Brisbane Ekka Residency - Day 8

Today was the eighth  day of my Ekka residency and the most rewarding so far. I had a giant macaw on my head, got to hold a baby lamb and a fun photo opportunity at the Ekka love tree outside the Old Museum.

This Instagram setup appeared to be very popular. The tree looked amazing decorated with roses and red hearts and provided a great backdrop for the photos tagged #ekkalovetree for everyone to share the Ekka experience on social media. I even saw a whole primary school class getting in on the act.

Midmorning coffee time was in the Food and Beveridge Hall where I tried to give an indication of the hive of activity, shown below.

I have sketched a lot of people this week and two things I have noticed are, firstly so many people wear their sunglasses on top of their heads ( I was never allowed to do this a a teenager so I really notice it now) and secondly instead of carrying show bags around almost everyone seemed to have a backpack. And of course phone use seems to be at an all time high.

I have sketched horses, goats, chickens, ducks and people and I finally got around to the sheep. This champion ewe is called Dakabin Nyssa and she was bred at Dakabin State High School Sheep Stud. I met her handler Olivia and I got to cuddle the baby lamb after my painting was finished.

I overheard a few onlookers say they would never eat lamb again. I am a lifelong vegetarian so I had no such guilt pangs.

Finally I have to share the picture of me with the macaw on my head. I believe her name was Angela and she was heavier than she looks. She comes from the Maleny Botanic Gardens Bird World.
The Ekka is full of surprises!

Ekka Artist in Residence - Day 6

Today was People's Day at the Ekka. It is always the most crowded day due to it being a public holiday and today was no exception.  I tried to concentrate on more figure drawing to fit in with this fact.

I chose a spot were there were a lot of children coming and going. This was the "Crazy Clowns" in the family fun area. The kids were the same size as the statue of Bob the Builder. People have asked me how I make my figures look real. The short answer is that they are real. The longer answer is that I never draw anything I don't see, and I work very quickly.

If a figure moves or walks away I wait for another one to come along so that the resulting drawings are really composite people from a couple of sources, but no less real because of this. I never resort to using a formula such as ovals for heads or triangles for torsos, as I dislike that kind of formulaic stylised image. My philosophy is "Don't make it up, just look."

This second one was done in the CWA (Country Women's Association) Tea Room. This is one of my favourite spots for a break. People are coming and going all the time and if possible I get a seat in the corner.

I did have one lady comment to me that she thought very few people paint just ordinary life.

It was great to have a chance to draw these crocheted toys. I overheard lots of conversations about the exhibits as I sat there, covering the whole spectrum from "Wow, look at that amazing crocheting" to "I could do that".

There is a lot of detail in these ones I did today and they seemed to take more time. I worked all day and only managed three!