Plane Trees

Thought it was time to revisit the plane trees in the Fitzroy Gardens now that summer has (just) begun.
9 x 14 cm watercolour and pen on moleskine.

St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne

Base of central spire of St Pat's in Melbourne. Pen and watercolour wash on small moleskine (8 x 13cm).

Minimal sketching kit

Inspired by those who have made travelling palettes out of altoids tins, I searched high and low for one of these tins, but couldn't find anything similar in Melbourne. Instead I used the plastic case from a Mini DV digital video cassette box.

This is definitely low technology. I simply squeezed each of the four colours into the corners of the box and let them dry (overnight and there was a hard skin on them). I've always preferred tubes to pans when it comes to watercolour. I leave them in the palette to harden up and they can be cleaned by running under the tap.

I chose the pigments after spending far too long browsing through the colours at the excellent handprint.com - I chose pigments (PV19, PB15, PG7 and PY150).

I also stuck some white labels on the outside so I could see the colours better as they are mixed. When combined with a waterbrush and a single waterproof pen this is a very compact sketching kit.

Column - Parliament House

Pen and ink on very small moleskine.

Pellegrini's Melbourne

Classic Melbourne Cafe.

Melbourne Skyline

Melbourne from near the corner of Wellington Pde South and Flinders street.

Station Pier

Station Pier in the late afternoon.

Boats on Port Phillip Bay

As seen from station pier. 9 x 14 cm.

Two cats

Two of my cats.

plane trees

Plane Trees in the Fitzroy Gardens. Mid winter and quite cold.

Victorian Parliament House

Pen and Ink sketch of Parliament House in Melbourne Victoria. North-eastern corner as viewed from the garden.