City Beach Sketches

A couple of sketches from City Beach (Perth) today and yesterday. It’s been a bit of a strange seasonal change here…. summer has been relatively cool over the last few months but we’ve had a hot and dry start to autumn….the ocean was like glass at midday but the “Fremantle Doctor” arrived at exactly 3pm … I could see the sea breeze slowly approaching….little ripples out a sea, getting closer until suddenly the wind changed direction from East to West.

Cafe People

Sketching people in cafes is one of my favourite things to do….a good coffee, read the newspaper then find someone else doing the same and sketch them very quickly without them noticing. I draw directly in ink without pencil under-drawing for two reasons….Firstly because an under-drawing adds extra time (which I don’t have)….. Secondly because drawing directly with ink forces me to look really closely to the subject before putting ink on the page….with waterproof ink I’m totally committed to each line (I do make mistakes but they are either incorporated into the final picture or simply ignored – life is not perfect either). Before putting pen to paper I decide on the story I want to tell and develop a mental image of how I want the final sketch to look – the composition on the page – what will be included / how much / where to place things for maximum effect. I usually start drawing a person with the nearest eye and draw out from there, looking for connecting and intersecting lines – assessing the geometry of the face (drawing is a really about triangulation). The drawing on this probably took about 15 minutes, with about 20 minutes for watercolour – adding paint into already wet washes to get graded colour. As for the choice of subject (or victim!)…. anyone who has just sat down with a full cup (so I know they will be there for a little while). Interesting faces and expressions (some people get involved with the news articles and make lots of facial expressions when reading). The guy below had a lovely soft white beard and thinning hair on top that I wanted to try to capture…..

Kailis Fish Market Leederville

Popped into Kailis Fish Market in Leederville and sketched some of the lovely fish on display, all stacked up in ice chips. The staff were great letting me sketch and kept looking over to see how the sketch was going. Only 4 colours needed for this – Quin Gold, Permanent Rose, Cobalt Blue and Hansa Yellow Medium. Holcroft sketch and draw diary (A6) with Pentel waterbrushes, TWSBI Eco fountain pen and De Atramentis Document Black ink.

Green’s Cafe Leederville

Sketching with the Urban Sketchers Perth at Green’s Cafe in Leederville yesterday together with UK sketcher/illustrator Lynne Chapman and Sydney sketcher Liz Steel. Green’s cafe always has great music and atmosphere, the colourful lampshades hanging down from the ceiling (plastic waste paper baskets) were really fun. The women in the background were very deep in conversation.

Rail Heritage Museum Bassendean

Urban Sketchers Perth met at the Rail Heritage Museum WA in Bassendean yesterday afternoon, it’s right next to the train line, packed with old locomotives and carriages from bygone days. Volunteers do a fantastic job to restore and maintain everything, apparently some of the Locos do still work but the insurance is too high to allow the volunteers to start them up.

Perth World Fringe Festival

Out with the Urban Sketchers Perth yesterday morning in the heart of Perth – The Cultural Centre (next to the state Art Gallery and State Library). Lots of bright and colourful tents and kiosks for the entertainment (shows and bars only open in the evenings). The pink fence was back again this year (I sketched it 2 years ago on our inaugural sketch-meet, don’t have much opportunity to use Permanent Rose straight from the pan, contrasted with the golden yellow of the tent below….

City Beach Sunset

A lovely balmy evening swim at City Beach, Perth, unusually calm with gentle waves lapping the shore (normally there’s a sea breeze howling in at this time of day!). A quick sketch….watercolour only, trying to capture the sky reflection in the wet sand….

Morris Commercial truck

Morris Commercial truck with gorgeous rust colouring (I think it might once have been a yellow colour – traces of yellow paint) sitting on a verge in Osborne Park (Western Australia). This was a tough one to sketch as there is no shade nearby and it was a 31’C day so I sat in my car and sketched as fast as possible….the watercolour paint dried so fast. Lots of Quinacridone Gold and Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet in the rust colours plus some Winsor Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Indigo and a touch of Raw Sienna. A blob of white gouache for the highlight on the bumper (the only shiny parts were the chrome bumper, manufacturers badge and the beautiful headlights). The vehicle hasn’t been here long (it doesn’t appear on google map dated Sept 2017). According to a Google search this could be an LC3 model from the 1940’s-50’s….but it’s in very serious need of some TLC!

