Dr Sketchy anti art school

A model I met told us about Dr Sketchy which is life drawing with a twist : the models dress up in burlesque costumes and assume dramatic poses. In Sydney this is held on a fortnightly basis at the Art House Hotel. Intrigued, I managed to gather a few friends and booked us for an evening. Most of us were not artists but were happy to drool not draw. We turn up at the Attic Bar which is like a large gentleman's club, furnished with leather Chesterfields and low mood lighting. There is a stage in the centre around which the regulars and serious artists clustered. There were two models; a busty lady (gender in question) wearing a curly blonde wig and red satin corset, high heels and fishnet stockings. The other was a brunette, slim waisted and moved most diaphanously.


Well the clothes came off slowly like a bit of a strip tease but they were never naked. I loved drawing the brunette and here she is in an exotic costume reminiscent of 'the dance of the seven veils'. The poses were short : 10 min max and it was frantic trying to do colour but oh! How to resist when the costumes were so colourful and over the top. Brunette also did a show where she emerged in a fringed bikini and a cowboy hat. At the end she took off her bikini top but hid her boobs with the hat. The blonde was much harder to draw because of her wig and smile. Here is an attempt where I ignored her face.


Everyone had a good time and we'd do it again. If there was one criticism it is the mood lighting. Very hard to make out what tones and shadows : the models really needed to be in spotlights.

The trouble with portraits

When I review my works I think and my friends tend to agree that my portraits and life drawing are better than my landscapes. Drawing people is hard but the results are much more immediate and 'grabs' attention. However I've had some issues with sitters not in terms of likeness which they agree is good but with their dismay at the unvarnished truth - do I really have that many wrinkles, jowls or grey hair? Even very old people haven't let their youthful self image go! Should art flatter? I suppose given a commission I would stoop to it. But not otherwise! It is also difficult to imbue the personality in a portrait : that is the challenge faced by accomplished portrait artists and novices alike. For now I've taken a break from portraits although I am likely to begin again when I visit family in KL next month.

Completed grain silos

I finally completed the grain silos from the farm visit. The shed on the right is very run down and missing a roof. It probably was an old farm manager's residence. My plan to draw more farm scenes has to be postponed till the next visit. Hopefully the greening of the farm continues (with fresh rain much to my friends' joy) as otherwise the palette would change too much to paint complementary pictures.

On a totally different subject I have started a new blog on crime novels I've read. Over the years, I've certainly covered a lot of ground and have decided to record what I read and what I enjoyed.

Sketch club at Art Est June 2009

I managed to get my friend Fiona to come to the sketch club at Art Est this month and we both left our respective spouses in charge of the children. It was very good to get away from it all! This month, our model was Jen who is about to return to Canada. She is slim and tall, her ankles and wrist look like they could break! She has a dancer's body, with strong muscles despite her slimness.

I wanted very much to produce some pastels this session and knowing how impossible it is to complete anything in the short time a typical pose lasts, I brought some A4 paper. These two were 10 min poses.

I took the opportunity to make a more complete drawing in the following 20 min poses.

This last one is rather difficult because the background wash was so dark. I had to erase the dark bits out rather than lay it on. A reversal of techniques.

Visit to Currawong, near Harden NSW

My good friend Gerry moved 2 and a half years ago to Harden NSW. Her husband's family were the original farmers in that area and there is a beautiful homestead dating from the 1800's when the areas was first settled. The homestead is called Currawong, and her mum in law lives there. Gerry's family live near the old homestead in a newer home.

She has settled nicely to country life, compromising by commuting to Canberra for work where the more urbane items were available. Harden is about 4 hours drive south west of Sydney and about 1.5 hours from Canberra. On route to Harden, there were some very tempting vistas, which I attempted to capture but it is difficult given that the vehicle is driving 110km/hr.

The weather was dreadfully cold and wet, with a bitter wind sweeping up the hill. But the country side was so beautiful this time. There was once that we visited some 18 months ago in the middle of the drought when everything was brown and parched. It was dusty and awful, the animals looked liked they were suffering. What a difference rain makes in the country! This time, there was greenery all around and the ewes looked fat and content. There will be lots of frisky lambs this spring!

I was unprepared for the green countryside and brought a whole lot of paper washed in earth tones. Because the weather was not conducive to outdoor sketching, I only managed one plein air drawing and this at the risk of freezing. This view is from Gerry's front verandah looking westwards.

Subsequently I took a few photos around the farm as it is very picturesque, intending to develop them into a series of paintings. I've started work on the grain silos that can be seen from Gerry's kitchen window. They are probably not as rusty as I've made them out to be! Having not finished the picture, I offer a close-up for inspection.

Autumn leaves aborted

Autumn has come and although Sydney is less colourful than colder climes, there are still beautiful earth colours to be seen. There is a street not far from our house where they have only crepe myrtles as street trees. In winter it is bare. In spring, they are simply gorgeous laden with red, pinks and purple flowers. Their twisted trunks are worthy of a picture alone. In autumn, they shed their leaves in brillant yellows, browns and reds.

Inspired to capture these trees, I set off one cold day and parked on the street. It has been showering on and off, so I daren't set up plein air but drew in the car instead. I realised that it was vital to capture the background before painting in these trees but by the time I was done with the houses and the road, and median strip, etc it was time to go.

Since then, there has been a series of awful windy and wet days and when I next had a chance to continue, the leaves had mostly fallen off!!!

As my daughter says: "You can't always get what you want"

Sunday Life Drawing Sketch Club

I was invited last year to attend a monthly sketch club but did not attend as I was already doing another course. This term I am not doing any art courses and decided to give this a go. A Sketch Club is quite different in that there is no tuition and therefore little opportunity to compare what other people have done. Our model worked for BridgeClimb and has broad strong shoulders as a result. I noticed that models have a preferred pose, and this one liked to point her arm up. It must be difficult to hold, especially for the longer poses!

Here are a few sketches I did.