Sketches

Frangipani Bali, pencil on paper

Bali, pencil on paper

Ships at Anchor Singapore, pencil on paper

We have recently returned from a holiday to Bali and Singapore, which was obviously fantastic.  What I think we all love about holidays is being in a new location, experiencing different cultures, landscapes, adventures, lifestyles.  But what I love most about going away is the disruption to the everyday routine.  It is finally having the time to sit down and do nothing.  Most of my time in Bali was spent on the day bed reading and drawing.  What a luxury!

I have included a few of my pencil sketches for your perusal.  They are not necessarily the best drawings, they are merely a sample.  I still enjoy the act of sitting and observing.  It requires time and patience, neither of which I have.  Often I find I launch in to a plein air drawing or painting only to discover I haven't the patience required to complete it.  I admire the work of (old school) landscape artists such as Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd and Arthur Streeton who liberally apply paint to the canvas in a hurried and seemingly careless manner.  Upon close inspection the myriad of impasto coloured dots and blobs playfully entwine one another.  When viewed from a distance, the dots merge together to form a shaded leaf or the sunlight on grass or the shadow on a face.  

While I would love to throw paint across a canvas to capture the energy and vitality of the landscape, I find I more concerned with details, both when I paint and draw.  My lines are controlled and tight rather than loose and fluid.  It is the way I work and that is partly why I gave up on painting plein air.  I will return to it again, maybe in twenty years when my eye sight starts failing me, or when I no longer have time restraints, school pick up, dinner and the like.  Having said that I probably should challenge myself by completing a painting in ten minuets.  I do like that idea.  Might find those small canvas boards and my paint tubes and see what happens.