20th Worldwide Sketch Crawl

Yesterday I went on my first world-wide sketchcrawl.  It’s when people meet up all over the world, on the same day, and go sketching. Due to 14 degrees on Thursday ( that’s 57 in fahrenheit) we decided to meet at Darling Harbour, because if necessary we could have sketched indoors.  It was a beautiful day. Luckily I dressed in layers, and carried a bag big enough to put them in as they came off. Sunscreen wouldn’t have been a bad idea.

There were only three of us - Borromini Bear, who had this very palette with her, and Alissa, whose drawings are already up on the forum website.  Such interesting people.  We went to Pyrmont first, to Union Square, had a coffee and drew there. We did as much talking as sketching – no, more!

Then we walked to Darling Harbour, looking for a patch of shade, where I drew this anchor. After lunch in the Harbourside Food Hall, we walked across the old Pyrmont bridge to Queen Victoria Building. I started to draw a very complicated sketch (ALL Queen Victoria Building is complicated) then I totally gave in, rubbed it out, and drew the pattern on the floor. I took a photo of it with my phone, and hopefully tomorrow I’m going to print it on Sheer Heaven and transfer it into my sketchbook. This is the floor, and the other photo is the drawing I gave up on.

Then I went to David Jones to buy some perfume. A reward to myself for all the hard work in helping to organise the Matisse Open Day and the artists’ forum for the demonstrators on the previous day.  I read about this perfume in a magazine at the hairdressers. Escale a Portofino – a limited

edition perfume.  I like a bit of Italian flavour to my perfume. Well, David Jones had sold out & so had Myer. I came home very disappointed (when did I last buy perfume?) but later I called one of the suburban branches of David Jones, and a very kind lady put a bottle aside for me, and I went to get it today.  This perfume is going to keep giving me pleasure for a long time to come.

Starting off a book swap

We’re starting off a book swap with one member from the previous postcard swap group, and some other artists from the Everydaymatters group. This link takes you to the Everydaymatters Superblog, where you can see posts from different artists from the Everydaymatters group.  Each of us is making our own book from a sheet of watercolour paper, from a pattern (and great step-by-step) on Nina’s blog. 

We are getting off to a slow start because we have had one member drop out, got a replacement, then another has dropped out.  We’re not due to send our book off for another 3 weeks, but TODAY is the day our books are supposed to be made by.  Well, mine is done now.

Once we’ve made our book, then we draw/paint on a double-page spread, then send it to the next person. When it comes back in about 6 months time, it should be full.

My cover boards are covered with textured wallpaper that has been gessoed & then swooshed with Matisse Inks and gesso.  I am pretty fed up with this long cold winter, even though it was 35 degrees last Friday. The colours of the cover seemed so cheerful and summery, that I have made my theme ’summer’. Then I have sort-of broken my own rules, because what I’ve painted is ‘tropical’ rather than ’summer’. Still, not everyone has access to the tropics.

I photographed these heliconia plants in the grounds of the hotel where I stay in Ubud in Bali.  I’ve painted them in watercolour, which is not really my medium, but lends itself so well to florals. I do love heliconia. This year for my birthday, I’m going to buy myself a stalk of heliconia and one of those long vases you need to put them in. Just gorgeous.

Not been blogging much lately. Had a sore hand, and also busy getting ready for the Matisse Open Day. See you there!