Sunday 18 August 2013

Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens, Brisbane

What a special day! I joined members of the Urban Sketchers Brisbane at the Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens. The weather was perfect - warm and sunny but not too hot. 



It was also a day of celebration - The Japanese Cultural Day was held in the Japanese Gardens, hosted by the Japanese Consulate General. Crowds flocked to watch interactive demonstrations of the traditional tea ceremony, ikebana and origami.  



Next to this beautiful shady bamboo water feature, I found a lovely flat rock to use as a seat while I did this sketch. Children came to look and dip their fingers in the cool clear water or watch the lizards dart around on the rocks. 

It's the first opportunity I had to try out a new A4 Moleskine watercolour sketchbook out of the studio. The paper is great and very responsive to both ink and watercolour. Balancing the large format book, paintbox, and small water bottle took a bit of practice. 



Later in the afternoon after lunch we returned to do a little more sketching. I wanted to complete a sketch I had started earlier. I had struggled to draw the panorama because of the crowds walking along the path in front of me.We were treated to the haunting sounds of Japanese music drifting across the water.

It was a great way to spend the day, sketching with friends in a perfect setting.


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