Last Sketch for 2021

As the last sketch for 2021, I thought I'd record my life in the past week. 

Starting first with the plastic container of excellent homemade cookies, brought all the way from Singapore by old school friends who had come to spend Christmas with family who live in Melbourne. It was brave of them to travel in this time of Covid but they made it (bar having to home quarantine after someone on their flight tested positive). This type of plastic container filled with cookies are a usual feature during Chinese New Year. It was really nice to have these friends pop in for lunch with their family, cookies in hand!

I have been under the weather since Boxing Day with a sinus complaint. Our friendly pharmacist dosed me up with stronger decongestants so that box of pills had to be sketched too. 

As there was so much red/orange on the page, it seemed a good idea to go the whole hog and make the page ALL red objects! Adding the lovely red Poinsettia given to me by a friend filled the page nicely!

Red is an auspicious colour so here's to 2022!

Ending the year on a poem I like –

"For last year's words belong to last year's language

And next year's words await another voice

And to make an end is to make a beginning". 

– T.S. Elliott

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Moleskine Sketchbook, 3.5" x 5.5” 

Christmas Lunch 2021

With Covid numbers in our state of Victoria at an all time high and the Omicron strain making an appearance, it was anybody's guess what Christmas 2021 was going to be like. Rightly or wrongly, our state government did not back down on its promise that Christmas would be "normal" ie. there would be no restriction on the number of home visitors.

What a treat it was then to be able to share this happy spread with family on Christmas day! 

This was sketched on location, colours added at home.

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Moleskine Sketchbook, 3.5" x 5.5” 

Singapore Shophouse (49)

A Singapore shophouse with a fascinating frontage! It's Utopia Apparel in Haji Lane (in the Muslim quarter of Singapore) and has batik patterns on it's upper facade.  

I'm not using my usual tools of ink and watercolour (or my usual sketchbook) but using mixed media was appropriate for this subject. 

I'm fascinated by the Singapore Shophouse, a prevalent style of architecture in Singapore (and other SE Asian cities) between the 1840s and the 1960s. They are narrow terrace houses 2 to 3 storeys high and typically housed a commercial shop on the ground floor and living quarters upstairs. 

The ground floor sits back from the road, while an overhanging veranda is supported by columns, creating the distinctive public five-footway which is a tiled or concreted pathway running the length of the row of shophouses. This feature was introduced in 1822 by Sir Stamford Raffles (founder of Singapore), as part of his town plan for early Singapore. 

Here is a photo of Utopia Apparels. It really is as in my sketch!

With their unique interiors, these buildings hold great nostalgia for me as my maternal grandfather's tailor shop on High Street, my paternal grandparents' home near the Peranakan suburb of Joo Chiat and my great-grandmother's home on Cantonment Road were all built in this architectural style. 

The overhanging verandah over the five-foot-way at my great-grandmother's house had a trap door on the floor. Through this we could check on who was knocking on the front door. Also a basket could be lowered down to purchase a snack from a food vendor. Children enjoyed dropping things down on unsuspecting passers-by.

Shophouses form the bulk of the Singapore Governments' gazetted conservation buildings and to this day with their colourful facades and eclectic mix of cultural influences (Chinese, Malay, French, Portuguese, English) are widely used for residential and commercial purposes.

You can read a nice account of the Singapore Shophouse here: https://www.roots.gov.sg/.../singapore-shophouses/story

Thank you to FB group #shopfrontchallenge #eurekawanders for the image (No.49).

Pen and ink, watercolour pencil, Caran D'ache Neocolor II water-soluble wax pastel.

Timbarra Park

Timbarra Park has metal sculptures of a cow and a scarecrow in a farmyard themed park. Not a very inspiring park for sketching but pleasant enough on what was a surprisingly cold summer day. This was a Christmas meet and the last for the year with Casey Sketcher friends (most are present or past members of my sketch class for Casey U3A).

The main subjects were done on-location but the heading, text block and spot illustrations were added at home to complete the 2 page spread.

My page layout was inspired by what I learnt in the course Sketchbook Design offered by Sydney sketcher Liz Steel. While the final result always looks better with the added elements, my rendition of these extras can look stiff and I lose the freshness of work done on-location. This is a problem I will have to work on.

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”

Proteas and other Natives

A neighbour gave me these flowers from her Gippsland property. Personally gathered flowers make the best bouquets! Thank you!!

I'm not into delicate feminine floral art. These Australian natives however lend themselves to the bold mixed media work which I prefer.

