Cafe Sketching and The Brisbane Collective

I love Café sketching - there’s good coffee on hand and interesting things to sketch too.

Earlier in 2014 I did a sketch at Shutter & Brew and posted the image on Instagram. You can see this sketch here. This led to contact with a local magazine editor, Megan Starr-Thomas.

The Brisbane Collective is a volunteer run arts network supporting Brisbane Creatives. I was asked to do something for the January issue of the magazine. I decided to return to Shutter and Brew for a new sketch which TBC magazine featured in a full page illustration in the Home Grown edition of TBC Magazine. This issue and previous editions are available online here.

Shutter and Brew - ink and watercolour Beta Sketchbook ©2015 Carol Lee Beckx

Remember to click on bold pink text for the various links...

Open House Brisbane 2014 - a visit to Toonarbin

Open House Brisbane is an annual event allowing the public a glimpse of Brisbane's historic and architectural treasures.

On Saturday afternoon I spent a most enjoyable hour visiting one of Brisbane's oldest houses - Toonarbin. The house was built around the mid 1860s by Benjamin Backhouse and sold to Captain Henry O'Reilly. Yes it's the same O'Reilly of the Bonded Stores in Margaret Street that were recently felled by the demolisher's wrecking ball.  

Those of us who won a place on the tour, were able to see inside. The owners generously led us on a tour of the whole house, telling the story of its original owners and the subsequent changes over the years.

Three generations of the O'Reilly family lived in the house, buying up the surrounding land down to the river and on either side until the property measured 24 acres. Subsequently, land was sold off and in 1926 the property was sold to the Catholic Church. 
Many alterations changed the house considerably, in fact the original house was hidden by the extensive verandas and the red brick cladding present today.  Countless partitions divided the interior to accommodate the Sisters of Mercy Convent to the extent that at one time there were 17 bedrooms - granted most were very small!

The best part of this story is that of the current owners.They have lovingly and painstakingly restored this historic building. They took down the partitions; stripped paint off cedar window frames; re-created ceiling roses and cornices. Craftsmen skilled in these almost forgotten trades have been employed to restore every room. Every care has been made to honour the heritage of this lovely house.   

Toonarbin Ink and watercolour S&B Beta sketchbook

I arrived about 40 minutes before the scheduled tour time and found a very convenient bus stop bench directly opposite Toonarbin. This position was ideally situated for me to do a sketch while waiting. Once the tour was over and we reluctantly made way for the next group, I crossed the road and added watercolour to my earlier sketch from the comfort of the bus stop bench.  

Sketching in King George Square, Brisbane

Yesterday was a perfect day for sketching. I caught a bus into the City to join USK BNE sketchers in King George Square. As I walked along Ann Street and came to the square I realised that I had previously overlooked a small park to the side of the Albert Street Uniting Church, complete with benches and shade. It was a pleasant place to sketch. The sun came out from behind a building to blind me as I was almost finished the sketch so I moved into some shade higher up to complete it.

Albert Street Uniting Church Brisbane - ink and watercolour S&B Beta sketchbook

My process was to put down loose watercolour brushstrokes defining the main shapes of the church. As these dried I added the details with my favourite Noodlers #41 Brown ink in a Noodlers Konrad Flex pen - it's a good combination. The watercolour wash behind the Church is an indication of some of the modern high rise buildings that dwarf it.

This Church is one of a number of buildings in the City that will form part of Open House Brisbane in October.

I moved across to the square to chat to the others and as it wasn’t quite time for coffee, I did two more drawings. A sculpture of a Kangaroo family was done using a quick contour drawing with a wash of ink.

Roos in King George Square ink and wash S&B Alpha skethcbook

Brisbane City Hall is imposing and complex so I decided to concentrate on the Clock tower. After adding the blue watercolour for the sky I decided to leave the buildings unpainted. 

Clock Tower Brisbane City Hall ink and watercolour S&B Beta Sketchbook

After our break I wandered into the City Hall and went to have a look at the Brisbane Museum. This was renovated recently and is a wonderful space commemorating this beautiful city. My time there was too short but I did manage a quick sketch of the view through one of the windows. Green trees can be glimpsed through the intricate iron work that frames the window on the outside of the building.

Window,Brisbane Museum - ink and watercolour S&B alpha sketchbook

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!

A Tea Party

What a lovely morning - a warm sunny winter's day in Brisbane. Six of us gathered for a tea party at My Beautiful Things at The Lavender Barn in Newmarket. There were four klassmates from Sketchbook Skool Beginnings2, one of my students as well as myself. I am enrolled in the second semester - Seeing1.  We had our own little area under a gazebo with plenty of space for our Devonshire tea as well as all the sketching paraphernalia. 

We were given free rein of the shop being able to gather any props that caught our fancy. I couldn't resist the tea cosies, in fact I bought one that I had absolutely fallen in love with...well I don't have a single tea cosy so really had to have one for my tea. 

My first sketch featured this vibrant tea cosy - the clever work of Rae Cooper - Tempting Tea Cosies and oops not tea but my coffee. I realised when my coffee arrived that I had sketched this particular cup once before - but it's so pretty that I decided to paint it once more.

