Congratulations to Heidi Hereth who won the Derivan Garden Sketchabout Prize with this beautiful watercolour sketch 'At Lion Gate Lodge', completed  while sheltering from the rain on the last Saturday Garden Sketchabout. The rest of the sketchers arrived from the Trop Centre and plied her with champagne (we had bandoned sketching and resorted to celebration by then) but Heidi painted on so she could submit this to the Garden Shop by 5 pm. But she did say at her acceptance speech that she thinks the glass of champagne helped those last delicate brush strokes.

My Sketchabout Sketchbook in Full

Open publication - Free publishing - More australia

So here it is - a sketchbook full of garden sketches! Considering how much chatting I did during the sketchabout I am quite pleased that I managed to do so much sketching!

Architects are normally much more comfortable sketching buildings than plants so this sketchbook contains quite a different range of subjects from my usual. I did manage to fit in one sketch of a cup of tea and a palette sketch right at the end so that it became a true 'Liz-sketchbook'!



Looking forward to seeing all the great works in the exhibition!

People in Glass Houses

A little late this post but over Easter I noticed I had this quick take of these three sketchers, completely absorbed in their drawings at the top of the glass house in the Tropical Centre.  The moment before I had been in this same state, in the periscope world of drawing where time charges on, momentarily without you, only to tap your shoulder at some point and say you are late.

Alissa and Lola's post-Sketchabout sketches

The final Great Garden Sketchabout ended on a wet day with champagne and a lovely afernoon tea. But both Lola (my mum) and I felt as though we needed another session at the Garden, So last Tuesday, with blue sky and sunshine we headed back in for a few hours.

The first stop was the cafe of course...



and then down to the Lawn

and I sketched the sketcher (Lola) ...

while she sketched the trees...

there were Ibis around

and lots of people having picnics on the grass

another lovely day......

6weeks Sketch Marathon & Paginated Exhibition at Rathborne Lodge in Garden

Yahoo, Friends, are you enjoying sketching?

The Sketchabout was a great fun, the "6 weeks sketch marathon." The final week, despite heavy rain, we went to the Opera House and the Tropical Centre in the Botanical Garden.

Sketcher from England

....a bit hilarious tragicomedy for me, no sense of direction person!
I'm hopeless for a direction and got lost at the Opera House to see other members. Eventually, even though I could catch up with others, a horrible hour for me, gulp?! What was worse, I and the papers became "drawn rats" in the heavy rain. Anyhow, I made one watercolor. Friends, white spots on the watercolor painting are not salt, but rain drops!! While I was sketching, I was lost again. Already my feet were like "tea bags." I was worried if I could walk back to the Garden within the time. An angel came to me! One member was waiting for this lost sheep. Furthermore, I soon realized the lady walking along with my walking pace. How kind and caring she was! I'd really, really appreciate her help.In the Tropical Centre, I sketched other members, as figurative work makes me most comfortable. The drawn rat came back to life and turned to be a woman again!When I look back the sketch marathon, the most precious bonus is making friends with other members and the Garden Trust staff and ...even with rangers(*They helped this wondering sheep!). Second, it eases my "landscape & architecture allergy." Particularly, 2 sketches, the Palm Grove Centre & Bats and the Government House in Rain were a great fun. I was surprised at myself ~(*o*)~. Third, another surprise was that this no-direction-sense girl walked around in the huge garden with a map! Oh, challening brings confidence.

So, Friends, if you love drawing and painting, come & join the Sydney Sketch Club! You'll meet our big smiles ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ.Also, it's really lovely to encourage each other in a group. Indeed, other members cheered me up to try landscapes/architecture and celebrated my outcomes. I love ye, Members!

One more bonus is that we are invited for the opening night of
The Paginated Garden Exhibition
at Rathborne Lodge in Royal Botanic Garden
Friday 29th April to Sunday, 1st May, 10am-4pm.
The map is below ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ. Please come and enoy sketches and handmade sketchbooks. You can choose your favorite and vote for "People's Choice."

Finally, thank you very much for the Gardedn Trust staff, other backstage players and hardworkers who have organized the event with great efforts, sensitiveness and care.

The success is your fruit.

Let us enjoy it together at the party evening next Thursday!! Yey!!

Jennifer's Garden Sketchabout Weeks 1-3

Apologies for not posting my garden efforts week by week but it took me a while to organise my link

Bamboo was the first entry in my Gardens Sketchabout book - early on I was a bit hesitant to add watercolour in case I ruined a drawing I was basically happy with!

