The first two days of any trip are always really important for setting the tone for the rest of my holiday/vacation. And on this occasion they certainly helped me establish a rhythm and start the theme of experimentation!

Day 1 – the drive north

Port Macquarie is a four-hour drive north from Sydney, which is the maximum length of drive I like doing in a day. It’s hard to sketch during a driving day because there is pressure to get back on the road all the time. I often have to tell myself, “It’s okay to have a break, do a sketch and take a little longer for the journey”.

I stopped two times:

• Wyong Service Centre – I got a takeaway coffee and sketched from my car
• Bulahdelah – a more extended break which included a short walk and then a cafe lunch and sketch of the main street and ‘mountain’ behind.

Both times I pulled the Poscas out and included them in my sketch (not really knowing the best way to use them).

First beach sketch: After checking in to my AirBnB and having a cuppa, I headed straight for the beach even though it was raining.

I sketched the south headland of Flynns Beach – starting to work from my car but once I realised it was clearing, I got out and completed the sketch using my car bonnet/hood for a work surface.

One thing that makes Port Macquarie beaches so special is how close to the sand and surf!

Then I had dinner with my friend. I was a little too tired to focus on my sketches, but it was fun to have a good record of the evening. As my note on the page says as my food sketch: Colours are pretty but not very descriptive of the meal.

A good first day!

Day 2 – the beaches and cafes theme begins

I was on my own during the day and started my beach and cafe sketching in earnest. For this trip I would treat myself to a nice brunch at an outdoor cafe and then typically only eat very light meals during the rest of the day.

This is the first sketch of the day at Flynns Beach. The view includes the rocky outcrop in the middle of the beach, the southern headland, and Nobby Head beyond that.

After a few chores I ended up having an early lunch (my first food of the day) at Seasalt by the river.

Here is a photo of my sketchbook page (before I added my text) and some Christmas decorations on the table. (Just for the record, I’m in denial that Christmas is so close!)

After a few more chores and a nice afternoon nap, I headed to Town Beach for a coffee (see the next sketchbook spread) and ended up having a lot of fun mixing media and creating texture for this scene of the colourful rocks at Town Beach.

Here are two photos showing different colours.

It was just so nice to be outside, so I did a few more sketches. I was testing out Poscas: how to get good opacity, and how well they layer.

Early dinner at my friend’s place, and then guess what?

I ended up back at Flynns at 7pm and did a Posca-only sketch of the rocky outcrop.

Day 2 was super relaxed but productive!

Note: For this trip I didn’t have much on the agenda apart from being outside, seeing friends and sketching as much as I felt!

I ended up feeling like doing a lot of sketching!

FInally… If you missed it here is an article on what art supplies I used during this trip.