#Sailorfude pen and ink, watercolour, Caran d'ache Neocolor II Water-soluble wax pastels #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”

 

Backyard Bee Census

The Backyard Bee Census, was organized for the first time this year by CERES from 14th till 21st November. CERES describes itself as an environmental education centre, community garden, urban farm and social enterprise hub. It is spread across four locations in Melbourne, Australia. Results from the count were shared with their partner Wild Pollinator Count and resulted in the largest count ever for this long term national project which tracks what insects are pollinating what plants, where and when. 

The Backyard Bee Census is the flagship citizen science event organized by Wild Pollinators Oceania. Results from this year's count will take some time to be released. See end of this post for links to these organizations. 

After so many rainy days I finally got to take part in the Bee Census on 17 November. I never knew so many types of insects visited our flowers! 

Each chosen single (or group) of flowers is watched for 10 minutes and insects which land are counted and identified where possible. 

The Yarrow attracted 2 beetles and 3 tiny (flies?), only 2 European Bees. 7 European Bees landed on the 30x30cms area of Lavender I chose to watch. Their pollen sacs were bursting! 

Only one European Bee and 2 unknown fast flying insects on the Salvia 'Waverley'. 

I didn't get to finish my sketchbook page about the count until 29th November. The garden plants where I did my count were drawn and painted on location, the insects were drawn from my own photos.

Since doing the census I now enjoy a new appreciation of the insects visiting my garden. 

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”

#wildpollinatorcount #wildpollinatoroceania #CERES

Bryn Mawr Park

It's only a very small park without a name (bordered by Bryn Mawr Blvd and Paddington Terrace, Berwick). I wasn't expecting there to be much to sketch from what I could see on Google Maps but the little bridge and the bed (for overflow water I'm told) plus the surrounding trees made it a pleasant scene. On this day the bed was dry.

The pleasant surroundings and the perfect weather made it a very nice afternoon for a sketchmeet with some Casey Sketcher friends (most had attended my Casey U3A sketch classes).

This was our first sketchmeet after the most recent 3 month lockdown. It was nice to see everyone again and with our Covid numbers still somewhat high, meeting in a park instead of in crowded streets or cafes seemed to make good sense. 

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

A Nature Journal

With our movements curtailed due to Covid I decided at the start of Spring 2021 to document our garden over the next 12 months. There is just so much to observe when you take the time, I can hardly keep up! 

In a way I’m returning to my early natural science training and enjoying it now through an artists’ lens. I've kept artist and travel journals but never a nature journal. It's opened a whole new exciting world for me. 

I'm not a botanical illustrator and don't aspire to be one. I enjoy a freer depictions of nature.

Today is the first day of summer. Here are a few sketches from spring.

The Yarrow is finally producing flowers.

The Yarrow was done with #Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Fabriano Artistico Hot Press Watercolour paper.

The rest, #Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 8.5”x 5.5”

Bellbird Park

Bellbird Park has many tall tree trunks left standing like sculptures, lots of Eastern Rosellas and a gum tree oozing RED sap like rubies glistening in the sun! 

This means the tree is infested by borer! The tree fills the channels in the trunk dug by the borer with sap and this flows out of holes made by the borer when they emerge from the trunk as adults.

The main sketch was done on location. 

Spot illustrations were done later from photo references to fill the 2 page spread. 

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, colour pencil, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”

Giant Gum Tree

Here was an opportunity to sketch this humongous gum tree in our neighbourhood. Plans to build 2 townhouses next to it was halted by the local Casey council a couple of years ago. The case went to arbitration and building only progressed when the height of the new buildings were lowered and safety of the tree was ensured. The townhouses are now up and I'm pleased to see the tree still healthy. 

This was sketched as part of the Urban Sketchers' global Sketch Together event. How exciting to be part of a global sketchmeet conducted live on social media. It spanned 24 hours across the globe!

Some text (and sky) added later improved the earlier second rate sketch.

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”

A dip into Mixed Media

I've worked mostly in ink and watercolour but after attending a recent workshop called Playlab with sketchers Paul Wang and Suhita  Shirodkar, I'm taking a dip into Mixed Media. Here I'm drawing flowers in our garden using ink, watercolour, watercolour pencil and watersoluble crayons.

The Geranium cutting from our neighbour is thriving (I don’t know the name). 

The Calibrachoa Chameleon is flowering for the third year! 

I rather like this way of working! It's very tactile and feels nice to work freely. Just getting an impression and not worrying about total accuracy and photorealism!

Ink, watercolour, watercolour pencil and watersoluble crayons on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper. 

More Virtual Sketches

I don’t usually go in for sketching cityscapes but in lockdown, here was an opportunity to try out a new idea – painting the bare trees in a grey colour (which is what the bare twigs look like from afar). 

Here's a Sunday virtual sketch done from Google maps with Facebook Group Virtual Sketch Melbourne in Market Street, Melbourne. Being able to "walk" around the area sure helped with getting to see the building better (this was not done from a static photo).

