Flinders Ranges Postcards: culmination of a desire to sketch landscapes quickly and putting in the practice required

Since June 2021, and the start of our travels from Adelaide, I've been putting more attention into some quick landscape sketches. Landscapes aren't what I've really painted much and so far, they aren't a big part of my usual practice which mostly consists of plants and animals, but, I have wanted to sketch the places I am in quickly, to add to my journals, and just to try to capture the places I'm in through my eyes and brush.

This trip I've been focussing on capturing the things in the landscape that stand out to me, which is what these Flinders Ranges postcards are. They aren't the most photo realistic paintings, but these sketches capture the feel of the places I've been.

Why the Flinders Ranges?

Ikara/ the Flinders Ranges were somewhere I'd wanted to go and experience since driving from Perth to Melbourne in 2013. On that trip, I was heading to Melbourne for the start of University and didn't have too much detour time, and the Flinders Ranges really do need a good amount of time.

On our way, we could see a mountain range coming up on our left as we were passing Port Augusta and Port Pirie. I told myself I'd come back here, and also see the rest of Australia someday. Fast forward to 2021, the Flinders were our second stop on our 2021 roadtrip.

It is such a beautiful part of the world - I say that, and will probably say this many times over on this blog. So much of the world is just stunningly beautiful and everywhere has its particular unique beauty.

Mount Remarkable and the Southern Flinders Ranges

Mount Remarkable watercolour postcard.

Mount Remarkable was our first stop and campsite. It is has a range of facilities including good showers and the walks from here are beautiful. Travelling in winter, we got to experience the park when it was lush and green and full of Kangaroos, Wallaroos, Wallabies, Emus and tons of birds that were happy to keep us company.

Warren Gorge, a watercolour postcard sketch from the lookout along the walk.

The Flinders aren't the most dramatic mountains you'll see, but the contrasts between the soft rolling mountains, sharp peaks, beautiful layered rock formations and gorgeous orange cliffs that light up as the sunlight hits them makes it a beautiful place. That, the unique geological history, the thousands of years of indigenous history and on the nature front, the yellow footed rock wallabies which are only found in these ranges make them well worth a visit.

The southern Flinders Ranges were less dramatic than the northern ranges within the Ikara-Flinders ranges national park, however Alligator Gorge (I have not yet sketched this), was an unexpected gem, and one of the highlights of our travels around Australia so far.

Warren Gorge, above was somewhere we spent a few days as well - it is a beautiful campsite in the gorge, and is where we saw the elusive Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies at dusk. The walk was also lovely with a set of diverse sections, and the view from the top (where the above postcard was sketched, was stunning).

Ikara-Flinders National Park

On to the Ikara-Flinders National Park in the north, and my favourite campground - the Aroona campground. The following three sketches were all done at or near that campground.

This is a watercolour postcard sketch of one of the three sisters that Hans Heysen painted - a wonderful Australian watercolourist renowned for his paintings of Australian landscapes and in particular the Flinders ranges.

I sketched this at the Red Hill lookout which was a dramatic lookout well worth the steep climb. The views were stunning, and the layering, lines and colours on this little hill really stood out to me.

A sunrise sketch at the Aroona campground within the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park. Gorgeous oranges lighting up the range.

The Aroona campground was wonderful in that it provided access to walks with some dramatic scenery, and from the campsite itself, was a lovely view of the surrounding range. Waking up to this view every morning was pretty special. Here I was testing out some new to me Qor, Schmincke and Roman Szmal colours.

Watercolour postcard sketch with watercolour and pentel brush pen ink.

Another watercolour postcard sketch from the Aroona Campground, but at night - the silhouettes of the Cypress Pines were interesting against the darkening sky. This was done with the Pentel brush pen and some blue watercolour for the dusky sky background. Love this brush pen for silhouettes, and you can see more sketches with it here.

Brachina Gorge watercolour postcard painting done in watercolour and gouache.

Finally, this painting was done in gouache, back in Adelaide in between our Flinders Ranges trip and the rest of our travels in Australia since then. It is of a section of Brachina gorge, which has clear lines and striation, against the clear blue sky that day, and with contrasting white trunks of gum trees in front.

I absolutely love gouache and the very bright, flat colours it can achieve. I wish it was easier (for me anyway) to use outdoors. So far, I haven't really found a way that's easier than watercolour, so for now most of my on-location sketches are in watercolour.

Watercolour postcards - the perfect size

I found through this, that watercolour postcards were the perfect size for me - small enough to force me to simplify and work quickly on location, but also large enough to allow for more details when I have time (like the Brachina gorge painting or the Aroona sunrise painting).

It was the perfect size to get comfortable with sketching. Using the postcards as part of a larger sketchbook was also a good exercise. Both if these have allowed me to use my a5 journals differently - I am more comfortable with only using small sections of the page rather than feeling a need to fill the whole page all the time.