110930 A great start to a long weekend

110930 A great start to a long weekend, a photo by borromini bear on Flickr.

I haven't been down to Milsons Point for AGES! From next week it will be even lighter as we go into daylight saving(summer time)
It is so obvious to sketch the Opera House but I never get sick of drawing it plus it makes me feel like I am on holidays (a tourist in my own city!)...SO much else to sketch down here...Luna Park rides AND people etc. I think I will try and make this a regular habit. Only need to be down here for 1-2 hours - ahhh nothing beats getting out for some sketching!!!!

Sketch 1 for the long weekend completed!!!

110929 Nannas China- Noritake Coffee Set

110929 Nannas China- Noritake Coffee Set, a photo by borromini bear on Flickr.

Been so busy the last number of months that I haven't had a chance to work my way through the collection of china etc that is temporarily in the house. I have to draw them all quickly so they can be distributed. Never seem to do the best sketches when I know I 'have' to do a 'good' version.
Sketching them of course creates a stronger bond with them... but then if I have the sketch I am happy that someone else has the object.
(after all I got the Shelley cups so am very happy!!!!)

BTW great quotes on the side if you can read them... sorry about the ultra condensed writing... didn't quite leave myself enough room!

110928 A packet of Rice Crackers

110928 A packet of Rice Crackers, a photo by borromini bear on Flickr.

A friend of mine thought I might like to draw these crackers... she was certainly correct in her assumption!!!
Too cute to unwrap I think!

Aah... haven't done a proper sketch for 5 days so it was nice to chill and do this today!!!

This week I am reading and NOT sketching - well tonight anyway!!

...there are many many books on FLW but these two really contain some amazing analytical insights !

110922 A computer Free Weekend coming up!!!

I know that some (many) of you think that I have limitless amounts of energy to sketch non-stop, and then scan and post everything I sketch...and do all other crazy things... well I don't!

It has been a huge push to finish uploading all my sketches from my recent trip (which was unbelievably full-on), plus try to get a number of other associated chores completed... coupled with post Symposium hyper-active online and LOTS of ideas and projects swimming in my head at the moment some of which I have started on...well, I have finally hit the wall!!!

So the thought of having a bit of a black out has been on my mind a bit during the week ... and tonight I confirmed the resolution by sketching my desktop machine and scanner (which I will cover up tonight with a cloth so I can't even see it!!!!) Funny that I found yet another use for sketching in my life- to confirm resolutions.

I was asking myself why I am bothering to tell everyone about it... but in essence I am a just one big show-off... I have to tell people I am going to do something or else I will never do it! I was also a little concerned that some of you will start to worry if I miss a few days and don't post anything... (hmmm, that is a thought when is the last time I didn't post for 3 days in a row????)

Anyway... I am looking forward to the challenge... my brain desperately needs some free space (not that it ever really slows down!) and it will be nice to do something different... like knitting a tea cosy...or sitting in bed reading a book.

BTW 1 please take note that there is no mention of visiting a tearoom in my to-do list (just thought I should mention this)
BTW 2... just for the record, I have not been posting most of the daily sketches I have been doing in the last few weeks... it is quite liberating not to feel like I have to post them.

SO... have a good Friday and weekend everyone!!!!

Final (I think?) post from Trip 2011 - Week in Cardiff

Open publication - Free publishing - More sketches

Here are the pages I did while in Cardiff immediately after the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Lisbon. This week, as I have mentioned earlier was an amazing church conference... lots of great sermons, friends to catch up with and new friends to make. Although very tired, I did manage to squeeze some sketching in and when I look at these pages as a whole and very happy, from a journally point of view that I was able to record both with text and with sketches all that went into this very special week.

Travel 'journal-style' pages

Travel 'journal-style' pages, a set on Flickr.

Following on from my comments last night about maps and travel journals... I have just created a new set in my flickr – Travel journal-style pages
A collection of some of my favourite pages that are in a journal style...ie. not just a single 'great' sketch on a page. Ones that tell a story, ones that I enjoy looking at and re-living months, years later.A combination of sketches, media, notes, a map, a bit of collage...and maybe even a tea cup sketch or two!

Thinking about maps in Travel journals

I was looking through a few of my travel sketchbooks tonight...

last years big trip was so busy that I rarely drew maps, while Trip 2009 I drew maps every night. This year's trip I made an allowance for maps on my summary page and ended up drawing most of them when I got home.

What STRUCK me tonight is... the few maps I drew last year where incorporated into a page with a sketch or two and that these ARE a lot nicer pages. If I hadn't got around to drawing a map on this page, I could have added some text or some collage or just enjoyed the glorious white space which I generally don't have enough of in my sketchbooks.

Anyway... this has got me thinking of a different approach... it doesn't necessarily mean that it is another trip...you can create wonderful travel pages at home!?!

(these are pages from NYC and ROme last year during my big 11 week trip)

Trip 2011 Volume One

Open publication - Free publishing - More sketchbook

Volume 1... the 4 days before I left home and then the first few days in the UK before heading for Lisbon!

BB is devastated

BB is devastated, a photo by borromini bear on Flickr.

...and so am I. Yesterday I went into my local bookstore (Constant Reader at Crows Nest) to see if the one copy of Cathy(Kate) Johnson’s new book had come in. IT HAD! But tragically my phone was totally out of juice so I couldn’t take a photo of Borromini next to THE book( that he appears in) on the shelf. Today I had the phone and the bear but the book has been sold!!! So here is BB pointing to where it was- right next to Danny Gregory’s An Illustrated Life. At least it is good to know that it is finally on the shelves here down under and I AM truly happy that someone is now enjoying the book!!!

My London Sketches in Full

Open publication - Free publishing - More london

Here are my London sketches to flick through... 3.5 days and then the journey home.

Urban Sketchers Australia!!

Urban Sketchers Australia!!, a photo by borromini bear on Flickr.

Just to let everyone that Urban Sketchers Sydney has become Urban Sketchers AUSTRALIA!!!
The new url is australia.urbansketchers.org/

We have some exciting ideas for the blog including creating links with the other regional blogs... So please come over for a visit and follow us as we expand our vision and hope to show Australia to the world one drawing at a time

A new colour - W&N Potters Pink

Thanks to my great friend Robyn who is the person responsible for my obsession with Cobalt Deep Blue (and also a reliance Perylene Green) I have a new VERY interesting colour to try.
Looks like it mixes amazing muted colours with granulation - colours that I normally am not able to achieve without very diluted mixes which I don't really like... stay tuned!

By the way, the pick teapot and the cream in the 'Burnt Orange' sketch were done with P'sP

Middle Head and Burnt Orange

A lovely afternoon - 3 quick sketches while the sun was out and then when the cluds came over it was time for a great afternoon tea at a beautiful cafe nearby "Burnt Orange"...of course I used my Quin Burnt Orange paint.

Middle Head has the most wonderful ruined concrete structures from World War 2 days when it was a major gun fort defending the harbour!

Trip 2011: Day 22 Last day!!!

The last day consisted in spending the morning with an old school and university friend...and then a crazy time sketching and trying to see as much as I could at the V&A museum...coloured all added in the airport waiting for my flight home.....