Porta de Santiago

In this time of pandemic, Virtual Sketchmeets (using Google Maps) has become popular for Urban Sketchers who can't organize their usual group sketchmeets. I have decided to use this practice to revisit and do a virtual sketch of places of significance in my life. My sketches will be accompanied by a personal photo (or two) taken at the site!

This sketch is of the Porta de Santiago in Melaka, Malaysia. It is a small gate house which is the only remaining part of a former fortress called A Formosa. It is one of the oldest surviving remnants of European architecture in SE Asia.

The fortress was built in the 1500s after Alfonso de Alburquerque arrived with his fleet from Portugal. It became part of a string of Portuguese outposts used for trade between Portugal and China. The fortress changed hands in 1641 when the Dutch drove the Portuguese out of Melaka and again in the late 18th century when the Dutch handed it over to the British (apparently to prevent it from falling into the hands of the French!). The fortress was saved from demolition by Stamford Raffles (founder of Singapore) and William Farquhar (ancestor of Justin Trudeau). The latter had been sent to see to the destruction of the fortress but he decided to save two of the gateways one of which is the Porta de Santiago.

On the right of the sketch is St. Paul's Hill with the ruins of St. Paul's Church showing. With it's very old graveyard on the hill, the area had a reputation for being haunted.

I spent the first few years of my life in Melaka when my Singaporean father went to work there. This photo is of me, my brother and our mother on the cannon in front of the gatehouse...a long time ago! 

This next photo is of my father at the site with our trusty green Morris Cowley car. This looks a more recent photo than the one above. 

If collective memory is correct we lived in a row of terrace houses next to the fortress (no signs of this anymore). It seems no one in the family ever saw a ghost.

I see there is now a museum next door to the fortress (left of sketch). I last visited this site while on a family holiday in 2007.

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Zeta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”
#virtualsketch #virtualsketching #Porta de Santiago

52 Brisbane Street

This is the second building in my Hoddle Grid (Berwick) Project – documenting buildings about to be demolished in my neighbourhood. See my January 2020 post for a description of the project. 

This is 52 Brisbane St. For the last 3 years or so it has had a really unkept garden (even when still occupied), all signs of impending demolition. I sketched it a couple of months ago when it was obviously no longer occupied. What interested me most about this property was the expanse of unmowed lawn (covered with a sea of yellow dandelions), so atypical of the neighbourhood...and the view of the hill beyond.

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, homemade concertina sketchbook, 7 1/2" x 21".
#berwickhoddlegrid #52BrisbaneSt

Melbourne Urban Sketcher Challenges

When the Covid19 pandemic hit, all Melbourne Urban Sketcher events were cancelled. Instead the group organised 10 weekly challenges. Sketches were all to be done on-location inside or looking out from our homes.

I am grateful for these challenges as they were enjoyable and stimulating. They made me sketch subjects I don't usually sketch and I learnt to weave stories into everyday scenes. They also importantly helped me improve on my sketch techniques like no other period previously. 

Here's a few challenges:
Week 1 – Vehicles/Machinery 
A cute forklift. Sketched while standing outside the warehouse of Beacky Fresh (Fruit and Veg) in Beaconsfield. There was a shortage of eggs in the supermarkets at the time but this was the place to buy eggs! Lots of people were coming out with TRAYS of eggs!

Week 3  – All or one of Park/Garden/Plants
This maple tree in my tiny courtyard garden gives nice shade in the afternoons. Sketch done over 2 sessions as I ran out of time the first session. I decided to continue in panorama fashion. Here's as far as I got.

Week 6 – What you see outside your window at night 
My side gate which sometimes swings open because the latch doesn’t close. Sketched at night from my living room window. (The motion sensor light was on so lighting up the driveway behind the gate).

Week 7 – A scene to show what you are looking forward to after restrictions are eased 

I sketched my dining room. Looking forward to seeing family at my dining table again. I was working larger for a change and in a new sketchbook.  

Week 8  - A sketch showing some achievement

My side of our study. My achievements? Skype, FaceTime, Houseparty...and now Zoom! 