Fremantle A Shed

Out with the Urban Sketchers Perth for our first meet-up of 2018. We gathered at Fremantle “E” shed on the Victoria Quay then scattered to sketch around the sheds and docks…. I drew the cranes as a little warm up sketch (A6) then set about sketching the West side of the “A” shed (there were originally 8 sheds A-H). The weatherboards are looking rather weather-beaten and characterful, I was intrigued by the little padlocked door set into the wall….I wonder what is inside?

If you’re interested in seeing what’s at Fremantle Port right now, the Fremantle Ports Authority have 14 webcams set up….copy the link and select your view to see what’s in port….

http://www.fremantleports.com.au/Operations/Harbourcams/Pages/default.aspx

South Western Australia

It’s been a while since I last posted….here are some sketches and photos of a holiday over Christmas and New Year to the South West of Western Australia. We visited Margaret River, Walpole (Warren River National Park), Denmark, Albany and Esperance. It is a truly beautiful part of the world with stunning sea-scapes and the whitest sand imaginable…..

Top of Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Ranges… Flowers clinging to the summit of Bluff Knoll…Top of Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Ranges…. Albany windfarm…  “The Gap” in Torndirrup National Park…Raging water beneath the lookout platform….hypnotizing…

Karri forrest drive… The “Giant Tingle Tree”….estimated to be 400 years old and is still alive despite the middle hollowed out…the outer edges of the tree carry nutrients to the top….  Circular Pool, North of Walpole… “The Old Northcliffe Trading Company”….looks like it is undergoing very necessary restoration….Close up of the door, and beautiful cracked paint…..The “Bicentennial Tree” just outside of Pemberton…. a 75m (246ft) tall Karri tree originally used as a fire look out (the view from the platform fixed to the top is spectacular). But you have to climb up 165 metal spikes that have been hammered into the trunk to get there (and there is no safety net between each spike!) 

 Rope and plank bridge next to “The Cascades” Pemberton… View looking North from Stoney Peak (Torndirrup National Park)Trail to Stoney Peak, looks like a bush fire has gone through here at some time…. View of “King George Sound” Albany from the top of Mount Clarence….Local kids playing in the beach (I forget where) somewhere near Denmark WAView from the top of “Monkey Rock” Denmark Greens Pool (Denmark)….a still and hot afternoon…Horse riding lesson with Justin from “Brumbies Run Horseriding Tours, Denmark (https://www.brumbiesrun.com/). I highly recommend Justin for his horse knowledge and calm teaching. Three boys who had never been on a horse before thoroughly enjoyed their first ride and learnt so much about horse mindset, character, temperament and behaviour in a 3 hour lesson….highly recommended (again)….   More Karri trees…..they’re everywhere! Even in the rain the trees are beautiful…..luscious olive greens turn into yellow ochre, burnt sienna and quin gold…

 More trees (in the rain)… View from inside Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, it was “blowing a hoolie” when we were there…over 50 knot winds (more than 100 km/hr) so we couldn’t go outside at the top of the lighthouse (too dangerous) but wonderful stormy seas….where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean…. Getting blown off your feet…hard to stand your ground… Pounding sea…  Thistle Cove in Cape Le Grand National Park….simply gorgeous beach wich dazzling white sand and turquoise sea… Tin shed at Northcliffe rail yard… Lucky Bay, Esperance….officially the whitest sand in all of Australia (according to National Geographic Australia)…Cheynes Beach Historic Whaling Station, Albany….the Cheynes IV is thankfully now permanently moored at the former whaling station and whales are no longer slaughtered for whale oil or fertilizer….It’s well worth a visit around the station, it has a fascinating history…Whalers Cove, Albany..  Original fibro and weatheboard house along The Esplanade in Esperance…. Big guns at the Albany War Memorial…Banksia mural painted by Amokisland on the side of grain silos in Ravensthorpe…. Kerosine Lamp sketched at dusk on our campsite in the Warren River National Park…..love camping