Having cut out the shape to draw the statue I decided I should keep the photo - to give a 'shadow' effect ?

This is possibly the one 'painting' I am most proud of - but if I tried again I probably couldn't replicate those (watercolour) leaves again ! This page, not being proper watercolour paper, buckles slightly - fellow sketchers should perhaps not follow my lead next year in binding a book with different weight papers

Jennifer's Garden Collage

Jennifer's collaged garden

Am delighted to say I have finally mastered how to post to a blog! For the Gardens project I visited twice beforehand to take photographs for my handmade book - I found the slivers of photos gave me a great basis to attempt plants and trees with more confidence as I have not drawn this subject previously.

Thanks to all the great sketchers who made the first Great Garden Sketchabout at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, Great! It was a fantastic six weeks of creative activity. Many staff and visitors commented on the pleasure of seeing people sketching in the Garden, and the quality of the sketches on this blog and those entered in the Derivan Sketchabout Competition have blown people away. A special thanks to Wendy, Annie, Liz, Alissa and Jennifer, the Sydney Sketch Club and Wendy's sketching class for all your efforts and for turning up rain, rain or occasionally shine -- here's a photo to remind us it didn't rain ALL the time.  There will be more Garden Sketchabouts in the future but in the meantime, keep the sketches coming on this blog of our gorgeous botanic gardens (in Sydney, Mount Annan and Mount Tomah). Also don't forget The Paginated Garden exhibition from Friday 29 April to Sunday 1 May at Rathborne Lodge in the Royal Botanic Garden -- enter by Woolloomooloo Gate. The exhibition includes works by invited sketch and book artists as well as short listed entries and the winner of the $1000 Derivan Sketchabout Prize.

Erin Hill's sketch from the last Great Garden Sketchabout for 2011

Erin Hill's sketch, Tropical Centre, 16 April 2011

Plants in Glasses Houses and Autumn herself

The last Saturday's morning class with viscously mobile acrylic paints  proved I was by far  the messiest student, early on gaining the distinction of a green-spotted nose.  We spent the rest of the sketching time in the Tropical  Centre. The pitcher plant I sketched twining habit's had a certain narcisstic romance to them. 


Autumn, part of a Seasonal Set in the stairs up to the Rose Garden, had caught my eye some weeks back and I had quickly sketched on my dash homewards. The lipstick and the shirazed grapes aremy  fictional colourizations - Salute!

Sketchabout 6- Liz's sketches

Here are my sketches from the tropical centre.... a great place to sketch on a wet day - except for the occasional drop that came out of nowhere!



It was a great day and lovely to close 6 weeks of sketching with an afternoon... I just had to do one more sketch on the way out- despite the rain. Next time it is a wet day, I intend to bring a bigger umbrella!

Thanks to Kerry for organizing the sketchabouts, Wendy, Annie and Alissa and all the people that joined in to make it such a great success!!!

Alissa's Gardens sketches - Tropical Centre

Another Wet Wet day. I could have stayed at the pitcher plants in the Tropical Centre all afternoon - they are fascinating and great shapes and colours

Lola's Garden Sketches

Sketched in the shelter of the Tropical Centre area where the pitcher plants and orchids grow and there are mossy walls

Boy Extracting Thorn and Pyramid Glasshouse

A few sketches from the last few weeks.
Great weather last Saturday, which unfortunately has been a rarity during the sketchabout. As I sit posting this I am getting ready for the last sketchabout and it is bucketing rain. Well I shouldn't be concerned, it didn't worry Turner who went out in all conditions including strapping himself to a ship mast in a storm. A downpour is a doddle by comparison -well maybe.

 Pyramid Glasshouse

Calla Lilies & Statue Boy Extracting Thorn

Sketching Statue of Boy Extracting Thorn

Fred Marsh

The Painted Journey Blog

Last Great Garden Sketchabout Sat 16 April

If it's pouring this afternoon, we'll go to the Tropical Centre in the Garden (giant glass pyramid and arc) for our last Garden Sketchabout before the competition closes (have you dropped your entry/ies in to the Garden Shop?) But we'll still meet first at 1 pm at the Info Booth outside the Shop and make a group call... Trop Centre or Lion Gate Lodge courtyard depending on mood and weather.