An 18-month drawing journey through China, Tibet, Mongolia, Russia, Eastern Europe, Scotland, Ireland and Brittany (France).
This selection of pastel and charcoal drawings is from a collection of over 600 works on paper done during this solo journey starting in China in May 2006 and finishing in Brittany, France in November 2007.
All works were done out in the landscape, and many were done in extreme weather conditions, including sub-zero temperatures, high altitude, storm force winds, 40-degree heat, snowstorms, heavy rain, hail and dust. These conditions were part of the drawing process for my works on paper and the expressive power of nature’s elements. What I could carry in my drawing folder determined the size and quantity of the artworks on this journey. The art mediums used suited the requirements to work quickly in all weather conditions. At times, I posted a folder-full of artworks back to Australia to lighten my load.
Essentially, this journey was undertaken as a solo traveller. This enabled me to have a far more direct experience with the places and people I came into contact with. When I use the word “we” in my journal extracts, it is in the context of being on a train, bus or ferry. Not with travelling companions.
During this time, I spent ten months working on a series of works on paper while based in the East Bohemian city of Hradec Kralove in Czechia. These studio-based works were developed from selected drawings that I had done in the East Bohemian region of Czechia. Working in this region gave me an opportunity to draw from a range of pastoral and urban landscape environments and subjects which contrast with those of my Tasmanian-based landscape artwork. (See, European studio artworks.)
This page contains journal extracts and artworks from this journey.
China, Tibet and Mongolia 2006.
A journey through China, Tibet and Mongolia from April to July 2006.
Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian journal extracts.
The walk up was broken by a visit to a small monastery with some lovely thangka paintings and stops for sketching. The weather was always threatening and did hail briefly, but mostly kept away until the very top. It was up here that I encountered over 100 people digging for some kind of grub with medicinal qualities that were apparently worth a lot of money. This was the season for harvesting them and these people were lying on the ground listening for them like a magpie does to find a worm. Occasionally, a cry would go up as one was found, then dug up and put in a bag. Li Tang, Central China 2006.
The walls were highly textured from the years of erosion and remodeling and painting of the mudbricks and rendering. There were lots of lovely nooks and crannies, odd windows and doors all around the gompa complex, with towers on each corner of its high walls. At 6pm, while sketching on the wall, the monks started their discussion session in the main courtyard in front of the largest temple. They got into it with gusto. Clapping and talking in small groups. I watched and sketched this scene for an hour, seeing them clap to get a response to what they just said. Sakya, southern Tibet 2006.
I followed a track that climbed up to the south-east for about an hour, eventually reaching another glacier and a spot above it where I got great views both up the valley to some cloud covered mountains and down to the Rongphu Valley. I had climbed to about 5600m and didn’t feel like going any further due to the low cloud and cold weather. It was getting late by the time I finished some drawings here, so I headed back to camp. Mt Everest region, southern Tibet 2006.
While sketching the lakeshore, I got a fright when a friendly dog came up from behind and put its paws all over my drawing. It just wanted to play. I gave it a good pat and it wandered off down to the shore but was chased into the lake by one of the big yaks and had to swim to get around them. These yaks obviously had a dislike of dogs, or this one in particular. Lake Khovsgol, northern Mongolia 2006.
Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian artworks.
Mediums: Oil pastel and charcoal on paper. Dimensions: 30-21cm to 43-30cm.
Eastern Europe 2006-07.
A journey through Russia, eastern and southern Europe, including ten months living and teaching English in the Czech Republic. July 2006 to June 2007.
Russian and European journal extracts.
I went outside and did a couple of drawings of St Basils and the Red Square. There were no seats, so I had to sit on the pavement to draw, and a couple of times guards came over to see what I was doing. This was after I noticed security cameras had honed in on me. Fortunately, they didn’t tell me to leave. It was a great place to watch people walking about the square and to enjoy this space and surrounding buildings. Moscow, Russia 2006.
It was a nice sunny evening and a great chance to sketch along the waterfront by the Winter Palace and bridges, trying to capture the big sky and movement of the water. Later, I found a great spot by the river in the port area to have dinner and see a couple of freighters loaded up with timber and an old oil tanker go by down the river towards the Baltic Sea. I then walked back along the riverbank past people fishing and watching the sun go down over the fort and tall gold spire of the church on the island. It was a gloriously clear calm evening, with the Winter Palace glowing in the orange light of the setting sun around 10pm. St Petersburg, n-w Russia 2006.
