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”
I don't usually sketch friends I'm with but this occasion called for it! This was a nice cafe sketchmeet at Primary@Pioneer Cafe. With Covid restrictions on the number of people allowed in cafes and restaurants the outing called for online bookings and signing in at the front door with the newly instated govenment QR code. We were assigned a big table in the "Covid-new" outdoor area which on this cold winter day luckily was heated and the area sheltered with some sort of plastic awnings.
We all ordered something to eat and as usual there was too much food. These weekly winter sketchmeets in cafes will not be good for the waistline!
#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”
Australia has been very slow in its Covid vaccine rollout but here we are at last – getting our first shot of AstraZeneca (a few weeks late due to being put off by the rare blood clotting side effect).
Amazing! I didn't even feel the shot but we were both sick (fever, aches and pains) 18 hours later. This lasted a couple of days.
We slept like the dead.
These sketches were done while waiting to go into the clinic and again while waiting the 15 minutes after the shot.
Our second shot in 12 weeks.
#FaberCastellPittPen, #Moleskinesketchbook 3.5”x5.5”
When the weather turned cold, my sketch group began meeting to sketch in our local arcade. There's lots to sketch in there with much needed morning/afternoon tea to look forward to after each meet.
Here's another day when it was sunny outside but at 10C was just too brisk to sketch outdoors. My sketch was done from a convenient bench outside the Fella Hamilton ladies clothing store. A fish and chips lunch at Row Your Boat restaurant up the street was a nice social end to the morning. The lunch was sketched with brush only (a Rosemary dagger brush) with no pencil or pen lines.
This sketch was done looking across the street from Populus cafe on the afternoon of 25th May. Covid restrictions were to be re-introduced that night! A rain shower sent some of us indoors to finish our sketches but it was still a very nice sketchmeet.
Unfortunately our state of Victoria was put into full lockdown on 28th May! Hopefully that won't last too long...
#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Zeta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”
Shop fronts in this neighbourhood aren't very inspiring to sketch but I wanted to practice sketching cars so this was an opportunity. Sketching on my board while perched on a narrow bench resulted in a somewhat wonky sketch but it was a pleasant exercise as the cold blustery afternoon unexpectedly turned into a warm sunny one!
This sketchmeet with some sketch friends in Blackburne Square, Berwick finished off with afternoon tea. The cafe we chose has very fancy teapots. This one dripped BADLY! The almond raspberry friand cake was good though.
I think I'll go back there to sketch and ask for tea in a different teapot!
#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Zeta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”
While out for a drive to enjoy a warm sunny day we lunched at Caldermeade Farm and Cafe. The LARGE dairy cow on a stand at the entrance (South Gippsland Hwy) can't be missed and there is another giant cow statue on the premises! Established in the mid 1800s it offers entertainment, education and good food. Pity we couldn't stay to view the daily 2.30pm milking.
Here's the BIG cow on the premises... conveniently visible to sketch from the cafe!
A very quick stop at a favourite spot on the way home – the tiny township of Tooradin. I had sketched at this very spot in 2017. On that occasion it was low tide and you could see the mud flats with myriads of soldier crabs. (This region by the way hosts the largest area of White Mangrove south of the tropics). This time it was high tide. A man was feeding some pelicans nearby. No wonder a sculpture of a pelican has been added next to where I was sketching.
#CaldermeadeFarmandCafe #Tooradin
I have sketched in Pioneers Park, Berwick many times in the past few years so it was time to try something different for a bit of variety on this visit. A splash of colour in a toned paper sketchbook and an ink sketch over that made an interesting interpretation of a boring fence bordering the park.
#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Nova Series (beige), 8.5" x 5.5".
