Skething Dimmeys in Richmond

A group of USkers met at sketched along Swan Street, Richmond. We had plenty to sketch, and there are public benches on just about every corner so we didn’t have to sit on the concrete (for a change).

 

Dimmey’s is a century old landmark in Richmond. It is being developed into a supermarket and appartments. It’s a hertitage listed building, and until recently the shop stocked super cheap products.

I found a nice spot sketching from a cafe called ‘Meatballs‘. Interestingly the clock doesn’t work. The hands are set to midday, and there are no numerals on the face, instead it reads ‘D I M M E Y S S T O R E’

We met at 1pm to share… and as you can see from the collection of books below I hadn’t started painting when we met. The globe/dome on top of the clock has these wonderful turquoise colours. Does anyone know those why green/turquoise domes look that way? (Is it something to do with copper?)

 

Busking (by accident) in Degraves St

We had a day of sketching in Degraves Street, Melbourne. We sat on some milk crates and drew the buskers and graffiti. A lady thought we should be busking like the singers and grabbed Ev’s hat and put it on an empty crate and she and her friends chucked in some coins – I think we made $1.40 – big bucks!! She thought we were poor students. It was very entertaining and we laughed a lot.

Sketching, food, sketching and more food

We sketch at a lot of cafes and sometimes pubs. Sometimes I seem to colour similarly and other times quite randomly. We sketched at Federation Square and then at a cafe on Degraves St. The deer’s head was plastic at a pub called Father’s Office. My friend Kendall humored me and let me sketch her. We went to the South Melbourne markets and had hot chocolate and cake at Chez Dre. Very scrumptious!!!

Urban Sketching day in Williamstown

We had a fantastic first Urban Sketcher’s day in Williamstown. We braved the cold and a few of us cycled there from the city. It ended up being about 40km ride in a total. I only managed one sketch of the boats this time around as my fingers were so cold. We moved inside to cafe to have a warm beverage. And then had some fish and chips outside. There were two Ferrari’s parked out the front of the boat shed. I think I prefer sketching older cars…

Sketching in the City Square (Melbourne)

 

Another great day of sketching in the city. Perfect blue skies made for fun sketch of the St Paul’s Cathedral.

We stopped of at Little Cupcakes in Degraves St, Melbourne. The have lots of different flavours and I wanted one of each… but settled on the brownie one. They serve them on cute vintage plates with tiny forks.

There was a fantastic orange scooter parked across from Little Cupcakes and I just had to sketch it. There is something about the Vespas that is so great to draw. I have secretly always wanted one, but can’t justify it as then I don’t think I would ride my bicycle.

Here’s a few of the sketches from everyone efforts today. Great day out. Lots to see and draw. We even stopped by the library before watching Angela sing with her choir at Federation Square. Followed with Malaysian for dinner and a drink at a wine bar topped off what I would describe as a perfect day. I accidently close my book before it is dry occassionaly (more so in winter as it takes a lot longer to dry)

Sketching inside the State Library

We had a mid-week catchup at the State Library of Victoria and just as well we were inside as it was chilly outside. They have these lovely wooden desks and chairs… but the chairs squeak and creak and everyone is quite so the slightest noise echos. I liked that it felt like the chairs were talking to each other (as we were laughing… well hushed laughs each time one of made some noise). It was very dark in there, but the colours were warm, so I went with that.

Autumn is almost over…

We had to make the most of the sunshine today since Winter is just around the corner. Ev and I went for a cycle with a group up to Dights Falls, Kew. And we had a breakfast special for cyclists down at the Belgian Beer Cafe with their yummy waffles and croissants ($10 for cyclists). Afterwards we headed to the State Library for some sketching. There were some cranes next to the chapel across from it so I made sure I quick (by the time I took the photo the crane was gone). And I saw alot of lovely fallen leaves on the ground so I decided to draw one of them. I also sketched some protesters but I haven’t finished colouring it. Then we made our way to the RMIT university and sketched in the courtyard. There are a lot of interesting things to draw there with bold colours and patterns. I particular liked the pattern on the door. I also sketched the bright yellow stairs.. I just haven’t taken a photo yet.

And what better way to finish the afternoon then with dumplings (Dumplings Plus) as a late lunch. We sat right next to the window and watched the ladies making vast amounts of dumplings (of which we ate our fair share).

Sketching whilst under the doona

It was a cold day so I jumped under the doona (after I calling my Mum of course). I decided to draw a few of the things in my room. I think I was missing my mum, abit corny I know (shhh… don’t tell) but I decided to make it happy with the clouds and hearts.

Laundry isn’t always dull

It was chilly outside, and so curly up under my doona I sketched my laundry basket. I like the contrast of the golden cardie to my purple jeans. I bought Danny Gregory‘s book called Everyday Matter. I like the idea that we can tell a story about our everyday things that we sometimes overlook but make up large parts of our life.

 

Cars vs Feet: Which mode of transport do you prefer?

Jess and I had a coffee and catchup and sat outside Movida Bakery, Prahran. There was an oldish car that just wanted to be drawn. And then when I got home I drew my shoes. It seemed like a good juxtaposition of feet vs machine.

