I had the opportunity to sketch at Lyrical Lunchtimes, a concert in the Supreme Court Library in Melbourne Victoria. There is a piano in the Library, belonging to a previous Chief Justice and it is played on special occasions – like last Friday.

The music program was presented by a group called BottledSnail Productions, who all work in the legal profession.

I have sketched these concerts in the past and they are always a challenge. There is always a variety of musicians and it is visually overwhelming. There were seven performances in the concert, which went for over 1 hour 15 minutes. This means that the performers are not “on stage” for long.

You will see below that I did some quick sketches as well as one major sketch. I had a different approach this time. Firstly I sketched in watercolour pencil and not ink pen. I usually use my Lamy Safari Joy Ink pen to sketch the people at events and then add watercolour pencil.

My second change was to block out the main features before the concert began. I work in this library, so I had the opportunity to walk around the room on the day before and look at the different viewpoints, trying to imagine chairs in place and guessing where the musicians may stand. Below is a view I rejected – too much floor space from an angle that may not have guaranteed a good view of the performers. I sketched out the major features on the page, so those lines were in place before the concert began, and I could start with the audience as they took their seats.

Below is the main sketch halfway through. I had to decide what areas to colour or add detail to. I had the choice of:

• the audience
• the musicians
• the surroundings – there is much more I could have included, more portraits, a large gasolier in the center
• a combination – the decision I made

I moved from one side of the room to the other, quickly sketching some other musicians before moving back into ‘my space”. I was standing up against a bookshelf, leaning on a reading shelf. I am quite comfortable with the style of these quick sketches as these are what I usually do. The background takes a lot of time, however as I had the basics in place, I did not have to spend so much time on that.

There were four pianists. I captured two up close and one in the main sketch.

Beautiful music, beautiful surroundings, and I got to sketch it! A wonderful way to spend a lunch hour!

I have spent a lot of time drawing this building and its book. Some of those are available on greeting cards on my ETSY website!