Moonlight Cinema Perth

Moonlight cinema in Kings Park Perth last night….went to see Star Wars – The Force Awakens. It was a perfect night for being out and about….had been a hot 37’C day and was still 30’C at midnight….no warming blanket required! We have seen the film before and I have to admit I slept through parts of it…I think one viewing is probably sufficient! But it’s so relaxing to set up a blanket on the grass, surrounded by the big gum trees and have a picnic as the sun goes down. This was sketched in about 15 minutes as it was going dark quickly.

Bounce – People at play

Took several kids to “Bounce” an indoor trampoline centre this afternoon. Rather than glue myself to my mobile phone for an hour like nearly all the other parents I seized a sketching opportunity. These are my “sausage” people…trying to catch people in mid bounce is of course rather challenging but surprising fun. I watch for a few minutes before trying to take a mental snap-shot of one person in mid flight then scribble furiously before I forget the visual image. Fortunately most people do seem to repeat the same type of bounce if you watch long enough….each person moves in their own way according to their build, flexibility and spacial awareness.

Pilot Prera fountain pen medium nib, De Atramentis Document Red ink.

Perth Fringe Festival – James St Mall

First ever meeting of the Perth Urban Sketchers today…yay…!!!

There were six of us today meeting in the city to sketch, chat and swap tips, lovely to meet like-minded sketchers. We gathered in front of the Perth Museum….there are some benches and shady trees (which was essential as it was rather a warm 35’C day).

The Perth International Arts Festival is in full swing and the Fringe World Festival has lots of tents and acts gathered along the James Street Mall…there is colour just exploding around you! This scene with the shocking pink fence was unmissable….I took about an hour to sketch this…spent the other hour chatting! Everyone enjoyed, we all sketched different things…. it was so wonderful to see what people chose to draw, each in their own style…. we plan to have more “sketch-outs” in the near future.

Link below to group photo….

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153473495981379&set=pcb.930105123726032&type=3&theater

Sub Station Hay Street Subiaco

An little electricity Sub Station hidden away on Hay Street Subiaco. It looks rather derelict with long grass in the front yard and the old power points on the front of the building are long redundant (power lines are all underground in this area). There are still warning signs stuck to the door….It now a heritage listed building built in 1923 when Subiaco’s own power station (on Axon St) was closed because it couldn’t keep up with demand as the city grew rapidly. So this one roomed sub-station was created to convert the high voltage power now bought from the East Perth Power Station (link here to earlier sketch https://sketchbookblue.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/east-perth-power-station-disused/) to lower voltage for the residents. This building is still in use today!

This was drawn with a new pen….a Pilot Parallel fountain pen that I’ve been trialing for the last couple of weeks, these pens are made in a range of nib widths, I chose the 2.4mm size (from T. Sharp and Co in Perth city center – corner of Barrack and Hay streets). I used up the ink in the cartridge pretty quickly but have refilled it several times with my favourite De Atramentis document black ink and it works perfectly.

Kunanalling Ghost Town

Revisiting some photos from last years holiday…Perth to Esperance to Kalgoorlie and back again.

Stopped by a little Ghost town Kunanalling….about 50kms from Kalgoorlie mostly on dirt roads. It’s amazing to think that once there were 7 shops, 3 pubs and nearly 500 men labouring in the hot sun digging out gold in the middle of nowhere. (You have to drive through the Australian outback to fully appreciate the scale of the place). The plaques on the wall reveal a hint of the lives, hopes and in the end lost dreams of this place…everything….all the bricks, mortar, plaster and paint had to be carted out here and assembled by builders/craftsmen. There was a Telegraph station, Post office, Police station, Court house, School, Baker, Butcher, Grocer, Blacksmith, Mechanic……Ice cream every Sunday when ice was brought by horse and cart from Kalgoorlie….fridges and freezers hadn’t been invented. A hard life.

Only this building remains…one of the old pubs that must have been quite grand in its day , its walls heard many stories. The ruins slowly being reclaimed by the scrubby bush plants and red dust, bullet holes puncture the tourist info plaque. Google map reference is -30.683171, 121.065954

Updated….I spelt Kalgoolie wrong!!!!

