This past weekend I flew to Sydney with my Mother to participate in the  Seven Bridges Walk  . It is a 28km walk through some of Sydney’s most scenic locations and raise funds to beat cancer with NSW Cancer Council .

The night before, in the lead up to the event I drew the map and my sneakers . 

Mum took a photo of our shoes before the walk started

We were on our feet from 7 am when we left the hotel until 4 pm when we returned. It was 30 degrees and sunshine , so we kept well rehydrated all day .

And of course I sketched ! They are very quick sketches  either five or ten minutes. Sometimes it was on the lead up to the bridge and other times after we have walked over the bridge and I looked back. I stepped to the side and let the steady stream of walkers pass by. 

I sketched in Moleskine watercolour sketchbook with my Lamy Safari Joy ink pen. At each bridge and Village we got a stamp. I asked the volunteers to stamp in my sketchbook. 

I participated in the event in 2012, a year after my medical adventure, but was not able to complete it  as it was just too much,   I also sketched then!

More details …. The course is a 28km closed loop circuit that travels clockwise around Sydney Harbour, highlighting many magnificent views and harbourside localities. Participants can register and start at any Village, where they can pick up their Event Guide, which includes a course map and official event wristband.  There will be water stations at each Village for participants to fill up their own water bottles..Around the course participants will use existing pathways and will therefore need to abide by normal road rules. No special event clearways or road closures will be in place. All participants walk in a clockwise direction only, so as to ease congestion and make the walk safer for all.

I did sketch and walk on one bridge. I have written about my sketchwalking in a previous blog post. 

The walk was hard work. Much of it was flat, but there were some very challenging and very steep suburban streets which we walked up and down . We walked up and across a bridge and then down to the park at the bottom of them where there would be toilets, water and sometimes food and entertainment.  We walked through some older and historic suburbs and one street had amazing Halloween decorations on most of the houses. 

Sydney Harbour Bridge deserved two sketches (above and below) 

Today (Monday) . Our leg muscles are aching, but that will disappear in a day or two. But the memories and my sketches remain !!!

Last week I spent three days in Sydney. Last weeks blog showed my sketches on the way to and from Sydney and a few of the Opera House. This week are the sketches I completed in Sydney.

Saturday.

Sketching with Urban Sketchers Sydney in Surry Hills. An Urban Sketching event had already been organised for the date so I was able to meet with lots of people ,  35 or 40 maybe . I caught up with old friends, met facebook friends and new people. It was a wonderful day and a local example of the connections and friendships of the global urban sketchers group . Read more about Urban Sketchers  here 

thanks to Chantal for the photos

After a full day of sunshine, chatting and sketching I spent the evening relaxing … feet up….

Sketching in Sydney 

A work conference in Sydney this past week provided me the opportunity to stay the weekend and catch up with my Sydney sketching friends . Of course my sketching adventures began on the bus to the airport.

It was empty so I focused on the back of the head of the man in front of me. Then more sketches of planes at the airport and then on the plane . 

I have been fortunate to travel often over the years and have been drawing these places and events each time . I am now becoming quite familiar with the proportions and perspectives of seats on planes .

At the airport each airplane is different and I look for the angles and curves of the nose. I always underestimate the size of it. I think they give it great character . The shadows make a huge difference to defining the shape too . And the length of the wings are always bigger than I think and the windows are smaller. I do comparative measuring of sizes of parts of the plane and put some light marks on the page before drawing (usually in a light grey watercolour pencil) .

As soon as work was over on Friday I walked to Circular Quay to sketch the Sydney Opera House . I was not sure if I would get another opportunity . I know I am in Sydney when I have sketched it!

and then there are the Sydney Ferries at Circular Quay…

I completed another six pages of sketches in Sydney, which I will post next week, before saying a final farewell to the Opera House and Sydney .

Farewell Sydney. See you again soon. 

Sketching at the football – well, not actually at the football, but in the grounds outside, Yesterday was the AFL (Australian Football League) Grand Final between the Richmond Tigers and Adelaide Crows.

I do not follow the game at all, but it was hard to avoid, especially, since I live a few blocks away from the MGC, where it was being played, and in the suburb next to one of the Grand Final Team (and they won) .

There had been a parade, people queuing for days to get seats etc, and the energy and excitement had been gaining momentum over the week.

I decided to walk down and to the MCG and to experience it and try to capture some that in my sketchbook. There were over 100 000 in the stadium and lots of big screens set up around the outside, with people having picnics, children throwing footballs and a general feeling of something BIG .

I sketched with Lamy Safari ink pen in my Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook and  then changed black and yellow pencils. I could/should have made it lot more colourful and added water to the pencil to reflect the energy. However, I just sketched what I did at the time and then went home just after the two teams ran on, Advance Australia Fair was played and the game began, It was getting cool, raining a little and I did not understand the game.

Below are my four sketches for from the hour I was there…