Sketching Week 5 Term 4. Surf Beach, Rain or Shine |

Sketching in Week 5 has been a little bit crazy weather wise. Very un-Manly.

We’ve had rain and thunder on and off most days, but you should know that all our sketchers battled through and triumphantly came up with great work.

Nothing deters our sketchers.

Our Studio sketch could at least be done in comfort as we sat cozily inside. The Manly Surf Lifesaving gear was an excellent exercise in page planning and observing – to make sure you got everything on your page.

On location you can decide what to leave out.

We had one group on Melbourne Cup Day having to abandon Plan A, B and C. Plodding through the rain to a far away cafe where people weren’t wearing fancy hats and cheering at a TV. They simply sketched each other using continuous line. Lots of laughs.

One group of New Sketchers were seen hiding in somebody’s garage peering through the rain at their subject. The terrace houses opposite. This was their second foray into watercolour as well. Excellent results New Sketchers.

Instead of the Surf Life Saving location we had planned for General classes each day, we sketched what could be seen through misty rain on the windows of The Steyne Hotel.

Around us was every Mothers group in Manly with prams for weapons dominating the way to get our coffee! Outrageous. But sketchers will do anything for coffee. We lived to tell the tale! Prams strewn everywhere.

As the week progressed we had at least a chance to sit on the foreshore and sketch the enormous waves pounding in on Manly Beach.

By week’s end the last classes actually saw blue skies and the sun shining down and even managed to sketch the subject of the week – a surf beach. Happy sketchers.

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 3 ’15. GENERAL SKETCHING