Fremantle Festival 2016

A bike ride to Fremantle today. This is a super quick sketch of a duo called “ManoAmano- circo” from Argentina performing their act called “Kinematos” on the Esplanade as part of the Fremantle Festival this Easter weekend. (Freo was very busy on Easter Monday ….don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people there). They were really good with the act centered around a pole tethered to the ground….part clown, part death defying acrobatics. My sketch is really, really rough (fountain pen and multi-coloured ball point pen)…there were lots of people watching so it was hard to get a good vantage point and the pair (Ana and Martin) moved around a lot…. so to isolate one part of the act was tricky for me…. to draw so quickly…. At the end I asked if they would sign the sketch… which you can see on the right….a lovely afternoon….now to cycle home again….

Wolf Lane, Perth

Different views of Wolf Lane (off King Street in central Perth)  this morning with the Perth Sketchers. Two very different takes on the lane-way which has been revamped by the city with cafes and lots of really interesting large scale murals/graffiti.

The the picture on the left was sketched first and took about an hour, I wasn’t too happy with the end result….it’s a bit overworked and lacks a focal point. I think it would’ve been better to focus more on the two chairs and push the lane-way into the back ground.

The second sketch is the row of bins all filled up with overflowing bags after a big weekend….this one only took 20 minutes (1/3 the time of the first sketch) and is much fresher and more spontaneous. The old adage that “less is more” seems to work in this case….some times the most mundane items can be the most interesting.

Sculptures by the Sea Cottesloe 2016

Sculptures by the Sea at Cottesloe beach yesterday. An unusually humid and steamy day in Perth but great to go and check out this years sculptures on iconic Cottesloe Beach (one of the best beaches in the world)…it’s been a while since I’ve been out sketching. There was the usual eclectic mix of weird, funny and beautiful creations from around the world. Couldn’t sketch them all in a morning so together with sketching friend Aggie we found a sheltered spot next to a wall out the the full sun to settle down and scribble. This piece is titled “Travelling Bag” by Yumin Jing of China and is a lovely recreation of a handbag made entirely out of steel with rare plants growing inside, the reflections off its polished surface are amazing (and hard to paint!). Fun to watch all the people and overhear their comments (especially the school kids and their teachers).

This other sketch below is just quick gestural scribbles of people wandering around looking and relaxing on the beach.

Finally after all the sketching I had a quick swim in the Indian Ocean to cool off….a perfect morning!

Pilot Parallel pen 1.5mm with DeAtramentis Document Ink black, various watercolours, Pentel waterbrush, Holcroft sketch and draw A4 diary 225gsm.