illustration-friday

Brave

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:19:39 +0100

Rodin's sculpture, The Burghers of Calais is a reminder of what it is to be brave under extremely adverse conditions; despite the anguish and despair in the faces and gestures, there is also a sense of nobility and defiance.

I made this quick drawing of the face of Pierre de Wiessant this afternoon in the National Gallery's Sculpture Garden.

Propagate

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:27:06 +0100

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I am trying to propagate helotrope fromm cuttings. Some of the ends of the larger leaes have been cut off to reduce transpiration and increase the chances of success. Heliotrope is one of my favoruite fragrant plants, with a nostalgic smell of vanilla and Baby Powder.

Focused

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:33:36 +0100

I bought this microscope after doing a course on fungi at the National Botanic Gardens. Often, I find when I've focused it on an everyday object, it opens up an entirely new world.

Clumsy

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:30:36 +0100

Missed another catch! Presumably seen as being clumsy, more likely total indifference to all things sporty.

I'm grateful that my fanily and school weren't too pushy in the area of sport, (just the obligatory tennis lessons and weekly Phys Ed classes). Fortunately, gardening, drawing, gym and numerous other activities serve to train my dexterity and eye-hand coordination.

This drawing was done on tracing paper, so that the image of my left hand on the reverse of the sheet gives the impression of a right hand. The idea of using a mirror just wasn't practical.

Wilderness

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:03:17 +0100

This week's IF topic "Wilderness" inspired me to do one of my first landscape drawings.

Although it's not actually wild bush (it is less than a quarter of a mile from Australia's Parliament House), I startled a number of grazing kangaroos when I was looking for somewhere to sketch. This area looks like much of the wild bushland that you can find around here. Some of the eucalypt trees are large, with sparse foliage, held at the end of slender branches; this gives the landscape a transparent feel. When you look through the trees, you just see more and more trees ...

Confined

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:27:27 +0100

The Illustration Friday "Confined" prompted me to make a drawing of one of Kenn's little trees. Although the branches are bent and trimmed, and the roots are confined, the tree is maintained in a healthy state.

Renewal

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 03:02:07 +0100

The local radio gardening show reminded me that it is time to start planning for winter vegetable and spring flowers. So I was pleased to see that IF's topic for this week was "Renewal". It prompted me to set up a still life with planting cells, soil scoop, plant labels and seed packets, as the process of growing plants from seed (particularly seed that I've saved myself) epitomises one of nature's many processes of renewal.

Pioneer

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:50:04 +0100

I made this quick drawing yesterday at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, while waiting for a friend to turn up. It is a sketch of a plaster bust by Charles Abraham of explorer Ludwig Leichardt (1815-1848). The bust is on loan from the Tasmanian Museum and gallery

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Undone

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 23:33:27 +0100

This was my first posting to Illustration Friday (posted on Flickr); the topic was "Undone".