Sketching at Brookfield Garden Centre

Last week, artists from my Friday class met at Brookfield Garden Centre for a sketching morning. We wandered around and each found interesting things to draw.

I was struck by the orchids as I walked in the door so I went to those first. These were drawn directly in ink while standing. Since I haven’t mastered the art of holding my watercolour palette, little water bottle and sketchbook simultaneously, the watercolour was added later.

Phalaenopsis orchids - ink and watercolour Alpha Sketchbook

Rusty bells and butterflies on chains next called my attention. Again the colour was added later, random splashes appeared out of nowhere (who did that?) so I turned these into a purple wash.

Rusty Bells - ink and watercolour Alpha Sketchbook

Nearby I found this meditative group of statues. I used Noodlers #41 Brown and because it seemed to be taking ages to dry on this paper (S&B Beta A4 sketchbook) I decided to use the ink as a wash with a water-brush, later adding a little grey - a Cobalt Blue and Burnt Sienna mix. 

A quiet corner - ink and watercolour Alpha Sketchbook

Eventually, we were getting too hot in the sun, we gathered at WildCanary for coffee and cake. Drawing our cake was part of the deal. Since we had a lovely big table we had room to complete our sketches.

Strawberry Frangipani Tart - ink and watercolour Beta Sketchbook

It was such a lovely day.

Here are some sketches from my fellow artists:

 Renuka Russell

 Judith Rihm

 Vida Fiser

Lesley Jolly

It was such a lovely day!