Week 9 - A scene which reminds you of what you are thankful for 

I have much to be thankful for, especially good health. Trying to eat right mostly but in this time of pandemic a little indulgence is allowed. Sketch done in my kitchen.

Week 10 – A sketch with foreground, mid ground, background 

How nice to be sketching outside again and a warm sunny day too! This scene of the Primary@Pioneer Cafe conveniently filled the challenge. 

15 Rutland Street Revisited

This will be my last sketches of the front of the ramshackle house at 15 Rutland Street, Berwick. The mosquitoes are getting too bad and it’s getting ever more spooky as the vegetation shields me from the road.

For more on this project see my Blog post: Berwick Hoddle Grid Project.

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, homemade concertina sketchbook, 7 1/2" x 21".
#berwickhoddlegrid #15rutlandstreet

Sketching along the Bass Coast

Here are sketches from a short break along the rugged Bass Coast (in the Gippsland region east of Melbourne city). 

It was Monday, a public holiday for Labour Day. Going by the line of cars returning to the city, we expected things to be quiet along the coast. 

Lunch at the seaside township of  San Remo?  TOO CROWDED! On to the next town of Wonthaggi – EVERYTHING SHUT (it's inland and dull). On to Inverloch (a very popular seaside town on the coast). BUSY but we found a parking spot...and a pie shop.

Here's a typical Gippsland country scene – a view of a barn on farmland. The sun was going down and the vegetation was just silhouettes.  I had a lot of time here. Hatching can be meditative and just about used up my marker pen!

Snakes brought a bit of excitement to my trip. While I was sketching the scenery, swimmers still wrapped in their towels had to make a detour outside the restaurant I was eating at. Here's the sketch done "in the moment". 

A snake catcher came and caught one to cheers from the diners in the restaurant. Next morning I met and sketched the snake catcher who had come back to look for more snakes. They are Copperheads and venomous!

The snake catcher looked like a Crocodile Dundee with his leather hat, thick gloves in a back pocket, special pole contraption with pincers at the end and a long net.

The next few sketchers were done along the rugged Bass Coast from Inverloch heading back to San Remo. 

Looking back towards Inverloch. 

Bright daisy-like flowers growing near the beach.

Sketching from the car. A rock formation called Eagles Nest.

Looking back to Eagles Nest.

Having lunch in the park back in San Remo. This is the bridge that takes you across to the popular Phillip Island. 

These sketches were done in my Moleskine Sketchbook. I'd only ever used dry media for this sketchbook in the past. This time I added watercolour to the first sketch above as an experiment and was surprised that I liked the effect. No buckling and no seeping through to the next page. The colours appear pale though, they seep into the buff coloured paper very quickly so it's not so good for wet-on-wet effects, quite a different feel to my usual Moleskine Watercolour Journal. 

These sketches were all done on location but colour was added some on location, some later.


#FaberCastellPittPen, watercolour, #Moleskine Sketchbook, 3.5" x 5.5” 
#Basscoast #Inverloch

Sketch of The Hive at NTU

I'm feeling rather pleased that an old sketch I did in 2016 while living on campus at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore has been featured in the online version of the university's Hey! magazine. 

It is a sketch of an unusual building on campus called The Hive. 

Click here to read the magazine article. (Keep scrolling down in the article to get to my sketch).

Here's the link to read the original post on my blog from 2016:

http://nowismystoryinsketches.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-hive-at-ntu.html

#NTU #Heymagazine #TheHive #TheHiveNTU

The Berwick Show 2020

This is my third visit to this yearly agricultural show at Akoonah Park in the outer Melbourne suburb of Berwick.

Here's a hasty sketch as we headed into the showgrounds and watercolour was added when I managed to find somewhere quiet to sit by myself within view of the rides. 

I find adding paint to a sketch while standing just a bit demanding when being rushed along.

Bulls are good animals to sketch as they don't move around too much. Herefords seem very friendly. This Hereford bull took great interest in me. 

So polite too, he waited till I finished sketching him to lie down and go to sleep. 

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8” 
#berwickshow