Cycling, sketching and cycling some more…

The start of a long-ish ride….

It was a nice sunny day so I  rode to the Abbotsford Convent and did a quick sketch of the windows and there was a big gum tree and so there were leaves around. It was a big of quick stop as then we went on bike ride with Meetup group and had some brunch near the Children’s Farm. We rode to CERES in Brunswick, and then rode along the Yarra trail again. The next time we popped up we were in Coburg. We stopped for a drink and had a chat. Then Evelyn, Lucy and I stopped for dinner at Thai restaurant on Lygon St. After riding home I did some maths and figured out I’d done a bit over 30 kms (as a newbie I was pretty happy about that)

Ramen is good way to end the day

What better way to end a day of brunch, sketching and a movie. We walked down an otherwise quite lane (Hardware Lane) and joined the queue of people to have brunch at Hardware Societe. It was completely worth the wait. The food was delicious and the decor was funky chic. A mishmash of teacups lined the wall, and they used mix-match cups and saucers, and teapots with cosies sold it for me.

Afterwards we went shopping and then watched Iron Man 3. You can have a standard Ramen and add whatever ingredients you like. We also got some soft shell crab and gyoza at Kokoro Ramen.

Why you you people-watch at the Train Station

Most of the time when I am at the train station I daydream, or I am on my phone. I had my sketch supplies with me so I got a bit of extra sketching time. The phone box caught my attention as it just seems that they almost redundant in a world of mobile phones.

NOTE: I need to put together a traveling sketch kit (I will post my solution soon). Also, I have been meaning to take some photos of my equipment and document my colour palette. I will put this on the to-do-list.

What are you sitting on today? Lets talk chairs..

We spend a lot of time sitting; on couches, on buses/trains/trams, at the dentist, at the movies, on park benches, in waiting rooms, and dare I say the bathroom. Chairs are anywhere and everywhere. But we don’t give that much consideration to how much of our lives we spend sitting. If we spend one third of our lives sleeping, then I think we spend about one third sitting. I find it fascinating that we still go with a style purely because of its aesthetics and on ‘fashion trends’, even when it can be entirely impractical and uncomfortable. I remember going to the Edinburgh Tattoo and the chairs were so crammed together that I felt like I was sitting in a small kindergarten chair. My legs were so uncomfortable squished that I felt like Alice in Wonderland after she had the potion and was too big for the house. These chair I think are very popular with the ‘industrial’ look that is popular, however I don’t think they are that comfortable. I liked the colours and the look of them but if I had to choose what to sit on all day… it wouldn’t be these. Maybe my mind was skewed as the hot chocolate wasn’t that great.

Australia Day weekend

I headed up to Sydney to visit some relatives and decided to meet up with the Sydney sketch group. There was an event on in the Town Hall park area for Australia Day. I was quite late getting there by the time I dropped off my bags and got into town. So I didn’t get to sketch with the group, but it was really great to chat to them and see all their different sketchbooks and materials.

It was pretty wet and miserable Sunday and Monday, and I only managed a bit of sketching at the Airport as my flight was 2 hours delayed.

Sketching road trip to Williamstown

Who knew that Williamstown would be such a gem! We headed there for the day and had so much to draw. There were plenty of different boats from Navy, to old pirate looking ones, to cute colourful little yachts.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:

We were sitting on the pier under some shelter when I went to colour my sketch. Lo and behold I dropped my paintbrush and it fell through the gap in the planks. Well I was a bit disappointed as you can imagine. I thought ‘we that will teach me’ as I only had one other. The pier was blocked off and although Angela was convinced sending a small child down there, I wasn’t. Thankful she gave up on that idea, but she did keep checking the edge where the pier met the water to see if had come out.

Every 15 mins or so she would go and check. I thought there was no way, until a small squeal came out of her. I went to look and sure enough the paintbrush had come out, an hour or so later mind you. The only problem was I couldn’t reach it, even lying on my belly with fingertips stretched. I didn’t feel like going for a swim as the water was a bit murky, and I was wearing white.

But feeling game, I decided to scale the pier, so off came the shoes and I used it as a ladder (a slimy ladder I might add). I still couldn’t reach it with my hands, but wait I could just get to it with my toes, however that didn’t work so well (note to self to work on toe co-ordination). But hope was not lost as I managed to scoop it up on the top of foot. What a balancing act right! Well this guy didn’t seem to have faith in me as he had a camera pointed right at me in case I decided to become the next Youtube failblog hit. I said no way hosay!

I climbed back up and was able to use my brush again. The End.

NOTE: No small children or animals were harmed in this rescue mission

Just ink – South Melbourne

Evelyn and I went to the Chinese Temple in South Melbourne. We weren’t allowed to sketch inside but it was nice to have a look around. We did some sketches of the building ornaments. We decided to head on down to the South Melbourne markets, as there is always alot to draw and eat there. Angela joined us for the first time and I had pen and watercolour envy. Angela was using a Lamy pen (the second sketch I had come across that uses them). I don’t mind my waterproof felt-tips at all, in fact they give nice big thick strokes. But I was keen to try out these Lamy Safari pen. So that is my new mission… oh and getting a new Winsor & Newton watercolour set.