Ekka Residency - Day 4

I didn't get to sketch any animals yesterday so today I made a beeline for the Goat Pavilion. The Australian-flag-draped female goat caught my eye although she seemed oblivious to the overnight Olympic medal tally.

These animals are SO curious. The black one at the bottom had a nice motionless position until I started drawing her. She kept reaching out her head to see what I was doing. She wasn't too impressed because then she started nodding off. If you look closely at the two little kids top right you will see that there is a third black one almost totally hidden. I didn't notice her until I was half way through.

The goats are right next to the Poultry Section so I popped in there for another visit. The amount of variety in these bird breeds is amazing. I spoke to one of the breeders and she said that judging these birds depends on the perfect silhouette from the side. I couldn't get to see this because of the cages.

This is one I started yesterday but didn't get finished so I spent a bit more time on it. Bromeliads and Orchids.

For this last one, I was encouraged to sit right in front of the display in quite a prominent position. Not the kind of spot I would have chosen as I had quite an audience watching me work. I did this pretty fast as a result! So much work must go into putting these displays together. This one was full of tiger lilies, orchids and succulents. That is a second prize banner in the foreground.

Robyn Bauer

Finally a couple of shots of me working which I am happy to have as a record. This one shows the purple case I have been dragging behind me all week with my art materials. I also have a little fold up stool.

Robyn Bauer

There is an Ekka photographer who is doing the rounds in an official capacity.

Just look for the hashtag #theekka

Royal Queensland Show - Ekka Residency Day 1

Today was my first day as Artist in Residence at the Royal Queensland Show 2016.

My plan is to draw and paint on location at the Ekka and record as much as I can visually, sort of like a visual correspondent. These small vignettes can later be worked up into something larger in the studio, although the freshness and authenticity of the on location sketch is all I am aiming for at this stage.

It is only two days since I arrived back in Brisbane from my stint in Manchester teaching at the Urban Sketching Symposium (more about that in another blog post). Still not fully functioning on all cylinders due to jet lag.

Today my plan was to just get a feel of the atmosphere once again. I spent the morning in Side-Show Alley just inside the Bowen Bridge Road gate.

I just grabbed a few images from different directions, the grandfather on the right, the carousel and a couple of tents in the background. A bit of a warm up sketch.

By this stage I had received a call from ABC TV who wanted to film me working and do a quick interview so I stayed in that general area. This second image is of a couple of the rides outside the Show-bag Pavilion. This is the one that features in the TV news from tonight. 

I intend to get to as many parts of the Show as possible and I know from past years that the big cows are only there for a couple of days. After the judging is done they vanish and I was determined to capture them early in the piece.

These ladies ( Herefords) were all lying down tired after  their judging so were relatively still. The owner was very happy for me to sit next to her and work. 

This one was quite quick as the cows (Shorthorns) were shuffling around and soon they all stood up and were marched off somewhere.

My overall impression of the day was that many things have changed. The Ekka evolves each year. I find it wonderful to get up close to animals particularly big ones. I think I will try and do a mixture of subjects each day. There is simply so much visual information in every direction you care to look. 

It is a great privilege to be able to do this.

And finally a picture of me at work.

Robyn Bauer