Daily sketches

I have a little moleskin brand sketchbook which is in my handbag ready for a few available minutes for sketching.  Very often I am waiting for a person, for example an interpreter and have five minutes to scribble.  So that is what these drawings are, scenes from the car often of streets, cars and electricity poles.

                                          

                                   

                               

                   

I'm beginning to enjoy sketching vehicles!

Every day in May sketch project

   

                                  

The Sydney sketch club has a project this month to sketch every day.  Each day has a theme and each  starts with the letter "m".  I signed  up for the project but am afraid to say I haven't sketched every day. The above portrait is today's sketch entitled "me".

Here are my efforts so far this month.

                               

  This day was "multiple of anything".  My multiples were clean dishes in the dishwasher drawer.

                                

"mule"-this particular mule carried our luggage when I was in Morocco last year.

                                  

 This is under the theme of "masterpiece " and is a sketch of George Lambert's painting A Sergeant of the Light horse.

                            

This day's theme was "magazine ". This is Artist Profile magazine with Chuck Close on the cover.

 "Mauve, was the theme for this day

"M" was for map on this day and I sketched on a map rather than sketch a map.

Well, more than two more weeks of "m"s so more unusual sketches to go.

   

Looking back at Service stations

   

     

I have had a fun project this year sketching service stations.  I thought I would gather them all up in one blog post and here they are.

My father had one or two gas pumps next to the general store he had in the 50's, 60's and 70's.  When I was a child I would hang out around the pumps listening to the conversation and seeing interesting things, like the giant snapping turtle Donnie Dungen had in the back of his truck one late afternoon. But...that's another story.  So, I suppose it makes sense for me to be attracted to the service station.

The service station above is located on Parramatta Road, Summer Hill in Sydney.  This  station is Art Deco in style.  It was a very hot sunny morning when this was sketched, very early before it opened.

This service station is in Marion St,Leichhardt and is P&O style as you can just make out from the curve of the main building.  That little brown creature is a dog which was tied up from the moment it took for his owner to get the newspaper.

 

     

This old service station and taxi rank was not purpose built but rather a colonial building made into a service station in the 1960's by the current owner's father.  The owner told me the building was a Baby Health centre before his dad bought it.  It is located on New Canterbury Road in Dulwich Hill.  When sketching this a few taxi drivers came along to talk and suggest I do their portrait.

                                                 

This is a Victorian building converted into a petrol station years ago and no longer in use.  It is amazing that the pump is still there although quite rusty.  Located on Canterbury Road, Summer Hill.

       

Here is another Victorian building turned into a petrol station years and years ago.  Located in Norton St Leichhardt and still in use.

                            

     This was built as a service station in the 1930's but is now a Chinese restaurant.  Located on Marrckville road, Marrickville.

           

This is a big place originally owned by our former prime minister John Howard's father in Dulwich Hill. It is situated in the side of a hill.  Purpose built garage, Art Deco style.

      

I love this place located on Canterbury Road at Campsie.  I sketched this on a Sunday morning and the mechanics were already there, working away.

Princes Highway, Sydenham on a very hot summer day.

    

Holley's Garage on Canterbury Road, Canterbury.  Built between the wars and still in use. It is Spanish Mission style.

Spanish Mission style purpose built garage on King st, Newtown.  Unfortunately, no longer in use and is in disrepair.  This was the first service station in the series.

      

      

This is a very unusual style of service station built in the 1930's.  Located on Cleveland St in Sydney.

    

    I hope to find some more service stations, this theme is not finished yet.

  

    

     

     

    

 

Tulips, middle age to old age

   

  

                      

The life of flowers is a metaphor for our own life.  Last blog post sketches showed the tulips in youth to middle age, looking bright, strong and vibrant.  These sketches show tulips as they grow old, still looking like their selves but weaker and darker.  It has been fun sketching these flowers nearly every day and recording the changes. The above sketch was done seven days after purchasing the bunch.

                                    

I sketched this on day 7 on a map of Outer Sydney, maybe near where they were grown.

                                   

This sketch was done eight days after buying the tulips.

                                  

Poor old tulips on day 9. The stems have become weaker and the flower colour is darker.  Last sketch before this bunch will be composted.

    

   

   

A week of Tulips

  I love tulips and I bought this bunch last Sunday.  I have been sketching them every day since.  The sketch above was done on day four when the flowers are beautifully open and stems start to sprawl.

I really enjoyed seeing the tulips in Holland many years ago.  At one tulip farm, people could buy the bulbs and have them sent anywhere in the world.  My mother is a wonderful gardener and I thought I would send some to her.  When it came to the ordering I asked for special bulbs as Mom is an extraordinary gardener.  The bulbs did arrive , were planted and as they should,  the tulips came up in a spendid display. Well, it caused a tulip mania in our little town.  Everyone had to have tulips!  They had to make do with the local bulbs, no exotic ones for them.  Tulips are beautiful no matter how common they are.

                               

                              

This is the first sketch of the tulips, flowers are tight and stems upright.

                                                                              

This is the second day of tulips.  Sketched from above. The flowers are starting to open up.

                                                               

This is the third day of tulips, also sketched from above.

      I did this smaller sketch on day 5. It is a card for a friend who is celebrating her birthday.       

I will do some more sketches of the tulips as they decline, see next blog post.

    

Sydney Hospital

  

                 

This building is part of Sydney Hospital on Macquarie St.  

Sydney Hospital is Australia's oldest hospital, dating from 1788 and has been at it's current location since 1811.

Soon after the first fleet arrived, a tent hospital was established in the Rocks.  This was replaced by a wood and copper prefabricated building which came from England.

When Governor Macquarie arrived in 1810 he set land aside to build a hospital.  In order to fund it he gave 3 business men the monopoly to sell rum and the profits from this were to build the hospital.

Later Florence Nightingale sent 5 nurses from England to help run the infirmary and these were the first trained nurses in this country.

St James Church

St James is an Anglican Church in inner city, Sydney.  It is the oldest church building in our city and has been in continuous use since 1824.  It was designed by convict architect James Greenway and built by convict labour.  It is listed on the Register of the National estate and has been described as one of the world's 80 greatest man made treasure.

       

   The steeple wasn't put in this lower sketch because when you look at the building straight on the steeple didn't look right.