Sketching at Mt Coot-Tha Botanic Gardens

It was a sunny morning yesterday at Mt-Coot-Tha. I had previously sketched the Japanese Gardens where the rest of the sketchers were meeting, so I decided to look for something else. I found this striking view of the Tropical Display Dome and a magnificent baobab tree. I started directly on the tree with watercolour - no drawing. The dome was tricky so here I used a light pencil sketch to keep me on track.

Mt Coot- Tha Tropical Dome - watercolour and ink in a Beta Sketchbook

First pass with watercolour and the pencil sketch of the Tropical Dome. 

Once this first wash was dry, I went in with some ink (Pilot Metropolitan Fine nib) to draw in the details of the branches. I wasn’t concerned about keeping to the painted areas, rather worked to redraw new details. 

More progress - ink and watercolour 

Summer in Brisbane, it seems, is here in earnest. It was very hot day and the shade I had been sitting in was disappearing. By the time it came to painting the Dome, I decided this would be achieved much more easily with a table, proper shade and cup of coffee. I moved into the cafe to complete the sketch. I was so wrapped up doing this that I only noticed the rest of the crew when they stood up to take photos! 

It’s strange how our brains translate what we see into manageable symbols. I must have stared at the Tropical Dome for over an hour before I started to paint it. My brain saw ‘diamond’ shapes and painted them accordingly. It was only when I was halfway through painting the Dome that I realised that the ‘diamonds’ were in fact triangles. Talk about painting what you think you see and not what you actually see!

Graphite drawing to re-see the Tropical Dome 

The reality...

Travelers Notebook - a recent holiday

Many of you will know that over the holidays, I was able to travel to South Africa to visit family. Since this was to be a time to re-connect, relax and not a serious sketching holiday, using the Travelers Notebook (from Bookbinders in Gympie Road, Brisbane and online) was the ideal sketchbook to use. Generally the paper format can be awkward for sketching since the pages are quite long and quite narrow. However, I found that it was this very feature that enabled me to do many sketches while out with family and friends. 

My rather chunky-looking TN at the end of the holiday 

The black leather cover stands up to rigorous treatment and, in fact, improves with wear. The Notebook is also fairly unobtrusive so it was easy to open and write or sketch without taking up a lot of space at a cafe table. 

I used two types of inserts - one with sketchbook paper and another with blank Midori paper. The latter is lovely for use with ink and I was pleased that the Sketchbook paper worked successfully with watercolour. I almost completed two sketchbook inserts and the same amount with the blank notepaper.

Time for coffee and cake

Sketching in the shade of Causarina pine trees

The blank notepaper became my travel diary where I could capture my thoughts at the end of each day. Before I left I splashed out and bought a HP Sprocket printer. I was then able to add photos of special places and people on the occasions where a sketch wasn’t possible. It is a small and light unit, working via Bluetooth with the iPhone. 

Combining travel diary entries with photographs 

The HP Sprocket printer

Occasionally the connection would be erratic but switching on and off solved that issue. The colour can be a little flat and dull so boosting the saturation before printing gives a good result. 

Garden Castle, Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa

I have made a video flip-through of the whole book which you can see here: 

Travelers Notebook- holiday sketches South Africa

A Favourite Cafe gets a makeover

One of my favourite cafes is French & Mor, Dawn Cresent, Albany Creek. It’s a few minutes drive from my home and close enough to collect coffee for the artists who come to the Studio. (We do like our creature comforts) 

Recently, the Cafe has undergone a makeover - new flooring, smart tiles and a fresh coat of paint. Today I stopped for a quick coffee. The transformation was complete - lovely hanging baskets with ferns and trailing creepers and new displays with Christmas decoration completed the new look.

The new look called for a sketch. I used my new Pelikan Smoky Quartz ink (I was the lucky recipient at a lucky draw at Bookbinders on Sunday) Smoky Quartz is Pelikan’s Ink of the Year. It’s a soft brown and very smooth to use. The lines are soluble when just drawn but after resting for a while seem to be quite stable.

I’m not yet geared for “on the go” colour so the watercolour was added when I returned home. 

The sketch in my Travelers Notebook.

a little colour.

and French & Mor with fresh va va voom...

Working with False Starts

In my previous post I talked about taking Roz Stendhal's online course By Design. 

Even though I've been trying to be very conscious of the layout of a page, sometimes you just rush in without much thought.

