Decided to pop out with the Urban Sketchers Brisbane group one more time before I head back to work on Monday. The meeting place was at Medley Cafe, Wharf Street, Kangaroo Point. It was an excellent turnout with about 15 people turning up to capture the Brisbane river scenes and the jacarandas in bloom. I was told by a helpful new sketcher from Portugal that jacaranda trees aren’t native to Australia – fancy that??!! Those famous purple trees only bloom once a year around September/October, and when I was in uni, it always meant that it was time to buckle down and study for the final lot of exams. There was also an urban myth that if a purple flower landed on your head, you were going to fail something. Needless to say, in my time, no one was game to sit under or even WALK under one of those beautiful trees during SWOT VAC. Here I am, sitting at the cafe applying watercolour. Too hot to venture out into the sun without shade. Even with hat, SPF 50+ sunblock. Waaaaaay too HOT. I am not risking skin cancer, no sirreeee.
This was part of the panorama of very expensive apartment blocks across the river from where I was sitting. For the first time, I decided to start with pencil and apply watercolour directly. For a first attempt I think it turned out pretty well. Lots and lots of river traffic, with kayaks, ferries, even a few daring jet skis. It would be nice to live in one of those apartments.
You can’t not draw the jacarandas in Brisbane when they are in bloom. The trunks and branches have such an elegant shape. There are almost no leaves on the tree, all blooms in every shade of lilac and purple. Goes beautifully with the elegant white building called Yungaba at the background. Apparently it was built in 1887 as an immigration reception centre for overseas migrants and has always retained something of that purpose, even being used as a temporary refuge at times. Here’s the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungaba_Immigration_Centre
I hear disturbing rumours that they are going to pull it down and build apartment blocks. FFS, we don’t need any more inner city characterless building blocks. It’s all so expensive in the CBD and congested already. The town planners need to get their heads knocked together. Maybe greed has gotten into the Brisbane City Council’s heads.
