Killarney Style

 A lovely day to go sketching, in the lovely suburb of Killarney on Saturday. Although it's known as 'flatland' because it consists almost entirely of blocks of flats or apartments, many of them are historic Art Deco buildings, the streets are well lined with lush green trees and the rich variety of locals strolling the streets are friendly and welcoming.
I sat at the gate of the park where we sketched the suburb's Spring Day back in 2014 with Whitehall Court across the road and tried to capture the shady elegance of its pillars and balconies. There was a constant coming and going of visitors and residents, all infused with an easy-going, relaxed rhythm. So many stopped to chat, a real vibe of a vibrant and interactive community where everyone seemed to know each other.

The venue was suggested by Fiver Löcker, visiting South Africa again and staying this time in Killarney. She invited us all up to her flat for tea and cake, and of course to sketch the view from her balcony - a huge expanse of sky (watching lightning storms there must be spectacular!) with a broad flat vista of the Northern suburbs. I drew a small section, leaving out the big beautiful sky - I need lessons in cloud painting as well as much better paper - and picked out the ever present cranes, you wouldn't think we were in a recession with the constant building operations going on.
Every now and then I threw down my cityscape for my other sketchbook as people walked past to try and snatch impressions of the colour and movement below. They do all seem to be women, but they are the most interesting, colourful and varied to sketch aren't they!?

Newtown Fridays

I've re-instated the 'First Friday in Newtown' sketch date for our Joburg Sketchers group after it fizzled out rather apathetically last year. I admit to feeling a little apprehensive before these gatherings as we stick out like strange pale objects in the bustling, noisy, lively African space - even though we've only been ignored at worst (apart from one vendor once, upset at me drawing his stall) and joyfully welcomed at best. This time we had some new faces join the regulars - a few followers of our Facebook page and newsletter who at last took the plunge into the city, visiting sketcher Fiver from Brighton, and a whole fresh bunch of young men and women from a nearby architect's studio who made me feel optimistic about the future of urban sketching in Joburg, if they only keep on coming!

I started sketching the lovely Museum Africa building, sadly deteriorating again after a new lease of life a few years ago. Apparently it's down to its last curator who is leaving, or has left after trying gamely to keep the collection going and safe with no resources or help. The wooden heads which line the streets of Newtown are also showing signs of neglect and vandalism; a ragged Rasta man scratching in a bag of rubbish for scraps next to me who it felt too intrusive to draw...
But back to happier observations - a truck driver pulled up alongside and asked what I was doing... "But this is great!", other passers by stopped to look, chat and laugh with the sketchers, the young architect's group was enthusiastic and once again we're encouraged to do this again - once you're there, it's always, always worthwhile.

SketchCrawl in Melville

...And crawling to non-existent internet speeds here, so an overdue post about the 50th Worldwide Sketchcrawl on 23 January. We met in Melville, a suburb we've sketched quite often because of its quaint shops and bohemian population. 

I started at the corner clothes shop where some sketchers were doing a bit more catching up than sketching for a while; then popped into the tattoo parlour who surprised me with caricatures by one of the artists in return for my efforts; indulged in a delicious iced coffee at the IT café while sketching the restaurant opposite, with pavement bead artist traders on the corner; then we all ended up at 27 Boxes, which I've sketched before but don't seem to have posted on this blog... it is up on Urban Sketchers here.
We were lucky enough to have our wrap-up meeting coincide with a young jazz band's performance at the little outdoor arena, giving us more sketching fodder as well as a treat for the ears - a very talented group, some of whom were just off to Cape Town to start on their musical studies and careers.

Even though a few of our regular Joburg Sketchers couldn't make it, so great to have a good turnout of ten! Yay!