Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden

December 16, 2013 by Erin Hill Sketching

THURSDAY DECEMBER 12 ’13 Hello’ it’s Christy here. Today we were off to sketch ‘Wendy Whiteley’s Garden’, also known as the ‘Secret Garden’.  And the secret is out. This garden, snugly situated in Lavender Bay is  well worth visiting and our group were in for a special day of sketching. There were 3 of us on the ferry from Manly to Luna Park today, where we’d be meeting up with everyone. The ferry ride to the city always feels special […]

Categories: Art, Art to enchant, Harbour action, Out & About Sketch Classes, Public Art, Sketching Holidays, Sketching in Sydney, Travel Sketching, Uncategorized • Tags: Erin Hill, Garden, Luna Park, Sketching, Sydney, Wendy Whiteley

A Birthday with the Queen

June 10, 2013 by Erin Hill Sketching

Today was the Queen’s Birthday and a holiday. Today I could sketch with Sydney Sketch Club. We met where a young Queen Victoria stands elegantly outside St James Church, with Prince Albert her consort, on the other side of the street. Between them is a view to the majestic Hyde Park fountain. The second Queen Victoria monument is a couple of blocks away outside a beautiful old building named after her. You suddenly see how much more mature and a […]

Categories: Art, My Artist Friends, Places of note, Public Art, Sketchclub • Tags: Queen Victoria, Queen's Official Birthday, Sketching, Sydney

Face to Face with ‘Man on the Tyres’

September 11, 2012 by Erin Hill Sketching

At last I was able to personally visit ‘The Man on the Tyres’ since he’d been removed from his Sydney Rd site of over 80 years, and introduce myself. Thanks to our Mayor, Jean Hay, I could find out where he was and get to sketch him. My attachment to this loved local character, atop 80 or so tyres at Sinden’s Tyre & Rubber Company, started when we would drive down the hill to Manly years ago, and there he […]

Categories: Art, Drawings & Sketches, Public Art, Sketching • Tags: Man on the Tyres, Manly, Restoring Art Icons, Sketches

Rain. It must be Thursday.

November 30, 2011 by Erin Hill Sketching

We are getting very good at smiling through the rain. I like everyone to be able to sketch anywhere, anytime but….. some old fashioned sunshine would be nice. Is anyone listening up there? So it was that we headed for the Manly Art Gallery to sketch any exhibits which caught our eye, but especially the Bathing Exhibition, which feature all the items we used to wear in earlier times, plus the picnic, surfing and play gear. Most interesting. Trouble is […]

Categories: Art, Public Art, Sketching, Sketching Classes • Tags: art, Bathing, Line drawing with Watercolour, Location Sketches, Rain, Sketches

Pouring Rain on Sketch Day

November 18, 2011 by Erin Hill Sketching

The forecast was for rain, but we still went ahead with our planned class visit to Cockatoo Island. My first sketch was waiting at a cafe for the others to arrive, and the black sky and reflections show what the day was like. The 2nd sketch is while seated on the ferry, looking out the window as we pulled away towards the harbour bridge – which was barely visible. The 3rd sketch was one to show the scale of the […]

Categories: Art, Great places to exhibit, Harbour action, Public Art, Sketching, Sketching Classes • Tags: Cockatoo Island, Ferry, Line drawing with Watercolour, Location Sketches, Sydney

Waiting for the long P&O journey

September 25, 2011 by Erin Hill Sketching

What good day we had.  Meetup at The Maritime Museum for Sketchclub.  Inside or out. Whenever we’ve had Sketchclub here it’s been sunny, said Alissa in her blurb. Well guess what.  Not today!  On Friday it was 33 degrees. Today a wet and cold 13. But you know what we Sketchers are like. Rain hail or shine there we are. At least 10 or more of us! Inside was ‘Scott’s Last Expedition’ exhibition which was wonderful, although that wasn’t what I […]

Categories: Line & Watercolour, Public Art, Sketchclub • Tags: Line drawing with Watercolour, Location Sketches, Sketches

The Man on the Tyres

August 15, 2011 by Erin Hill Sketching

Now I’m sure I can remember seeing this notable landmark, years ago, as one drove towards Manly. It was a very amusing creation outside what was once Sinden’s Garage on Sydney Road. I’d completely forgotten about it till one of the locals pointed out where he still is, across the road from my Studio. Wow, really. Yes. Still there, in a cut down version, where now there is an apartment block. But at least they kept it. Not that you […]

Categories: Art, Drawings & Sketches, Line & Watercolour, Public Art, The little things in Life • Tags: Composition & Colour, Location Sketches, Painting the essence