Excellent sketch locations indoors and out
Kingscliff and Chinderah in the Tweed Rivers, and Varsity Lakes on Gold Coast are filled with stunning sketch locations. This week was terrific.
Each class had to mange challenging subjects and to plan how to get them onto a page.
For Tuesday on Gold Coast, we would be doing a street scene. However as a warm up, I decided to do a cafe interior with customers ( people sketching!!!) and whatever else made it the place we were in. This is Blackboard Cafe at Varsity Lakes and they’re always so welcoming with a good table for our group and immediate coffee. They know we’ll be lovely people once we have coffee.
By now our OnGoing Sketchers have developed their own style and character to their work. I just adore seeing what comes out on their pages. I loved the dog curled up on the floor in one of them!
The staff were quite fascinated and keep looking after us even more so they can see what we’re doing.
Then it was across to a street corner and observing what was ahead. Perspective of course. What goes up and what goes down! They’re getting the hang of it.
I’ve included a photo of the intersection with some lines I managed to add, showing eye level and one point perspective. I try not to mention the ‘P’ word as it brings on severe headaches and hysteria!
Wednesday’s Gold Coast class is now up to water compositions. We began with thumbnails to plan either portrait or landscape format. Both ways were chosen. I was very proud of the work with quite individual styles already coming through. Both watercolour and aquarelle pencil were used - not together though that is possible.
If you see a pineapple among the pics, that’s one of those growing curbside outside the waterfront cafe we also frequent at Varsity Lakes - The Lake Brewhouse. Gorgeous location where we find a table overlooking the water, and apply our colour. Love the tropical plants and flowers I’m discovering up this way. Must be because the weather is so much warmer.
Thursday’s Kingscliff class with one of the students who comes from almost 2 hours away for her weekly fix of sketching and happy time for herself. Nothing better and our location at Cubby Bakehouse was a stunner. We sat in the garden under a striped umbrella - a tiny bit of rain - and had our coffee and rhubarb cake while eyeing up our subject.
This rusty old truck is an incredibly creative use of an old vehicle - and I mean completely rusted - with the tray up and hundreds of tiny chrysanthemums flowers spilling out. It’s art in itself. Definitely a sketch for us. Finished our works and felt pretty pleased. It’s so rewarding to sketch subjects like this. I was saying that this sets one up for sketching poppies, sunflowers and lavender en masse as you would in Southern France. It’s all practice for something.
Friday in The Southern Highlands NSW, Gaye has some new and some OnGoing students, but every class is new when you truly begin to ‘see’. Our first sketch of the term is often the 5 petaled Hibiscus. Such simple shapes for starting your sketch journey, and once that stamen is in, you have it.
Learning about our layering system is new for most as well. We have no need for more than 10 colours. Our first 3 give us all colours, as you’ll see from the ‘Apple, Cup, Banana’ exercise. By layering your colour you can create very different looks. So proud of you all.
Homework. Do take a little time during your week to revisit the class you’ve just done. Try your own version of what you were doing and see how you go with getting those main shapes in first. Then the next and so on. It’s all about shape and piecing them together. Do let your tutor go over them with you at your next class, and ask about anything you’re unclear on. We’re here to help.
By the way, do not tear out pages from your book because you think it’s not working. Work over the top and learn to let the sketch unfold in it’s own way. You can’t go wrong. Then plonk the colour on and amaze yourself.
Saturday Mosman class will be back next week.
Check out this week’s work and no matter where you live you can always use the sketch ideas to try yourself.