The Pink Teacup and Tea Cosy - ink and watercolour in S&B Alpha sketchbook. 

Now it was time for Devonshire tea. I think the staff had fun deciding which of their cups we would love the most. They didn't disappoint. I loved this cup and saucer with a harvest theme. Needless to say the fruit scone was absolutely delicious. There's space on page for some text which will follow in due course. Or I might paint the business card which is currently MIA.

Devonshire Tea - ink and watercolour - S&B Beta sketchbook

There was time for one last sketch - this was fun to paint.  

Little House Tea Cosy with Milk Jug -  ink and watercolour in S&B Alpha sketchbook. 

Please note: the top photo is a quick one with my iPhone. After so much sketching the scanning and stitching is beyond me today!

Sketchbooks

I have a confession. I have been somewhat obsessed with sketching and sketchbooks lately - and I love it. I've been sketching for years, sometimes more sometimes less and I thought I would write a bit about the books I have used.

Sketchbooks - bottom to top - Fabriano Venezia A4 and A5; Daler Rowney Petrol; Blank Magneto Book; Stillman & Birn A5 Beta; Moelskine Sketchbook and Daler Rowney Eggshell

Over the years, my medium of choice has been a pen, usually a fine liner or pencil. This was governed by the type of books easily available in South Africa. The ones used most often were simple blank books A5 and A4 from Exclusive Books. The paper was most likely only about 110gsm and not suitable for watercolour. Pencil is fine but unless the drawings are fixed, the pages get very messy, so ink is a better option. 

Occasionally, I would be able to get Daler Rowney's Ebony and these were better and could cope with a light wash. Then I found the Moleskine Sketchbooks but unfortunately not the ones with watercolour paper! The paper in these is lovely for ink and coloured pencil but is averse to watercolour. However, manufacturers have to change things and as I write there is new packaging and I believe different paper. For up to date reviews of these changes,please check Katherine Tyrrell's blog Making a Mark as she will be posting her findings.

I also have an A4 Moleskine watercolour sketchbook that I am using. I'm not too sure how I feel about this one yet... The landscape format makes it a large rather cumbersome surface to work on. It's certainly not the book to pull out when you are trying to be discreet about sketching. And since it appears that the paper in this one has also changed makes my findings above rather irrelevant!

A good value for money sketchbook is the Jasart Sketch and Write, especially when they are on special. These have 150gsm paper, are hard bound and come in a variety of sizes. The book opens flat and is strurdy. The paper accepts a light wash, and can be used to test oil colour mixtures without bleeding through to the next page. The price allows one to be extravagant with page use so I use these for daily studio work. (This satisfies my semi-frugal nature)

A lovely book for ink, gouache, and watercolour is the Fabriano Venezia. It's a bound book, is sturdy and I like the cover. Since the paper is 200gsm it takes a fair amount of punishment. These come in both about A5 and about A4. I say "about" because these are slightly larger than A5 and A4 which comes with challenges when scanning as the page doesn't fit an A4 scanner bed. Another grumble I have is that the book doesn't open completely flat which causes problems when working across the gutter and creates a strong shadow when scanning.

 My basic sketching kit - Fabriano Venezia with a white Lamy Safari for drawing 

& Waterman for writing.

This brings me to the Stillman & Birn sketchbooks. I have used a number of these and like all of them very much for use with various mediums. The books all open flat so good to use a double spread and for scanning. 

The first I tested was the Beta 270gsm Weight: 180 lb. – 270 gsm; Shade: Natural White

Surface: Cold Press Media: Watercolor, Dry Media, & Ink

It's lovely for watercolour, though it has a bit more tooth than I like for pen work but still workable. But - the "but" is because the paper is thicker there are fewer sheets in the book so it's not that economical a choice.

Figs - watercolour and pencil Beta sketchbook

The Alpha Weight: 100 lb. – 150 gsm  Shade: Natural White  Surface: Vellum  Media: Dry Media,  Light Wash, & Ink

This is the one I would choose again as a daily sketchbook. It's 150gsm and because of the sizing copes well with a lot of abuse in terms of water. It's receptive to pen and a good number of pages per book so good value.

A favourite for pen is the Zeta Weight: 180 lb. – 270 gsm Shade: Natural White Surface: Smooth  Media: Watercolor,  Pen & Ink, & Dry Media and I do enjoy the rather crazy way watercolour behaves on the paper. 

The Epsilon Weight: 100 lb. – 150 gsm  Shade: Natural White  Surface: Smooth  Media: Pen & Ink,   Dry Media, & Light Wash has similar surface - smooth, 150gsm and copes with quite a lot of water. It's one I'm using at the moment.

Another new one that I am trying is the Hand*book sketchbook and find that I spite of not being a watercolour paper, it is handling paint well - more on that as I do more sketches in this book.

Hand*Book Journal - Ink and Gouache and small watercolour palettes ready to be filled.

Disclaimer: I am not associated in any way with the stores or manufacturers where links have been provided.