My Digital Art Lab sketchbook
A Year
of Looking
A personal journey through Canberra's cultural institutions, one iPad sketch at a time.
The drawing that started it all
It began with a woman in a very big skirt.
I was at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, sketching on my iPad. I loved simply sitting there, spending time with one portrait and making my own interpretation of it.
The idea came afterwards. Why not make this a regular gathering, modelled on an Urban Sketchers meetup—but for people drawing on iPads?
Digital art made sense in cultural institutions where wet media aren't allowed. More importantly, it offered a reason to slow down and spend quality time with the collections.
We would meet once a month, returning to the same institution for three months before moving on.
A little ritual of looking, drawing and sharing
Coffee together, before we set off to explore.
Time apart, immersed in the collection, choosing what catches our eye and drawing on our iPads.
An extended show-and-tell. Everyone presents what they've made. These conversations are often as fascinating and informative as the sketching itself.
Lunch together, with plenty more conversation.
Faces, seen differently
The portraits were the starting point, but the drawings became something personal. I found myself responding to a pose, a colour, an expression—or just the feeling an artwork left with me.
Drawing on location is an invitation to make choices. There is no need to reproduce everything. A shape can be simplified. A colour can change. A portrait can take on a life of its own.
In another encounter, I was drawn to the relationships between portraits, colour and the way figures occupy a gallery wall. My digital response brought several images into a single layered composition.
Art Inspiring Art
At the National Gallery of Australia, I found myself responding to three very different kinds of art.
There was the irresistible play of lettering and colour, the restless movement of an enormous abstract painting, and the strong rhythm and character of two sculptural figures.
One of the pleasures of our monthly gatherings is having time to settle with a work, look closely and discover where the drawing takes me.
Blocks of colour, overlapping curves and letters that become shapes. This was a delight to interpret on the iPad. I could respond to the composition while making my own decisions about colour and texture.
Some artworks invite careful tracing of shapes. Others demand movement. I let broad, dark verticals hold the composition while fine lines and bright marks danced across it.
Two striking figures caught my eye. I was drawn to their long limbs, striped forms and the contrast of red, black and white. My drawing took on a bold, graphic quality of its own.
Three encounters, three very different ways of drawing. That's what I enjoy about returning to an institution over several months: the opportunity to follow my curiosity without needing every drawing to look alike.
And at noon, seeing what everyone else had chosen is a fresh revelation. We can spend the same morning in the same galleries and return with entirely different stories.
Objects and Memory
A visit to the Australian War Memorial asks for a different kind of looking.
The galleries hold machines and objects made for very particular purposes, but they also hold personal and national histories. I found myself drawn both to the shapes of the exhibits and to the stories they carry.
On the iPad, I could simplify the complicated forms of vehicles and aircraft into broad planes, a few decisive outlines and unexpected areas of colour.
I liked experimenting with weathered textures in these drawings. The marks of age and wear seemed especially appropriate here—suggesting not only a physical object but the passage of time.
People drew my attention too. I enjoyed building this gentleman's character from a few distinctive details: the white hair, purple glasses, red waistcoat and the medals at his side.
But the Memorial is about more than the objects. Some stories demand a quieter, more deliberate response. Repetition can become a way of asking us to stop, look again and remember.
Across our visits, the same practice continued: looking carefully, translating what I saw into a digital image, then discovering at noon what had caught everyone else's attention. At the Memorial, those shared interpretations could open up quite different conversations.
Coming Home
The National Library is a very special place for me. I worked there happily for many years, so returning with Digital Art Lab felt different from visiting somewhere new.
In the end, I completed just one drawing during our three monthly visits. At the first session, I spent my time mentoring two artists who were new to drawing on iPads. For the last, I was away.
But that single drawing feels like a fitting way to close this year.
A desk, a familiar room, books, a lamp and someone quietly absorbed in their work. I enjoyed capturing the scene with a light touch and a little humour.
Digital Art Lab began with the pleasure of drawing alone in a gallery. A year later, what stays with me is not only the art I've made, but the shared experience: coffee before we begin, the freedom to follow our interests, the fascinating discoveries at our noon show-and-tell, and lunch together afterwards.
It's a lovely way to spend time in the cultural institutions of Canberra. And I'm so glad I had that first idea.
Artworks and acknowledgements
My drawings were made on location in response to artworks, exhibits and people encountered during our Digital Art Lab visits. Here are the original works identified so far. Further details will be added as they are confirmed.
National Portrait Gallery
- Atong Atem, Men In This Town 04, 2024.
- Naomi Hobson, A Warrior without a Weapon, 2018 (photographic series).
- Howard Arkley, Nick Cave, 1999.
- Georges Antoni, Tina (Tina Arena), 2025.
- Michael Zavros, Quentin Bryce, 2016.
- To confirm: original portrait of the woman in the very large skirt.
National Gallery of Australia
- Sonia Delaunay, Dubonnet, 1914.
- Jackson Pollock, Blue poles, 1952.
- To confirm: artist and title of the sculptural figures nicknamed the “Bat Boys”.
Australian War Memorial
- Boeing Helicopters, CH-47D Chinook A15-202 (“Centaur” / “Good as Gold”), manufactured 2000. Confirm this was the aircraft sketched.
- To confirm: identification of the military truck, inflatable boat and F-111 aircraft.
- To confirm: identity of the gentleman portrayed and source material for the Sandakan remembrance composition.
These are credits for the original works and subjects that inspired my drawings. All digital sketches reproduced in this exhibition are by Slobodanka “Bobby” Graham. This list is a working record, not yet a complete catalogue.