Week Four in the Gardens

Even though is is now Autumn, we had incredibly hot weather this week. I worked mostly in the studio apart from a couple of little forays outside to walk in the gardens.

Robyn Bauer- Lotus painting

I have taken hundreds of photos I can work from although I still want my work to have a quality of having been done on location. The magnificent lotus plants are growing in a raised pond just outside the admin and library complex at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens. I wanted to capture both pods and flowers. I have finally moved to working on canvas after all the drawings I have done.

Robyn Bauer - costus barbatus

This brightly coloured flower is a type of ginger called costus barbatus and it really stands out against the more muted colours of the eucalyptus behind it. I am building these paintings up in layers and they are still works in progress.

I managed to get hold of these books about Australian landscape artist John Wolseley from the Mt Coot-tha library. Much of Wolseley's art has really been a search for a way of representing the uniqueness of Australian flora, fauna and the environment generally. They are visual meditations on the natural world. He seems to achieve a spiritual interaction with the landscape. (Aboriginal people have always done this) 

Many artists working in a western manner have never quite achieved this depth of response. The landscape has been painted, but there has been not so much focus on the flora and fauna except for natural history artists.

What I am aiming for is something that crosses these different traditions; Not a photographic representation or a collection of scientific observations,but something that takes from or blends different approaches. I am nowhere near achieving this yet but maybe after my year in the Gardens I'll have more of an idea. 

What I can say so far is that I want my work to show some visual clues as far as colours, shapes and a response to an object or place in the gardens. I have plenty of visual stimuli and my drawings have explored some textural observations. I am trying to find my own way.

There is also the excitement of process. As I've said before, I want even the studio work to have the immediacy of en plein air response.  The excitement of discovering something exotic to me will hopefully come across. 

More Black and White Sketches of Brisbane

I am really loving getting out and about in the mild winter weather. These drawings have all been done on location or en plein air in and around Brisbane.
They are all ink on paper, specifically Arches 300gsm smooth, hot pressed watercolour paper.

Jo Jo's Restaurant South Brisbane

Ithaca War Memorial

Fortitude Valley

Bardon Water Tower from Collingwood Street.

Breakfast Creek Hotel

St Matthews Mitchelton

Story Bridge Hotel

Japanese Garden Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens

Woolloongabba

Milton Fig Tree

Brisbane City from Southbank

Recent Urban Sketches of Brisbane

For the past year I have been venturing out at least weekly to capture the sights and activities of many varied locations in Brisbane.

Latrobe Terrace Paddington Brisbane, Urban Sketch

I wanted my drawings to have both strength and a strong design aspect so I decided to work just in ink. The ink is diluted into various strengths from ink black to pure water.
Brisbane has such strong contrasts with our harsh sunlight and very dark shadows so I thought ink was the perfect medium to achieve this. It can be extremely messy so I usually wear black on my sketching days! I want to indicate the bright colours of our urban landscape without using colour.

Rosalie Village Brisbane Urban Sketch

 Being a Paddington resident, and being so enamoured of the place I have no trouble finding appealing locations quite close to home. Finding a spot in the shade is the most overriding consideration and when I am comfortable on my fold-up stool I can always find a composition in any direction. Framing devices such as foreground trees or telephone lines are something I embrace. The clutter of the street really is the subject after all. I always do a quick thumbnail first through my trusty viewfinder. If I don't do this I always regret it!

Given Terrace and Great George Streets, Le Bon Choix, Urban Sketch Brisbane

Overhead telephone lines usually echo the topography of the street below so they provide a great compositional device. People and trees are my very favourite subjects as they provide the life and energy of the scene and give me chance to loosen up. If I am patient, a person that I can include will appear and if they move on I can morph them into the next person in the drawing.

Story Bridge Brisbane Urban Sketch

The landmarks of the city such as the big bridges are subjects that appeal if I can find appropriate shelter from the sun. Sometimes I work from the car. Even if I do focus on an iconic subject, I try to get an unusual view of it that is not stereotypical but is nevertheless accurate from a particular vantage point. Including the signage and the overhead lights and wires gives the sense of authenticity and accuracy that is important to me.

