WINN LANE - Fortitude valley Brisbane Qld Australia

A lovely morning today sketching with the Brisbane City Sketchers.  I love the Laneways we have in our City, and more are  opening up.  It is going the be a bonus for us sketchers :)

A4 Holcroft Sketchbook
Pen and ink and inktense pencils

National Trust Building - Brisbane City

William Street is a small, relatively quiet road in the uptown part of the Brisbane central business district. The street is historically significant to the city's early development as a penal colony. The first convict buildings were built along William Street in 1825.

The Government Printing Office  occupies 110 t0 84 Williams street and at present the National Trust is housed in part of that building.  This will change this month as the building has new owners.  The Queensland Government Printing Office  was the first purpose-built government printery in Queensland and operated on the site from 1862 to 1983, playing an essential part in the administration of Queensland for 121 years. The interior will be incorporated in the Queens Wharf Project.

 

  

Brisbane City Botanic Gardens

The Brisbane City Botanic Gardens are the first Botanic gardens built in the city.  Part of the riverside site where the gardens are located was originally a botanic reserve. It was established in 1828 to provide food for the early penal colony. The City Botanic Gardens officially opened in 1855. That year, the botanic gardens' curator Walter Hill was appointed as the first superintendent.

The gardens have had a few changes, there was once a Zoo and a bear pit located within them, and three tortoise. Tom Dick and Harry.  Harry, a giant Galapagos Land Tortoise. was later discovered to be Harriet  was hatched about 1830.  She and her two brothers were brought to Brisbane from London where Charles Darwin had taken them, by Lieutenant John C Wickham, who was then in the navy. After Wickham retired from the navy he lived for some time at Newstead House and when he returned to England he donated the tortoise' to the City Botanic gardens. Harriet the oldest of the three, lived to approximately 175 years of age.

For this sketch I used De Atramentis Inks and watercolour in the shadow on the ground.

I drew this in my A4 sketchbook with a 2B mechanical pencil.

 The white building is Old Mineral House. 1870s–1890s 

It was built by Smellie and Co a 1860's foundry next door as a warehouse.

New farm park again. Jacarandas are such fun to draw..

New Farm park is ablaze with colour, and today it was overcast, so the gorgeous lilac colours really stood out magnificently against the grey sky. I managed two sketches and had a blast making them.

Visual Diary 6" x 8.5"
De Atramentis Inks

New Farm Park

Jacaranda Season is a great time to be at New farm park sketching:-

Premium Sketch Journal 8.5" x 6" and De Atramentis Inks.

InkTober Sketches

I was at the Mater Hospital today, so I sketched.

#inktober2016 #inktober

Translational Research Institute - PA Hospital Brisbane Qld

What a wonderful morning, out with friends sketching at the almost new TRI  It is such a beautiful building, built on an historical site.  There was once a Broom Factory on the site and a glorious building housing  Vision Australia.  The red clay bricks from this magnificent building have been incorporated into the TRI as have the red clay tiles.  I have tried to find a photo of the Vision Australia building, but sadly I can find nothing about it at, or the Broom Factory, it is as if they never existed.

 

 The TRI building is magnificent.  I sat inside the Catalyst Cafe area to make these sketches.

The Lakes - Roma Street Parkland - 15/10/16

This morning I learned someone I love dearly has passed away.  I was committed to our sketchout and I know Janine would have wanted that.

I didn't stop thinking of her and her family all morning, and through my tears I made three small sketches in ink, also fulfilling another InkTober day.

Water is calming for me.

Sketching at Wordsmiths Queensland University St Lucia

I love sketching around Wordsmiths cafe.  I went to UQ in search of the jacarandas which should be in full bloom by now, but were disappointed. 

 

I have been wanting to sketch this sculpture for ages. 

I love this book sculpture

photo courtesy of fellow sketcher John Hill

DOCKSIDE Brisbane Qld

Glorious day today to be sketching on the river.  I caught up on my InkTober Sketches..

DAY 6 HIDDEN

DAY 7 LOST

The end of the Story Bridge is lost by all the trees.

MOWBRAY PARK (Brisbane Qld)

Mowbray park is an historical park in East Brisbane, named after the Reverend Thomas Mowbray, who arrived in 1847. He was one of the earliest settlers and  became known as the father of Presbyterianism. In 1851, he opened Brisbane's first Presbyterian Church in Grey Street, South Brisbane.

Mowbray Park was built from 1904 to 1974. It is also known as East Brisbane War Memorial and Riversdale.  

In the early 1920s, the council constructed a floating swimming enclosure in the river next to the park. It became very popular to swimmers of all ages. The swimming pool led to the formation of a surf life-saving club that still exists, now associated with Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast as the Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park SLSC.

Floating baths were first introduced to Brisbane in 1857 and were to remain a feature of the river for some 70 years. Such enclosed baths were supposedly "shark proof". One of the more prominent and popular of these floating baths was the "Victoria Baths", situated against the river bank on the downstream side of the Victoria Bridge's southern approach (1880s).  Mowbray Park and Dutton Park were the the other floating baths. At the public floating baths, bathing was often segregated, even to the extent of different swimming times for male and female bathers. 

My two sketches for today  were looking each way up and down river.

 This one is looking down river towards New Farm park. I used 140lb Arches wc paper, graphite and whatercolouur.

 

Sketching at South Brisbane

First sketch was the historical Griffith Film School Building.  This beautiful building started life as a Colonial Post Office and Telegraph building in 1881.

It has had a varied life and has had alterations and refurbishments in 897-1902-2005 when it was converted into the present Film school.

 Ink sketch with my Lamy pen and Noodlers Black ink.

 Watercolour wash

I sat on the footpath between the Lady Celinto Childrens Hospital and the Old South Brisbane Municipal Hall (now the admin building for Sommerville House)  and was looking through the trees at the "Tower of Power" This is an imposing building for sure. It is on the other side of the river.

(oops reflected colour from my orange shirt)