Adventures By Train

 This has become a major theme of my travel sketches. These ones were done on the way to and back from Stony Point.

  That is my bike in the foreground when I was leaving Melbourne. The two girls moved their hands to the music they were listening to.

 I think this is my favorite; it is drawn with a disposable calligraphy pen which gives a nice flow and variability of line. Given the way the woman (who was sitting opposite me) is cut off you might think I took a photo first. Nope! The sleeping man was an easy one to do. The woman I sketched fast, so I was not appearing to stare at her!

When I was on the train to Dandenong a bunch of young teenage boys were yelling, riding a scooter in the train, and apparently vaping but the law caught up with them at Dandenong platform. There were actually six cops, and they zeroed in on one boy who they said was vaping. The boy was not actually that short, the cops did tower over him.

When I got on the Pakenham train, I showed this drawing to some other transport cops who laughed and said, 'Yep, that is about right!'.

The drawing was mostly done from memory and in a more cartoony style.

Four Intrepid Cyclists Unexpectedly Get Their Portraits Done.

 Below is the on-the-spot sketch I did of these four happy young cyclists on the ferry from Stony Point to French Island. (I was continuing to Phillip Island. As well as their bikes they had a heap of camping gear. I gave them this quick sketch and Ben (with pony tail) sent back the digital copy so I could include it here. This was only a five-minute sketch as by the time I decided to draw them there was not much time before they disembarked.

  Left to right: Pierre. Kai. Ben and Jess

Below is my revamp. I actually met them on the Stony Point train, after our adventures. I took their photo which gave me something else to work with.

Left to right: Pierre, Kai, Bob and Jess

Left to right: Pierre, Jess, Kai and Bob. This was on the Stony Point line where after finishing our separate camping trips we met again on the train.

  Thanks Pierre, Kai, Jess and Bob for the conversation and the material!

What Happened to Joc's Jocks?

 

My trousers ad jocks fell off my bike baggage and off the pier. A fisherman retrieved the trousers, but the jocks vanished.

Phillip Island Cycling, Camping Holiday Part 1

 I might be 66 but that does not stop me cycling around and camping relatively rough. Organized tours and hotels were never my thing. Phillip Island has been a life-long holiday destination for me. Here is yet another collection of my sketchbook reports.

The first two picks depict the return, by ferry, from Phillip Island. Using the Velcro strap I secured the bike to the railing and nervously watched the bike roll forwards and back.

  Prior to getting on the ferry, I moved the bike down some pier steps ready to board only to find it was not the ferry I needed but the tour one to Seal Rock. Anyhow I didn't get on that one but when my bike jolted down the steps my white, light weight beach trousers and jocks fell off the bike and floated under the pier. I laid down on my belly and tried to get them but my arms were too short. anyhow, they merrily floated away. Fortunately, a fisherman, who had caught no fish all day managed to snag the trousers with his hooked stick. The jocks were lost forever.

Prior to going to Phillip Island I had put my bike on the train to stony point. The problem was I misread the timetables so when I got there I had a three hour wait for the ferry. There is not a lot to do at stony point unless you are into fishing. The Cook Island woman was so keen she had at least three rods in the water. She told me she had all her lines tangled by someone careless in his boat. Anyhow, so long as I have my sketchbook and a book to read (Lord of the Rings) I am fairly ok with it. It was the following day which was going to be the especially warm day so it did not bother me too much.

              Here is a view of the Phillip Island beach I ended up on, along with my feet. The drawing paper was not yellow but I gave it a digital tint after scanning it onto the laptop.

There will be more to follow.

Centrelink Waiting Room

 

Group Portrait March 2025

                                           Here is another pic from last Sunday's portrait group.

More of my Portraits from the Portrait Group March 2025

                               I did my usual and drew the artists as well as the subject.