The Eternal Flame, Anzac park, Urban Sketch Brisbane

Some members of our group of Urban Sketchers Brisbane have architectural training and they gravitate towards producing detailed sketches of buildings. There is such a wealth of styles embodied in the buildings of Brisbane. Often in a single sketch different historical periods and genres are apparent. The silhouette provided by the shapes provides an important compositional device. Trees often do this job for me.

Ann Street Uniting Church from Ann Street, Brisbane Urban Sketch

Tonal values are paramount in this series of works. I do the big "squint" to establish where my lights and darks are and I usually go straight in with a fine pen that is slightly water soluble. I try to "disappear the line" by taking the tonal wash right up to it, as there are really no lines in the subject, just changes of colour or tone. This really creates a three dimensional illusion instead of just a drawing with lines. If I can "get rid of the line" then I do so. The change from dark to light indicates the subject in a much more realistic fashion. Also the drawings can take on the quality of an old black and white photo, which I find appealing and it creates another level of visual reference with historical overtones.

The Mansions, George Street Brisbane, Urban Sketch

The arched windows in the sketch above illustrate this point. There are no lines just changes of tone or value. As far as perspective goes, I think it is the last thing to be worried about. I use "sighting" or holding up my pencil vertically or horizontally to measure the angle of a building by sight. I never bother with measuring. I just compare to the constant vertical and horizontal of the edge of the paper.
The foreground framing of a concrete planter box and traffic lights gives sense of the crowded location. You can no longer step back from city buildings and get a picturesque view. It just isn't physically possible.

Rising Sun Hotel Rosewood, Urban Sketch

Even in surrounding small towns, the paraphernalia of the street intrudes on the subject. In the case of this hotel in Rosewood, I think the railway crossing provides an amusing angle. It is accurate from where I was sitting against the opposite fence.

Kilcoy Urban Sketch

I have traveled a little further afield and found some great subject matter. I am sure my powers of observation and subsequently my knowledge of these small towns is really enhanced by investing some time sitting in the street and sketching.

Rathdowney, Urban Sketch

Sandgate Town Hall

Oriel Park Ascot, Brisbane Urban Sketch

There is definitely a quality of recording aspects of Brisbane life of the present moment. Change happens relentlessly and some of these images are a snapshot in time. I am actually aware of this while I am working. Different things are visible in different seasons also.

Racecourse Road Ascot, Brisbane Urban Sketch

The giant fig trees that are dotted around the city and suburbs are something that makes my heart sing. I just can't go past one, even if I had another subject in mind before arriving.

The Watercolourist, at The Priory, Kenmore, Brisbane Urban Sketch

Everyone likes to come across an unexpected sketch of themselves, particularly if it is like "candid camera" and they had no knowledge of being captured at the time. I make it a mission to try and capture everyone in the group at some stage over the months.

Melbourne and Grey Streets Brisbane, Urban Sketch

I quickly captured another of our regular sketchers in the foreground here. It's always a good idea to put them in early on and just work around them. There is lot of camaraderie in our group and we have a lot of laughs when people see images of themselves. They would rather be sketched than photographed, that's for sure!

Tropical Dome and Succulents, Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, Brisbane Urban Sketch

As I mentioned earlier, trees and people are my favourite subjects and the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens is my favourite place. There is wealth of material there for the artist and plenty of shade. These textures are a challenge to indicate just using the one simple medium. I often start with a bamboo twig to get a loose starting point. I then go in boldly with large 2 or 3 cm brushes to apply the tonal washes. Splashes of ink are great to indicate growth and movement. I love the use of the accidental mark. I actually provoke it. Spilled ink adds, doesn't detract.

