Singapore Urban Sketching Symposium 2015

We would have to be living on another planet not to know that there is a contemporary obsession with taking photos. Others before me have noted that people these days use photo-taking as a substitute for memory. I would go further than this to say that people these days use photo-taking as a substitute for actually really LOOKING.


Not so the Urban Sketchers!


The act of sketching is a seductive one and I have been well and truly seduced. Having been an artist all my life like my mother before me, I have used many media and done heaps of sketching en plein air. ( In 2010 I had a book published called Drawing Brisbane. ) But nothing compares with the global phenomenon of Urban Sketching which I have only discovered in the last twelve months or so. By sketching while sitting or standing in one spot outside so much more can be seen. My inner voice is continually saying, "Gee if I hadn't been drawing I wouldn't have noticed that."


As I have written in earlier blogs, it suits me in many ways. I have never been much of a joiner (although this is changing) and have beavered away in my solitary studio and been happy to do so, so NOTHING prepared me for the wow factor of the Urban Sketching Symposium in Singapore.


I knew no-one when I went and I believed that I was the only person from my city. (There was one other who I didn't meet until the last day). There was also one other from my state of Queensland (almost 2,000km away) who I got to hang out with thankfully because I was a bit overwhelmed. I had seen the sketches of various people on-line and in books and been intrigued. It was through following Kiah Kiean that I found out about the symposium.

I had a big solo show here in Brisbane in March and this symposium idea seemed a great reward for all my head down work. So off I went...

In was an unseasonably cold winter here in Brisbane and the heat of Singapore felt like our summer so I felt right at home.
The first wow moment came when I heard Elizabeth Alley speak. She told an anecdote about how she felt she had "found her people" and it was a goose-pimple moment because I looked around and half the people in the room had sketch books out and were already at it!

I will post most of the sketches I did over the three days, some of which were in workshop situations and some on sketch crawls. Seeing the long line of sketchers on the shady side of the street during a sketchcrawl was gob-smacking. The line just went on and on and on. The purple lanyards we all wore were a great link at other times out and about in the city.

This was my first morning, just getting my bearings, met no-one yet. Arab Street Singapore.
There was a table of Australians just around the corner! I could hardly contain my excitement when I almost stumbled over Liz Steele (recognised from her on-line photo)  sitting cross-legged on the footpath sketching with a group of the tutors.

These two were done at the Gardens by the Sea on my first afternoon before the symposium began.

I went to James Richard's workshop about capturing people in crowded places and did these last two there. I now understand about the standing eye-line but I sat for both of my efforts! I will give it a try one of these days.   I get the concept and it is a very valuable  one!

I did another excellent workshop with Melanie Reim and attempted a more calligraphic line. This is a direction that I think has possibilities for me. A lifetime of life drawing every week is a real asset here. It is also a question of drawing with confidence. One mark can say it all, less is more, like Hokusai.

I use such a lot of colour in my usual acrylic work (Brisbane is very colourful and absolutely everything grows here) that it surprises me to see how little I used in Singapore, maybe because I deliberately chose workshops that were very different from my usual working methods. I did a great workshop with Gail Wong but my sketch is a bit too lame to post here!

It is few weeks now since I got back but I have been wanting to crystallize my thoughts before writing anything and I have been doing a lot of thinking. I have become a real advocate for this way of working and being part of the whole global community of artists working in this way is such a thrill.

I have done a couple of other projects since I have been back. Will post soon.

Commissions and more urban sketches.

I been working pretty solidly finishing commissioned paintings and finding a bit of time to work en plein air sketching to brush up my skills before heading off to the symposium in Singapore. (More about this in the future)

Robyn Bauer  Commissioned painting of Ipswich

This one is of Ipswich. The brief was to include the old and the new, and I spent a morning driving around getting a feel for the place. I knew Ipswich had some gorgeous old Queenslanders and when I spied a view of the water reservoirs and the bright yellow and blue shop I knew I had my subject. There are layers and layers of paint, not obvious in the photograph. Acrylic on canvas.

Robyn Bauer  Commissioned painting of Suncorp Stadium and Hale Street Brisbane

This painting shows Suncorp Stadium on the left and some of the Hale Street houses on the right. A strong composition based on angles, and while at first I was hesitant to include so much of the road I think the heightened colour makes the shapes interesting in themselves, and roads are so much a part of our lives these days. It can't all be just picturesque cottages! My son actually said to me the other day that when he was stuck in traffic driving in Hale Street, he thought "I'm in Mum's painting"!

