DRAWING AT ILLARA WATERHOLE N.T. 2009

Drawings Illara, Val Johnson

DRAWING AT ILLARA WATERHOLE Northern Territory 2009

By Val Johnson

In August I went back to Illara Waterhole with Sandrifter Safaris and a group of other artists to paint. Painting and sketching for larger work to do back home is what I usually do- but this time I decided to try something else- drawing. So I up rolled some sheets of A2 paper, a box of charcoal, some coloured conte sticks and a few transparent acrylic colours, clear medium and brushes - threw them all into my bag and off I went.

Illara Waterhole is deep in the landscape South West of Alice Springs and is owned by the Aboriginal people. It is not somewhere that the ‘masses’ go. So here I was in this beautiful place- red cliffs, rocky outcrops, tree covered plains, a waterhole to swim in- (so who needs to shower?) Camped on the sand, visited by brumbies at night- good food, good company, and plenty of wine- what more could one want?!

Drawing the landscape was quite a challenge to begin with- all I could see was colour - I had to look at it in a linear way-thinking in black and white! But I managed after a couple of days- I drew en plein air, paper clipped to a board on an easel- I became absorbed- oblivious to the ants, the wind and the dust-I found it a wonderfully free way of working. I had to work quickly to capture the light and shade, as one would do if painting. Using workable fixative I worked in layers. I used acrylic paint thinned with medium to glaze some of the dark areas, and worked over the top in conte and more charcoal. Some work was drawn over a coloured wash, some I just used pencil and some I used the charcoal with a hint of pattern in colour using the coloured conte. Somehow I managed to do some good works despite the wind -which was there every day but one!!

Now I am inspired to travel to other places and do a body of drawings- maybe to exhibit down the track?

Drawing at Illara Waterhole