Sketching with Angela and Helen in Melbourne city. It was another sunny but chilly Winter’s day in Melbourne. We followed the sun to try and find a sketching spot that did not have the shadows of the buildings. It also had to be out of the way of busy city people.
We inevitably ended up at the iconic Flinders Street Station. On the corner of Swanston and Flinders Streets, three of the corners have a great historic buildings to sketch, St Mary’s Catherdral, Young & Jackson pub, and Flinders Street Station. Federation Square is currently under reconstruction and has big boards up (not as interesting).
There are now square concrete bollards up, which were perfect to lean on and use as a table. They separated us from the road and the busy passing pedestrians. It is a major crossroad in Melbourne city.
Below are photos of the same sketch in 15-minute intervals. (from the St Mary’s corner).
You can see how much you can capture on the page with watercolour pencils in the first 15 minutes. They are great for quick and loose sketches. I have sketched this building before, so already have a sketch memory, and am not approaching it with brand new eyes. Even then. I had to measure and remeasure so that the different bits of the building joined up together!
In the second 15 minutes I have decided to extend it over the next page in my 13 x 19 cm Moleskine watercolour sketchbook. The extended lines are just outlines, They are in the colours of the parts of the building. I could have made other decisions about what to do in the second 15 minutes.
In the final 15 minutes, I focused on including some detail on the first page. Once a page is dry you can add more watercolour pencil on top of the painted page. (as it is watercolour, you can’t add light on top of the dark) I used this time to use a sharpened watercolour pencil to add a sharp line. It is how I add ‘pop’ to a page.
and then another sketch on the day. A 5-minute sketch of all the people crossing the street. Busy. Busy. Busy.
another fun time in city sketching again.
Hi Alissa! I’ve been following your blog for a while now and really enjoy your urban sketching posts. It’s amazing what you can capture in a 15-minute session. Very inspiring …. so much so that I’m wanting to try even tho uncertain where to begin. Do you always sketch with watercolor pencils?
When I was browsing your web page for the answer to my question, I discovered your art in old books posts. Now I’m totally blown away by your art and the concept as well. Because the pages in old books are of questionable quality, and because you again use watercolor pencils to create the art on these pages, do you use water to activate the color?
Thanks so much for sharing your posts! I always enjoy every one.
HI Barb. Thanks for following. I hope my blog posts inspire you to pick up watercolour pencils. Yes, they are what I use (and an ink pen sometimes). I just love to sketch. Then I get the added extra of adding water to the page and spreading the colour on the page. I don’t use a HB pencil first. I just start straight away with whatever the main colour of the subject is. But sometimes that really doesnt matter. I feel the need to sketch every day. It becomes a natural thing to do: to carry my pencils with me all the time and take my pencils out and try and capture what I see, without it being a “finished’ sketch. I think for me it is all about capturing the moment and just getting onthe page. If I have more time I will go into detail (I also love detail) . Let me know if there are any questions you have, as I may have already written about it. I love my watercolour pencils! I will answer your other question separately – happy sketching
hello . i realise that I did not answer the second part of your question about drawing on the pages of old books. I think I have answered it this week with my new project.