This was the case on Monday when I was meeting a friend for coffee. The cafè had a lovely outdoor garden with colourful umbrellas. I started drawing, in ink, and after a few lines realised that the drawing was just not going to work. With a sigh, I turned the page and started to capture the Cafe's signage - better but not great.

Now I really hate to waste a page and moreover the scratchy lines in my sketchbook would make me want to rip out the page - also something I never do.

So it was gouache to the rescue. Once this paint layer was dry, I drew a portrait using a Sktchy reference in ink - page saved. 

Sebastian Grzywa - Gouache and ink in Canson Ebony sketchbook 

Now I really hate to waste a page and moreover the scratchy lines in my sketchbook would make me want to rip out the page - also something I never do. 

So it was gouache to the rescue. Once this paint layer was dry I drew a portrait using a reference from the Sktchy app in ink - page saved.

Story Bridge form Mowbray Park - Sumi Ink in Canson Ebony Sketchbook

        

Riverside Tree - Sumi ink in Canson Ebony Sketchbook 

Sketching with Friends

Last weekend I joined the Brisbane Painting and Drawing Meetup at Mowbray Park for some sketching. We had a lovely relaxing time next to the river with views across the river to the Story Bridge and city.

Sumi Ink drawing

I tried Sumi ink for the first time and drew with a wooden skewer - it was fun to be totally out of control of the drawing tool - and there were some unexpected, rather pleasant results.

Spoon Deli Cafe 

We went across the road for some lunch, and as I arrived before the others sat down inside and started to draw the interior. The group vote was rather to sit outside so once again I had an abandoned drawing. While waiting for lunch I added some of the interior shelving but then got chatting and that was much more interesting! 

Later while going through my sketchbook I wondered what to do about the page - the ink drawing of the pendant lights and shelving looked sad. I Googled the Cafè and found a photo of their logo. I was able to add this and a quote from the blackboard to the page - another save. 

                              

Spoon Deli Cafè - watercolour and ink in The Perfect Sketchbook

2015 - A List

A collage of watercolours from the Pecolator Exhibition

Summer 

• New Years Eve at Coolum Beach - sketching
• 4th January - my first visit to Sydney - at the Museum of Contemporary Art seeing Chuck Close was a highlight; meeting Liz Steel and the Sydney urban sketchers  IRL was another.
• Aspire Gallery - Petit Pieces Exhibition
• Brisbane Collective - my sketch in print!
• Facebook Art Challenge

Autumn 

• Discovered Sktchy app
• Deep Ripple selected as a finalist for the Moreton Bay Regional Art Award
• Pond Reflections selected for the Lethbridge 10,000
• Still selected for the Rotary Art Spectacular at Waterfront Place - Watching and Rocks 24th December 2014 selected for the online exhibition - and Watching found a new home.
• Deep Ripple selected as a finalist for the Moreton Bay Regional Art Award

Winter

• Pond Reflections selected for the Lethbridge 10,000 and Paperbark for the online exhibition. 
• A Gold Coast escape - a few days sketching
• Holiday workshops - The popular Introduction to Oils and a Painting Bootcamp

Spring

• A week away in Noosa and a Cedar Pocket - more sketching
• Nundah Village Art Exhibtion - 4 paintings on show
• cARTwheel Collabortative exhibition at Percolator Gallery with three artist friends, and quite a few paintings found new homes...
• Miniatures and ink drawings at The Good Hatt Paddington Antique Centre
• Queensland State Library - teaching at a workshop for Peace.

Summer

• 10th December - An Anniversary - five wonderful years in Brisbane
• Still busy with Sktchy
• a few watercolour commissions
• And we've rolled around to the beginning and it's summer holidays again!
• Happy New Year to all of you - stay safe - stay creative.

I've added some links (in pink!) so you can re-visit my year.

Connecting with Collectors

In December I spent a few weeks at the beach - watching people; staring at the sea; sketching and taking photographs. Over the last few months, these experiences have resulted in a few paintings.

Sometimes when you paint a subject that touches you; when it is something that strikes a chord within you; something that makes you want to share the experience; you wonder if you will be able to get the message across to the viewer. You know how you felt when you first connected with the scene that inspired you - but how can this be expressed?

This week I had confirmation that one such connection had been made. I received a message from a buyer who had recently purchased "Watching". I asked permission to tell her story so here it is...

She said:
"I have received your "Watching" painting in the mail today. I absolutely love it!!...Thank you!! When I first viewed it in the Rotary Online Gallery I had tears rolling down my face as it reminded me of my darling Granny at the beach - same stance and hat! I turned 40 this year & was going to buy an art piece to mark the occasion. When I saw this, 'Watching' had to be it! Thank you so much."