I saw some lovely wooden houses in this area behind the beach and there were some offshore islands out in the bay. It was quite shallow with large boulders in the water for a long way out. I enjoyed drawing the open space of the sea and sky here with its subtle colour and tonal variations. The ships going by were like toys in this massive space and acted as accent points in this minimal landscape. Tallin, Estonia 2006.
I spent much of the day in the Market and Palace Squares drawing the surrounding buildings. They were also great places to people-watch and were particularly beautiful spaces with marvelously rebuilt environments each with its own character with different colours, textures and levels. One quirky feature was the small houses built on top of the buildings. Warsaw, Poland 2006.
This week, during my time off work, I did some sketches around the station area and by the Labe River. The weather had been calm and sunny every day with lovely autumn colours, especially along the river north of Hradec Kralove. A new path had been built along the levee-bank, which I followed as far as a small lake. It was glorious to see the reflections of the trees in the still waters of the river as they changed colour. The sketches I did were later used in the studio drawings done in the loft space where I stayed. Hradec Kralove, northern Czechia 2006.
The whole walled city was car-free, so it was lovely and quiet. I spent much of the day on the city walls sketching the old town and enjoying the views until closing time around 3.30pm. There was a beautiful sunset on the walls facing the sea and a small nearby island this evening. They, and the cliffs below, glowed yellow and orange as the sun went down. Dubrovnik, southern Croatia, 2006.
I spent the day sketching parts of the beautiful old town, piazzas, the promenade and beaches, then had a good walk along the coast south of the city where a pile of ugly high-rise hotels stand just like all the other seaside resorts around the world. Later, I saw a gorgeous sunset over the sea from the old fort. Cadiz, southern Spain 2007.
It was a good walk up the valley in the sunshine and through pine forests. At first, I was constantly looking around for bears, particularly while I was sitting in the snow and drawing. I ended up doing nine sketches of this beautiful valley and surrounding peaks, which made me slow right down and really appreciate the place. The snow was quite deep, which meant most of the trails were closed, but fortunately, enough people were walking up to the chalet to compact the snow, so it was not too hard to walk all the way up there. Tatry Mtns, northern Slovakia 2007.
I followed the green marked trail to the west up a ridge, where I got good views of Sniezka Mountain from the south side. I did some sketches of it then further on along the red trail heading north. I then took the trail heading east up to the summit which is the border with Poland. There was still a lot of snow along the ridges even though it was early summer, but very little on the peak itself. East Bohemia, Czechia 2007.
Eastern European artworks.
Mediums: Oil pastel and charcoal on paper. Dimensions: 30-21cm to 43-30cm.
Western Europe 2007.
A journey through western Scotland, north-west Ireland and Brittany (France) from August to November 2007.
Western Europe journal extracts.
Today, I did some more drawings further west of the village overlooking the loch. After making dinner in the bunkhouse, I went to the pub with a couple of others for a few beers. Over the weekend, groups of Munroe-baggers had been up the one Munroe-sized peak near here. However, they didn’t see anything as it was cloudy and raining while they were up there. They didn’t seem that bothered as the main point for them was to climb every peak in Britain over 900m. Peak-bagging is what it’s all about. Not the views. Knoydart, western Scotland 2007.
The weather was difficult most of the time and some days I only got brief moments to do any drawing. Sometimes, I would sit on a hillside in the rain, then frantically sketch for 20 minutes until it was too wet to go on. Today, I did a couple of sketches near the bunkhouse and from inside it, looking out. Sometimes, I would look out the window and see a flock of sheep or the rear end of a cow. Isle of Muck, western Scotland 2007.
This morning, I did five more sketches of the coast and bay before heading off around midday back to the main road via a lough and past some cottages and farms. I even inadvertently herded a flock of sheep about 2km along the lane until they ran into an open field. Donegal, north-west Ireland 2007.
It was a warm morning and quite a misty day as I walked out along the coast to the western point and did a few sketches of the lighthouse and rocks. After returning to the hostel and showing my drawing, the warden asked for one in return for two nights’ accommodation. A deal! Iles de Uoessant, Brittany, western France 2007.
Western European artworks.
Mediums: Oil pastel and charcoal on paper. Dimensions: 30-21cm to 43-30cm.