Latrobe Terrace Paddington, Brisbane Urban Sketch

Queensland Museum, Brisbane Urban Sketch

The Three Monkeys, West End, Brisbane Urban Sketch

Collingwood Street Paddington,Brisbane Urban Sketch

Fig Tree and Sandgate Town Hall, Brisbane Urban Sketch

As you can see these trees really are a feature of my work. When the ink is dry (which happens pretty quickly in this climate) I can go over the ink with a white charcoal pencil to bring out some highlights and create volume.

Antarctic Beech Trees Springbrook

Antarctic Beech Trees, Springbrook, close up of roots.

Depending on the amount of time available, some sketches are more detailed than others. I sometimes think that the quicker and simpler the better.

It is only after spending the morning uploading all these images that I realise how many I have actually done! I am planning to put together a small book of these black and white ink sketches. I intend to have these at my next exhibition which is November 2018 at Royal Qld Art Society.

Hope to see you there!

If you are interested in joining Brisbane Urban Sketchers, you can find us on Facebook.

Artist in Residence at the Ekka - Day 5

Today I am starting with my last image first as it is the most colourful so far and shows how my confidence to work quickly is growing as I warm to my subject matter. I had a grassy spot to sit and view this "Fishing Tent" in the Family Fun area. That is a black cut out angler on the roof although he looks a bit more sinister than a fisherman.

My first picture of the morning was this view of the main arena including the iconic clock tower.  There was some horse action, a bit of dressage and later some trotting. I have tried to indicate both. I was working on this one when I did the Channel 9 interview. For the people in the far grandstand I did draw actual people, in a blind contour drawing kind of way, looking more at the people than my paper.

This image of people grew in an organic way. I just grabbed whoever I could see at different stages in the Al Fresco area outside the Fine Arts Pavilion. I do these people sketches in my downtime, whenever I am having a coffee myself. Exhibition Station is in the background.

Finally made it to the Cattleman's Bar and yes I did have drink and a chat, and patrons were very interested in what I was doing. It is no exaggeration that these people were all on their phones. I used a different paper for this one, a brown craft paper with a swish of shellac and some pastel primer. I have all sorts of papers in my folder all cut to a standard size.

And here is the evidence!

This is me working on the sketch of the Cattleman's Bar, sitting directly opposite.

Still haven't made it to the Lumberjacks from Canada!

Ekka Artist in Residence Day 3

When you ask people what they actually like about the Ekka, the answer is usually "the cows" and then "the cakes" so I thought that today I'd better get a spot in front of the cake cabinet before it got too crowded.

As I sat doing this, I was recognised by a few Dalby people (due no doubt to me mentioning my origins on the ABC story) which was lovely.

Apparently you are not allowed to photograph the cakes due to design copyright but as you can see I caught several people doing so. Yet another example where the sketcher is accepted where the camera is not.

I should mention at this point that there is a large behind-the-scenes room for the use of stewards, that I have been given access to for tea/coffee and having a breather. I was chatting to one of the stewards about what people associated most with the Ekka. I mentioned the wood-chopping and how I intended to include that.

Steward; "Did you know we have Lumberjacks from Canada here this year"?

Me;  "Lumberjacks from Canada"?

Steward;  "Would you be interested in sketching Lumberjacks from Canada? The're just here for the Ekka."

Me; "Yes I think Lumberjacks from Canada are definitely something that as Artist in Residence I should give some attention to..."

I headed to a tent where I found Stockmen (not Lumberjacks) but thought them well worth drawing. They moved so fast it was very difficult to capture them but this gives a general impression, particularly of the bright orange flame each was using to forge a horseshoe.

I headed towards the wood-chopping arena and found the Jack and Jill cross saw competition in progress. This view gave me an opportunity to sketch the crowd in the opposite grandstand. This drawing covers several events including the tree climbing event. Again everything was fast moving. (no lumberjacks here)

By this stage of the day I had done a fair bit of fine pen work and felt like splashing some paint around. Crossing Gregory Terrace however I saw these white cranes against the blue sky and had to stop to record that. There was quite a queue for the Strawberry Sundae.

I finally decided that to really splash some paint I would have to head to the Garden Clubs and I did this side view through the bromeliads to the orchids.

Lumberjacks will have to wait!