Watching - oil on canvas 915mm x 610mm ©2015 Carol Lee Beckx

There's more about the holiday in this post Inspiration from Coolum Beach

and this post discusses saying goodbye to favourite paintings: Artist and Viewer and more sketches from Coolum here: Sketching as the year draws to a close.

A Gold Coast Escape

Last week, on the spur of the moment,  I decided to take a couple of days off. Friends on the Gold Coast are always very welcoming and provided very comfortable accommodation.
The weather in Queensland has been colder than is usual for winter, and some places have even had snow. While I was there, the days were sunny but the wind was rather icy so it was important to stay in a sheltered spot. 


I explored Paradise Point and did a bit of sketching while listening to music from the nearby market.  I decided to re-visit a previous favourite place for lunch. Madam Tojo's Coffee Palace has a fascinating collection of books, shop dummy's, red roses, draped fabrics and feathers, all creating an eclectic quirky atmosphere. 

It's definitely a 'slow food' place - if you want fast food you're invited to move off elsewhere, so it's the perfect place to sit and sketch. No one is going to hurry you along and want your table for someone else. I decided on the special and it was delicious. My modus operandi when sketching my meal is to do a rapid sketch of the elements of the dish - sometimes in ink, sometimes in graphite; take a couple of photos for reference, and then enjoy the meal. Definitely no cold food for me! Then afterwards I can take my time with the sketch, adding ink and watercolours. I had forgotten my white gel pen so details of the chalk board menu were added at home later.

Slow Roasted Pumpkin, Baby Spinach, Poached Egg, crispy Bacon with Peperonota

ink and watercolour 

On Monday, a friend and I went further down the coast, stopping along the way at Kirra Beach and driving on to Currumbin. Here the Currumbin Victory Surf Lifesavers Club provided a warm and cosy place to enjoy the view, a coffee and share a slice of cheesecake. The clubhouse with huge windows facing the sea meant that I could do a sketch of the sea and the rocks below, while staying warm and comfortable. 

View from Currumbin Victory Surf Life Savers Club - ink and watercolour 

The tide was low and the sun was bright. A meandering stream of silver curled its way through the sandbanks and back to the sea - I know this will be inspiration for a painting or two.

On Tuesday morning I had time to be a tourist. I decided to have a ride on the new tram which runs from the Gold Coast University Hospital down to Broadbeach. On the way down I had my eye open for suitable sketching opportunities as well as a spot that would be sheltered from the icy wind. Cavill Avenue tram stop looked the most interesting so I returned from Broadbeach and alighted there. The Clock Hotel, its intricate clock tower all the bells was an obvious choice. Baritalia café situated directly next to the hotel provides both a sunny position as well as coffee and lunch.

Clock Hotel - ink and watercolour  Carol Lee Beckx 

I often wonder what people think when I'm searching for a good place to draw. I sit at one table - check the view - no good - get up and move to another table - better but not great- ah - third time lucky, a perfect view of the facade of the hotel and a good sunny position. 

After I had completed the drawing of the Clock Hotel I decided I had time for lunch. I wasn't intending to draw my meal but when it arrived it looked so delicious, and begged to be sketched. 

Ravioli Fritti at Baritalia - ink and watercolour ©2015 Carol Lee Beckx

And my Ravioli Fritti tasted as good as it looked. 

It was a lovely escape to the Gold Coast. A complete album of my sketches can be found on here my Flickr site.

Sketching in Sydney

I have had such a lovely start to the year with ten days exploring Sydney. I stayed with an artist friend and it was so good to re-connect after a number of years. Ages ago we worked together on illustrations for school readers published by Juta & Co. one of the oldest publishing houses in South Africa.

My previous experience of Sydney had been limited to a few fly-overs and the airport so everything was new and exciting. One of our first activities was a visit to MCA - the Museum of Contemporary Art to see the exhibition of work by Chuck Close - that visit is a post all on its own coming soon.

On making contact with the sketchers from USK Sydney, I was warmly welcomed. 
Jane Blundell, a talented watercolour artist, kindly took me on an expedition to Cockatoo Island for the day. Since the sun was really fierce we found refuge inside a large warehouse to paint sections of the interior. 

After a coffee break, I opted to stay at the Café since I had a perfect view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and an old crane.

Sydney Harbour Bridge from Cockatoo Island ink and watercolour

A planned trip to draw Balmoral beach, which was crowded with holiday makers, became a visit to Chowder Bay and the East Coast Lounge, a picturesque refuge complete with comfort and good coffee. (At heart I think I am really a comfort sketcher.) If you scroll through the photos on their website you’ll get the idea.

