen so versatile. It can be soft enough to almost have the appearance of graphite, yet with more layering, it can be quite dark. Of course, it can't be erased but I can live with mistakes.

I thought you might like another process sketch this week.  A rooster to mark the Chinese Year of the Rooster — the Fire Rooster to be precise. According to Chinese astrology I'm going to be in for a tough year and I can believe it if the beginning is anything to go by. I was born in the Year of the Earth Pig and I have always found the Chinese Astrology to be uncannily accurate. Which Chinese sign are you born under?

A pen sketch to begin with

First pass of watercolour

Final stage with more watercolour and detailing

I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches again. To see the work of other participants for this week, click HERE.

I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful weekend.

A trip to the wetlands, sketching, and decluttering

Well, I'm off to great start for the year, am I not? I completely forgot to do my Sunday Sketches blog post yesterday! My content was ready to go but it just slipped my mind. I'm kicking myself for not adding it to my digital daily task list as it constantly nags me until the task is done. My day was quite busy and productive in other areas so I guess it just slipped my mind.  Better late than never, right? 

On Saturday, as part of the Moment Catchers challenge, Bradley (son) and I went to Berrinba Wetlands so I could sketch on-location. It was an over-cast, gloomy day and it threatened to rain but we didn't let that stop us. Apologies that the images may appear a little dull and grey too. There is 120 hectares of protected bushland reserve and the man-made section takes up 40 hectares.

These beautiful wetlands were actually man-made. It was created by sand and mining operations after World War 2. It is now home to much of the wildlife in the area including pelicans, one of my favourite birds.

This piece of art was created by John Coleman in 2011. It symbolises, Mibunn, the sea-eagle, squawking and flapping his wings to once again protect Scrubby Creek. It has a solar panel and an electric motor so I'm assuming it can flap its wings at some point in the day. Something I have never seen. Apparently, there is a colony of sea-eagles at the wetlands so an appropriate choice of art.

If you're curious about the 'START' signage on the walking path, it's a marker for the Park Run Event they have every Saturday. It's where people can walk, run, and bike-ride through the wetlands on the walking path while they are timed. Read more about it HERE.

Some of the fauna residing at the wetlands. 

I love walking the path and being among nature. 

I especially like stopping at this circle of stones along the way. 

Some of the stone seats are marked with rune symbols. 

This one is Ingwaz which symbolises peace and harmony. 

I quickly got to work sketching while Bradley recorded the sounds of the wetlands. The birds and insects were creating a beautiful melody for us.

The completed sketch 

As part of my commitment to living a more minimal life, I took up the 30 Day Simplify Your Life challenge and, yesterday (Sunday), I got busy decluttering my wardrobe. I had already decluttered my wardrobe about two months ago and managed to rid myself of three extra-large bags of unwanted items but I was even more ruthless this time around. I managed to fill another two extra-large bin bags. One bag contains items for Donation and the other contains clothes to be thrown out. Those now-empty hangers used to hold clothes. I love opening my wardrobe now and seeing how roomy it is.  It's amazing how we get a build up of belongings over the years, some of which we never use.

After doing my wardrobe, I moved onto Brad's wardrobe and we managed to fill another extra-large bin bag of clothes to be thrown out. He was so happy to have more room in his wardrobe too.

TODAY, I tackle my books and art magazines. As with my wardrobe, I had decluttered a lot of my books already but there is definitely more to go. I'm a woman on a mission.

To finish off this post, here are a couple more of my daily sketches.

I was going to link up to Sunday Sketches but it's not up yet. I guess it is still Sunday in the States so I will keep checking throughout the day.

The link is up - click HERE to see the work of other participants.

I hope you have all enjoyed a beautiful and peaceful weekend.