The Glass Man – Amelie

An homage to the “Glass Man” in one of my favourite films..”Amelie”. Played by Serge Merlin who creates the character of Raymond Dufayel an artist with brittle bone disease who repaints Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party every year….Although he has copied the same painting 20 times, he has never quite captured the look of the girl drinking a glass of water….until Amelie falls in love.

De Atramentis Black Document ink in Lamy Safari EF fountain pen, Liquitex black acrylic ink in Pentel waterbrush, Inktense pencils wetted with Pentel waterbrush on Quill 125gsm cover paper.

Panorama City Beach

Panorama of City Beach this morning….made a new little sketchbook from some off-cuts of paper (Bockingford medium 150gsm) this size is 38mm x 24mm. This is actually my first time painting a “wide-screen” panorama. It’s a little different in that I started at one end of the beach and slowly drew around to the other side. I maybe shouldn’t have put in a horizon line but it’s permanent ink so it’s staying! It was busy again at the beach….had a hot and unusually humid few days so lots of folks cooling off and practising their body-boarding.

Usually sketching tools plus some gel pen.

E Sheds – Fremantle

Wandered around Freo on Sunday arvo….hot an humid day….quite busy. Stopped at the E Sheds on Fremantle Wharf for a cool drink and to watch the people go by. A couple of quick sketches of people at a cafe and a second sketch of an old crane at the North end. I prefer the crane sketch….I like the way the watersoluble ink bleeds into the watercolour and creates a lovely shade of purple. This crane is a bit of a local landmark that might not be around for too much longer. It was built pre-war and was used for hauling sacks, barrels and boxes out of steamships holds….back in the days where “wharfies” were essential to hand-ball everything in/out and on/off the vessels…. containers and their gigantic mega-cranes hadn’t been invented. The crane is heavily rusted with a security fence surrounding it (guess there’s a danger of bits dropping off) I think it is heritage listed but is in desperate need of some TLC…. otherwise it’s likely to be removed for scrap. (Another reason this sketch is memorable for me is that I was standing in the lee of the C sheds for some shade…but there was a rubbish bin nearby…heavily used by the fishermen/women to dispose of fishy entrails…..several days of +35’C…..well I’m sure you can imagine the smell….the things we put up for in the name of art!)

Cafe sketch: De Atramentis Black document ink in Lamy Safari EF nib, Waterbrushes with Liquitex acrylic black ink (permanent), Lamy black fountain pen ink (watersoluble ink), plain water. Various watercolours, Uniball white gel pen. 

Crane sketch: De Atramentis deepwater obsession brown-black ink (watersoluble ink), Cobalt blue watercolour, Lamy black ink in waterbrush (watersoluble ink)

2015 Loose Sketch Roundup

These are all my 2015 loose sketches (or most of them…I know there’s a few that got recycled early) collected together and spread over the living room floor….229 pages!

Size A4 Quill brand 125gsm cover paper (about $25 for 250 sheets) this paper is a little thicker than “standard” cartridge paper and can take watercolour without buckling too much (I don’t usually work really wet). I draw on both sides of the page so pictured above is only half my scribbles…. I should have turned over each sheet and taken a photo of the other side….but it all seemed a bit much!

When out and about I draw in various sketchbooks of which I’ve filled about 6 this year….it’s harder to quantify my sketchbooks as they’re all different sizes and shapes. Most of my sketchbook drawings remain unseen… only the “best” ones or the ones I feel most interesting  make it onto this blog….I have plenty of drawings that didn’t work….I keep them all and review them from time to time….reminds me how far I’ve come and what to try next.

The loose sketches are mostly done in the evening…. a stack of paper attached to a clipboard which I scribble on whilst watching TV. Looking back at these pictures I do notice the majority are faces, followed by hands, feet and then remaining body parts…..I guess figurative drawing is most enjoyable and challenging. Some drawings are copies of other peoples work (all the great artists always copied from the masters when they were learning). Other drawings are family, everyday objects around the house, faces on TV and pictures from magazines or newspapers.

There’s pencil, pen, ballpoint, watercolour and gouache experiments going on in these pictures, most of them are not drawings I would normally show people, they’re just doodles….many unfinished scribbles.

Now I’ve cleared last years pile into a box…. maybe I could use them as wall paper for the spare room one day!

Already started a new collection for 2016…..