I was surprised that the sketch worked so well on such a small scale in my 5x8 inch Moleskine watercolour journal.   

Here I couldn’t help sketching this lovely Japanese building in Kurashiki, Japan during a virtual sketchmeet with Facebook group Virtual Travel Sketch. Again this was done from Google maps. I was using my favourite tools – Sailor fude pen, watercolour and Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook. 

I like using a waterbrush even though most artists are disdainful of its capabilities. I like the round shapes the tip leaves (especially for vegetation) and somehow the thick holder and slight stiffness of the bristles seems to cause less strain on my arthritic fingers. Here I used it dry like a normal brush.   

First sketch: #Sailorfude pen, watercolour,#MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8” Second sketch: #Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”#virtualtravelsketch #virtualsketchmelbourne

Virtual Sketches in Footscray

In August and September while we were in lockdown, I came to really enjoy sketching old homes in Footscray (an inner-western suburb of Melbourne city). I love the eclectic mix of architectural styles and the power lines criss-crossing overhead in this suburb. 

These sketches were done during virtual sketchmeets with the Facebook group called Virtual Sketch Melbourne which uses Google Maps to designate venues for each sketchmeet. 

Adelaide Street. 

Swan Street.

Footscray is very culturally diverse, reflecting the waves of migration experienced by the city – Greek, Italian and Yugoslavian followed by Vietnamese and East Africans. It is recently undergoing development and gentrification. 

Warleigh Road.

Southampton Street.

After some recent self instruction, these sketches are looser, a bit bolder and I use more water. These techniques combined with using my favourite materials – Fude pen and watercolour in Stillman and Birn Beta and Moleskine watercolour sketchbooks make these some of my favourite sketches. 

For more on Footscray, click here.

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5” and #MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8”.

Fully Vaccinated

On 28th August we added ourselves to the measly 33.9% of Victorians fully vaccinated.

The doctor said we should give ourselves a treat.  John promptly ordered McDonald's for lunch!

#FaberCastellPittPen, #Moleskine Sketchbook, 3.5" x 5.5” 

 

Virtual Sketches

During our last lockdown (which is still on-going but with some slight easing of restrictions), I came to enjoy virtual sketchmeets with the Facebook groups Virtual Travel Sketch and Virtual Sketch Melbourne. They use Google Maps to designate venues for their sketchmeets.  I started to enjoy these sessions after allowing myself to continue "walking" around my chosen spot in the designated venue on Google Maps while sketching it instead of choosing the spot and then using an offline photo of the spot as the photo reference.  

During my "walk" around the streets of Randwick, NSW, Australia I got lost and ended up at No 1, The Avenue. Here was an interesting house to sketch! 

There's lots of weird things going on near the roof line (the top windows are too far apart) but I like the Urban Grey De Artramentis ink straight out of the bottle (I’d been mixing it with black before).  

Here's another virtual sketch of a house at the corner of Fitzroy St and Ackland St, Melbourne. After the success with the lighter Urban Grey de Artramentis ink in the above sketch, in this sketch it was a “fail”! Too light and I had to redraw some lines to make them darker. I think I’ll go back to mixing Urban Grey with black to get a darker tone.

After the blunders of the previous sketch where the tip of the roof top didn't line up with what was below on the next floor I took more care with the second sketch. 

With #virtualtravelsketch and #virtualsketchmelbourne

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5” 

Painting Loosely

 Further on in my attempts to sketch and paint more loosely, I started to use more water in my paints. In these sketches I am beginning to have a better understanding of the meaning of "wet"! 

It helped that I was using a Stillman and Birn Beta journal which is wonderful for very wet painting. 

In the first I did watercolour before pen.

Plaza Cathedral, Cadiz and Escolta St, Manila with #virtualtravelsketch

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”

Continuous Line Drawing

Back in late July, I set myself the task of learning to sketch more loosely. A way to achieve this was to practise Continuous Line drawing. Here I've tried it (more or less) on a scene. This was new as I'd only ever tried Continuous Line drawing of simple objects. 

I love it! It's super fast and so enjoyable with not having to bother getting things straight or dead accurate. Aging eyes and arthritic fingers make me too old for photorealism. The grey is perhaps a little too pale. 

This was a virtual sketch with #virtualsketchmelbourne.

Markers. #stillmanandbirn nova, beige.

Sketching Teacups

I've been somewhat lax with posting but here's some experimenting and telling of stories while in lockdown a couple of months back.  

J brought this cup back from Poland after a work trip many years ago. 

AJ gave us this cup (with matching mug now thrown out) more than 20 years ago. 

These sketches were done with watercolor only (no line).

Watercolour, #RosemaryDaggerBrush #MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8”