Australian journeys 2012 and 2013.

On these two car-camping drawing journeys to Central Australia and around the Great Australian Bight, I was able to do larger scale artworks than on my other journeys around the world and could take a large enough quantity of paper and art mediums to last the entirety of both journeys. I also had a wider range of art mediums, such as oil sticks, oil pastels and soft pastels to work with, along with a range of paper types and sizes.

This page contains journal extracts and artworks from these journeys.

A drawing trip around the Great Australian Bight, southern Australia. June to September 2013.

This selection of drawings is part of a series of 400 works on paper done out in the landscape at various locations in southern and western Australia, while on a 12,000km road-trip from Tasmania over three months from June to September in 2013. It includes the Eyre Peninsula, Point Sinclair and The Nullarbor, then along the south-west coast of Western Australia through Cape Feycinet, the D’Entrecasteaux coast, Stirling Ranges, Fitzgerald River, Cape Arid and Cape Le Grand regions. I then returned via the Nullarbor Plain and Yorke Peninsula to eastern Australia.

Great Australian Bight journal extracts.

I did some larger drawings today of the lagoon from the lookout and some smaller ones up the track towards Port Douglas. I was happy with most of the drawings I had done in this area, and these would also be some of the best done on the whole trip. Unlike the trip to the Outback, I was not putting myself under any pressure to change my way of drawing. I was letting it happen naturally and not trying to emulate other artist’s work. Coffin Bay, southern SA 2013. 

I walked north up the coast along the beach about 4km to a rocky headland. I did drawings there and up on the high dunes behind the beach. They were quite impressive to see once on top of one and covered a large area with very little vegetation on them. Some were up to 70m high with great views back towards the beach and coast. I saw a pod of dolphins about 50m off the beach surfing and jumping out of the waves. I also saw a lone surfer out off a headland catching some big waves of up to 4m. I guessed it was one of the campground caretakers taking advantage of the perfect conditions with a light offshore breeze. Cactus Beach, western SA 2013.

I found a good place to camp with some shelter from the wind but used my car for added protection, positioning it facing the wind so I could cook out of the back. I did some drawings looking west along this magnificent stretch of cliffs that seemed to go on forever. The ground was quite crumbly, so I didn’t stand too close to the edge in case a whole section gave way and fell into the sea 75m below. I drew and looked out along these cliffs all afternoon and marveled at their rugged and dramatic beauty. Nullarbor NP, western SA 2013.

I went for a walk along the beach to a headland to the south and saw at least ten whales within 100m of the beach which were probably Right Whales. Later, I did some drawings of the coast looking towards some distant peaks. The wind was still strong but there was no rain. I then walked along the beach north where I saw the whales about 60m off the shore. They were a bit livelier now with some jumping out of the water while others flapped their fins and tails. It was fascinating to watch them. Their seemed to be about six mother and calf pairs just in this bay. Fitzgerald River NP, s-w WA 2103.

There were storms from the north-west this morning, as a warm front came through during the night. It was a humid and wet morning, with swarms of mosquitoes. I walked out to Roystons Head and did some drawings of the islands at Pondalowie Bay. It was a beautiful sight with the sun out, aqua-blue water and the waves crashing in. The rugged coastline was stunning, with jagged cliffs and the three beautiful islands offshore. Innes NP, Yorke Peninsula, southern SA 2013.

Great Australian Bight artworks.

Mediums: Oil/ soft pastel, charcoal on paper. Dimensions: 43-31cm to 61-43cm (Some are diptychs).

A drawing trip through southern, central and eastern Australia. April to September 2012.

This selection of drawings from a series of 500 works on paper was done out in the landscape at various locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory, including the Flinders and Gammon Ranges, along the Oodnadatta Track, Painted Desert, the East and West Macdonnell Ranges, Kings Canyon, Uluru and Kata Tjuta (Olgas).

Central Australian journal extracts.

It was a chilly but clear and sunny morning, and a pleasant and gradually rising trail through pine forest for about 3km, then more steeply up the rocky escarpment rising 250m to the Tanderra Saddle. Here, I found a rocky ledge off the trail to do some drawings with superb views of the Heysen and ABC Ranges curving snake-like away to the north. It was no wonder the local tribes here described them as serpents in their Dreamtime stories. Flinders Ranges NP, eastern SA 2012.

It was a cool cloudy start to the day, so I spent the morning and what ended up being most of the day up on the ridge opposite the camp. First, I did some larger drawings in some spots I drew three days earlier, then climbed on up to the top of the ridge to draw the excellent views in the changing light from clear sunshine to dark clouds. I had taken my larger drawing board with me to do these drawings, as I would in other places on this journey. I was still having difficulty using pure colour, which may be because the pastel colours I had were not earthy enough. Even when mixed or layered with others. They were a bit too Fauve-like and not the earthy colours I really wanted. The ones that did work were usually in my forte of tonal and linear application. Flinders Ranges NP, eastern SA 2012. 

I stopped on the way to draw the ridges in silhouette against the bright sky, then again at the waterhole with a rock outcrop behind. I then walked up another gully and drew a rock outcrop on the way back. Some of these turned out okay, but I realised I needed to get back to more expressive ways of working. I had to be more in the moment and let the landscape come to me, rather than impose on it. A chill wind blew through the gorge where I saw two rock wallaby skeletons in rock holes near a waterhole that were probably killed and eaten by a fox or dingo. Gammon Ranges NP, eastern SA 2012.

It was a lovely morning, and I walked back out to the nearby hills to draw using the last of the cartridge paper. I did one large and medium soft pastel and charcoal drawing, along with an oil pastel one. The wind picked up from the north-west, but I found a sheltered spot to draw the iron coloured rocky hills and across the plains. Oodnadatta, central SA 2012.

I followed a creek-bed, which had some water flowing in it, then up to the lookout where I spent most of the day drawing the gorge area, bluff, creek-bed and the country to the north. A cold wind blew from the north, making it a bit of a challenge to draw. Macdonnell Range, southern NT 2012.

I had a good sleep last night, even with the howling dingoes. I spent the day in the gorge, following it up passed some waterholes, then up above it to the ghost gum lookout. Some of the drawings turned out okay, although the soft pastel ones smudged so easily and lost some of their intensity. A cool breeze from the south kept things mild and it was a beautiful peaceful place to wander through. I saw a couple of dingoes looking for fish in the main waterhole but without luck of catching any. It was a pleasant, still evening to relax and cook dinner outside in my private little camp spot. Macdonnell Ranges, southern NT 2012.

I spent the whole day on the walk around the tops overlooking the canyon and did some drawings from two spots. The south wall of the canyon reminded me of the rusting iron hull of a huge ship. The north wall had an impressive overhang leaning out about 10 degrees from the base, which I had been sitting out on while drawing. I was glad I didn’t know this at the time. Kings Canyon, southern NT 2012.

Like a great rock wall of beautiful orange ochre and mottled flaky texture, it was a bit like a great big loaf of bread or Swiss cheese. The north side was in full sun and was where I did all my drawings along the walk. It wasn’t easy dealing with such an iconic monolith at such close quarters, but most drawings worked out okay. While drawing one, I was distracted by a group of foreign tourists taking a group- photo of themselves jumping in the air right next to me. A typical self-centred Gen Z thing to do. Uluru, southern NT 2012.

Central Australian artworks.

Mediums: Oil/soft pastel, charcoal on paper. Dimensions: 61-43cm to 61-21cm (Some are diptychs).