Jetty at Chowder Bay and view from the East Coast Lounge - ink and watercolour

A side trip up to the Northern Beaches was equally enjoyable. I stayed at a charming airbnb - Collaroy Beach House. It was very comfortable and my host was so hospitable. She went out of her way to make my stay pleasant. I highly recommend her home if you visit the area.


On Saturday I met up with sketchers from Sydney. We had fun capturing the 1938 Art Deco Collaroy Cinema, shared a good laugh over lunch, and then I enjoyed a lovely time with Suzi - Vignettes de la Vie - talking art and life. Please do have a look at her blog and her photos on Instagram too.

Collaroy Cinema ink and watercolour 

The Incinerator in Willoughby, was originally a working refuse incinerator now converted Café and Gallery was designed by Walter Burley Griffin in the 1930s. He designed a number of houses in Castle Crag utilizing the plentiful stone in the area and incorporating the native bushland into his designs.

 Looking out - The Incinerator lunch - ink and watercolour

  Lunch at The Incinerator was one of the highlights of my trip as Dee and I were joined by a very special sketcher - Liz Steel. We had a great time, chatting about all things art. Of course we sketched, drank tea and enjoyed cake too. Liz, magically, with her usual speed and well-practised skill produced three sketches in record time. You can read her account here: Lunch in an incinerator

Sadly all good times come to an end. I had such a wonderful time and look forward to a return visit sometime soon.

You can view my Sydney sketches here on Flickr.

I think the sketchbook used for this trip will become a favourite - love the square format. my only concern is that the light linen cover marks quite easily when out on location.

All Sydney sketches were done in a Hand*Book watercolour Journal 8.25" x 8.25" 200gsm

Sketchbook Skool

For many years now I have had sketchbooks. Previously the ritual of drawing daily was really only adhered to if I was away on holiday. I have a number of these and they are in effect travel journals, a wonderful reminder of great holidays.

At home in the studio, my sketchbooks had became messy work books, filled with rough sketches, measurements of planned paintings and the odd written note. I seldom dated anything and wish now that I had coupled the drawings with more written annotations to record more of my thinking or at the very least added the date.

These days, although I am a working artist, I had forgotten how much pleasure there is in daily drawing. I had forgotten the ritual of meditative sketching; of experimentation and discovery; the pleasure of filling a book with your images, thoughts and ideas. I like the idea of working through my creativity in both words and images, with each enhancing and enriching the other.

The Living Room ink and watercolour Zeta Sketchbook

  © 2014 Carol Lee Beckx

 

At the beginning of April I enrolled for an online course, my first ever. The first six week semester of Sketchbook Skool has been something of a revelation to me. The online camaraderie that has developed through posting ones sketches, seeing other people's work and giving and receiving comments has been so rewarding. I filled an A5 Fabriano Venezia sketchbook during the course, as well as using a number of pages in other sketchbooks.

I have started to post the drawings on my Flickr page as a separate gallery - SketchbookSkool. 

At the end of the course I made a few notes (the notes became an essay) and posted this on the group's Facebook page. Danny Gregory, who initiated the course together with Koosje Koene, asked if he could quote me. He posted my thoughts on his blog -The six weeks that changed my life. 

The second semester starts on July 4th. To cater for the tremendous interest in this course the first semester will run again also starting on July 4^th.

If you would like to learn how to make daily drawing and keeping a sketchbook part of your life then do yourself a favour and enroll.

Click here for more information about the course.

Research for painting cakes

Recently I posted the completed still life paintings for Deja` Bru Café. I spent an afternoon doing a quick sketch of the cakes so I had some reference for the oil painting. I thought you might like to see the preliminary sketch.

Cakes at Deja` Bru Café - Ink and watercolour - Fabriano Venezia Sketchbook

 ©2014 Carol Lee Beckx

Then a few days ago I went for coffee but couldn’t resist the Sticky Date pudding. There’s always a conflict when you decide to sketch your treat and there’s a strong temptation to forget the drawing and enjoy your treat. I’ve solved this partly by asking for extra hot coffee but the warmed pudding would just have to wait. At least until I have completed a quick ink sketch. The practice of the past weeks when I have been drawing daily has given me the courage to go straight in with pen and to live with the lines that may be in the wrong place.