As I mentioned last blog post I am working on a Brisbane River Project amongst other things. I am saving some of the drawings but in the meantime can post some recent urban sketches.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of Brisbane River

 Like many Brisbanites I drove out to see the US warship "George Washington" which was moored at the mouth of the river for three days. It is a huge nuclear powered aircraft-carrier with 38 planes on the deck. We couldn't get too close to it as is apparent from the drawing. This was done at Pinkenba.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of Brisbane River

As a total contrast, this boat (although US Mississippi style) is a bit more fetchingly festive. It is the Kookaburra Queen II drawn from Eagle Street Pier.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of cemetery 

This was done on a second trip to the South Brisbane Cemetery at Dutton Park. The little white bridges are private jetties.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of cemetery

 This was a very quick last minute one at the cemetery. The two pylons on the right are the edge of the Eleanor Schonell Bridge. I was itching to draw the angel (not a lot of sculpture in this cemetery compared to the one at Toowong) but still wanted a hint of the presence of the river.

Finally another river one showing the Story Bridge from Eagle Street Pier Coffee Club.

Ink stained fingers - Media experiments with my urban sketches.

This week I went out sketching four days to two different locations. For those following my work closely it will already have become apparent that I am concentrating on the Brisbane River. I have done nine from the riverbank so far. I am going to start numbering them Brisbane River 1 etc.

It is winter in Brisbane at the moment and although the temperature range is 7 - 22 degrees C it does feel a bit uncomfortable giving up the comforts of the studio to be subject to the vagaries of the elements. I am realising I had my little studio routines all worked out and now that I am working so much en plein air I am made uncomfortably aware of how many cups of tea I must have been making in the studio not to mention loo visits etc. Also because I have done so much life drawing I must have developed a 25 minute habit of working then a five minute break ( to suit the model posing)! I am tending to do this outside as well.   It is really a question of being more organised with a coffee break, loo break before setting up.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of Brisbane River

I have so many different materials I decided to go back to this buff paper and use black and white charcoals. The result looks a bit too neat for my current sensibilities. I would like to go back to the same spot and do a quicker messy ink drawing. The view is from the Newstead House lawn looking over where Breakfast Creek joins the Brisbane River.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of Breakfast Creek Hotel

 This is just a little further to the left of the last image. The famous Breakfast Creek Hotel from the other side of the creek. I have a little set of watercolours but dislike adding colour piecemeal like this, too much like colouring-in. I did throw some salt on the wet patches as it dried (fish shop nearby) but would like a lot more of the accidental effect than is happening here.

I caught the bus into the City and walked down to the City Botanic Gardens. It really is the most awesome spot for sketching, with the river, boats moored and the bank on the other side. I used a bit of coloured oil pastel (old fashioned cray pas) on the yellow, blue, orange bits and on the white masts. The plan was that this would act like a wax resist with the ink wash, but it wasn't too successful with the masts so I went over them with, wait for it...  Bic Whiteout! This is now a staple in my kit.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of Brisbane River

My fourth sketch for the week and I think the most successful, having learned from some of the earlier frustrations. The white of the boat ropes is white ink over the ink wash. I have to wave the book around to dry it before this can be applied. The view is very close to the previous one, from the Botanic Gardens looking toward Kangaroo Point over the Brisbane River.

People have been pretty much ignoring me as I sit and work. Only one man asked if he could have a look and an old lady said I was wearing too much red!

Urban Sketching Brisbane River and other Urban Landscapes

I have really been getting into the swing of sketching en plein air. I am finding it really suits my temperament to get out amongst it. I also enjoy experimenting with different media. At the moment I am particularly enjoying Black Ink applied with various tools, most recently with some bamboo twigs I found on one of my walks. I have also variously used a dip pen, brushes, and an ordinary felt tip pen.

Here are the results.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of Paddington Brisbane

This is view down the street from where I live. Given Terrace Paddington looking towards Brisbane city.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of Paddington Brisbane

It was rainy on this particular day so this is the exact view from my back deck over the rooftops. The church is Sacred Heart Rosalie and that is Toowong Tower in the centre.

This was the following day , rainy again. Although this shows part of the studio window and deck railings outside.
As you can see I am using different strengths of ink, some quite watery. The paper is only 135 gsm but after it dries if I put a heavy book on it it flattens out enough. I really like a flat paper look, not keen on the bobbles of watercolour paper. It looks too mechanical and contrived for me.

I did this one of the Museum on the group Urban Sketchers day. Again it was raining so we mostly worked inside. Lots of parents with kids around as it was a Saturday. I enjoyed the interaction with people watching me work. I could tell with a lot of the kids that they had never seen an artist actually working like that.

Robyn Bauer Urban sketch of Ipswich

This is a drawing I did while working on a commission painting of Ipswich.

This sketch was to accompany another commission. I was up on the overpass near Suncorp Stadium looking over Hale Street.

Another Urban Sketchers Group day. We were in Captain Burke Park under the Story Bridge. All Hallows School is on the left. That is Robert, one of the group working on the seat at right.

Another local scene. I was sitting in Princess Street Paddington just near Given Terrace, outside Ray White real estate office, looking up to St Bridget's church.

Looking down Ellena Street from Latrobe Terrace Paddington.

Looking across the Brisbane River towards Fig Tree Pocket from just near the Centenary Bridge.

This last one was just done this morning. I drove over to West End and sat looking across the river toward Coronation Drive. The trees are all mangroves with the little aerial roots coming out of the mud.