St Kilda Town hall on a cloudy day

It’s still warm enough to comfortably draw outdoors. It felt like Autumn today…

I used watercolour pencils and watercolour on this piece.

Sketch of Balinese roof

I love the details.

Balinese home

I love Balinese structures. This is the main gate of a house.

Bird on power pole

Sometimes a gal's got to be alone to get some perspective...

 

Some recent sketches

My duck (a sculpture), Kimmy

A streetscape with cranes – Bridge Road in Melbourne.

St Paul's Cathedral

A recent piece completed during an outdoor drawing afternoon in Melbourne.

Yarn bombing in Melbourne

Been to the city lately? Have a look at the trees in Melbourne City Square - I wanted to hug them.

Yarn Bombing in Melbourne's City Square where a number of trees are "wearing" colourful knitted tubes... on display now and it's free. Here's is my impression...

 

Tram sketch

 

There was a stationary tram outside the Melbourne Art Centre, and I was having coffee just beside it. What a treat – I have always wanted to draw a tram but they are constantly moving and that is a challenge for me.

Check out other creative posts at Creative Everyday .

Apartments by the sea, Melbourne

Braving the cold wind, but I managed to finish this on location.

Find more creative projects at Creative Everyday Day.

People in a cafe–caricatures

I drew these people when I was at a cafe one day. I showed one of them - the man on the bottom right - my drawing, and he was thrilled, and told his friends about it - made my day :D (his too I presume).

Sydney outdoor sketches

Boxing Day sketches when I was in Sydney. Was very lucky with the weather.

More Melbourne buildings

A little bit of St Paul’s Cathedral – I took the easy way out, and only drew a small bit of the building, and this bit that I have chosen is partly blocked by the building in front (see next image)

Flinders Street Station as seen from Southbank. Only the dome is visible above the trees. I could have combine the two drawings… but I didn’t think of that at the time.

Outdoor sketch–old building

I am enjoying drawing old buildings very much – they have so much character. This is a building in Albert Park, Melbourne.

Abbotsford Convent sketch

Abbotsford Convent is a nice place to visit and to go for plein air drawing. We walked around the farmers’ market, bought food and coffee, then found a shady spot to sit and sketch. Apart from the market, there were lovely buildings and lots of people to draw.

We were surprised to see a snake – I was rather freaked out actually – but it went on it’s way  and didn’t stop (thankfully).

Poppies for the weekend

Have a nice weekend.

Keeping a travel journal

Some people collect souvenirs on their travels. Others take pictures to record their memories. I keep travel journals.

Why keep a travel journal

I enjoy the process to recording my travels, as well as the results.

The process of travel journaling need not take much effort, nor time. Your drawings can be as detailed and  elaborate as you wish, or they can be simple sketches. While travelling, you may not have the time to spare, hence . It should be a pleasurable activity. Draw whatever pleases you and take notes – write your thoughts and observations. Stick items in your sketchbook if you wish.

At the end of your trip, you will have ended up with a record and precious memories of places that you have been, scenes and things that you came across (that you found interesting) and recorded, and notes that you took. It will be a precious souvenir that you will treasure your whole life. I started my first travel journal 13 years ago. To date, I have a reasonable pile, and each and everyone is precious. I enjoy looking through each one now and again, and going down memory lane. Read more…

Wheels–drawings from my journal

Promise that I am not paid for displaying the company name and URL. This vehicle was parked in front of mine. I had 15 minutes to wait, so I sketched in the car.

A wheelie vacuum cleaner.

No wheels here, but there should be.

Do they go faster because they are red?

I like this red Jeep, and enjoyed drawing it.

But have I stuffed it up and made it look like a car from olden days? Does red make it look sexy?

Does the rider’s hands get tired from reaching up?

Diwali Festival

Kym, Lucy, Eveline and I went to the Diwali Festival at Federation Square to draw yesterday. As usual, there were lots of people to draw at Federation Square since it is a popular meeting place.

There were a few people in traditional costumes. The man on  the right was just someone visiting the festival.

I got a henna tattoo.

I am enjoying my temporary tattoo.

Happy Sunday.

Sketches: food and more

I have been away for the long weekend sketching with friends. It’s been a fun and productive weekend. I have not drawn so much in my life, but what a joy to be drawing and splashing paint.

We ate and drank a lot; it was a holiday too.

We went to an interesting cafe which was also a homeware store. There were a lot of nice objects to draw.

We drew other things too (really, we did), and I will upload more drawings in the next posts. Here is one last spread from my DottedSquare.com sketchbook. It is also the last page, so I will need a new book.

Hope you are all having a good week.

 

Update on Deals at DottedSquare.com

DottedSquare.com is offering a 1 for 1 offer on notecards – perfect timing for those Christmas greetings that we need to write. The offer is only for this week.