Sticky Date Pudding & Cream at Deja` Bru Café - Ink and watercolour - Fabriano Venezia Sketchbook ©2014 Carol Lee Beckx

Both sketches were completed using Black Noodler’s ink in a Lamy Safari pen with an extra fine nib. Watercolour was added after the coffee and pudding was enjoyed. This also gave the ink time to dry.

I must add that the when I did the first sketch with the different cakes, the lovely staff at Deja` Bru Café brought each cake to me on a plate and then wisely removed one and replaced it with the next cake. So no cakes were harmed during the painting of these.

There was no such restraint with the Sticky date Pudding and cream!

Drawing - facing fears and overcoming one's inner critic

Over the last two weeks I have been taking part in an online class on Illustrated journaling. I figured there is always something new to be learned and I was right. 

It's been a busy time as I have had commission paintings to complete as well as work needed for an upcoming exhibition.

Chinese ceramics - Ink wash, gouache and dip pen © 2014 Carol Lee Beckx

The course has been a good impetus for daily drawing; for trying new materials and exploring different methods. Certain aspects of my art practice have also been clarified. I am a painter. I am a drawer (?) that sounds like a piece of furniture - sorry draftsman.

I am not and never will be a "coloured - penciller". However, I do have new found respect for those who practise the craft. One needs loads of patience and a vast number of different colours.  The former I have when doing something that I love, but this medium uses up my patience quotient rapidly. Yes, I enjoy watercolour pencils used in a rough calligraphic way, but endless layering and blending - no way, not for me.

Beetroot - FW Acrylic inks calligraphic pen © 2014 Carol Lee Beckx

The course has also highlighted a common problem among the participants - how to overcome the critic that sits on your shoulder telling you that what you are doing is rubbish; that you can't draw; that people will laugh at your efforts etc. etc.etc. It's a boring monologue that doesn't let up, a constant stream of negativity. Consequently you stop, tear out the page, throw the book across the room and stop trying.

I like to couple advice on beating the inner critic with this quote by Chuck Close talking about inspiration:

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work.

All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction." 

        

So often we stop doing things because we are afraid of criticism, failure and rejection. Sometimes we don’t even start. Creative people often use procrastination as an avoidance technique.

The dialogue goes something like this:

            “I’ll start drawing when my children are at school/ university/ when I retire/when I build a Studio/ after the holidays/ when I am on holiday and so on.

I encounter this constantly in my classes. Students have not done anything since their school days because the inner critic keeps telling them their work is no good. Before even picking up a pencil there are exclamations of:  “I can’t even draw a straight -line.” Well, that’s where a ruler is very handy.

The Solution ?

• Just start - draw something; anything. It doesn't have to be an important thing. Then draw another thing. Keep working.
• Set a time limit with a reward for yourself when the time is up and you haven’t stopped working - this can be as short as 20 minutes (and the reward doesn’t have to be chocolate!)
• Try to avoid constant self-criticism before you have completed the task.
• Rather than sitting with your work, walk away from it and come back to it later when you can assess your progress in a less emotional way.
• Assess it as though you are someone else and try to be kind. Look for the positive qualities first; then honestly look at where you could improve.

I encourage my students to own their first attempts. I suggest they buy a proper hard cover

bound journal which makes tearing pages out really hard. A ring bound book says - 

“just rip out your feeble attempt, no one will ever know."

Ultimately, if you constantly do this you will end up with a very slim book indeed. I ask them to look at the drawing, realise that perhaps they could improve; date the page and turn to the next page and do 

another drawing.

When your book is full of drawings you can look back on previous work and see how far you have travelled - and you will feel proud.

Drawing at Deja` Bru

Deja` Bru Café - ink and watercolour Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook

©2013 Carol Lee Beckx

A favourite café,  Deja` Bru, is just up the road from me so I do visit often! 
If you remember, it’s also the home of my large painting of Paris - here’s the link to see the painting.

The other day I was delighted to find that the lovely owner had started to ride to work. Her delightful pink bike was standing in a corner.

It was the perfect addition to my sketch.

Sketching out and about in Noosa

I've learnt a couple of things in the last few days. I need to be better organised to sketch...

Sketching at Organika

• My lovely Lamy Safari pen has just run out of ink and the bottle is sitting back at home :(
• I forgot to pack clips to hold the pages when it gets windy;
• I forgot that my Moleskin sketchbook is lovely for pencil and ink but doesn't like watercolour at all.

I did learn, however, that Inktense pencils are great on the Moleskin paper so I will continue to use the sketchbook.
I discovered Organika five minutes down the road for delicious coffee....

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