April 2026 Pages
It's been a busy month! April is of course the time to participate in Plein Airpril, and I also visited Kaarakin, a cockatoo conservation centre.
Kaarakin Cockatoo Conservation Centre visit
On Saturday 4th April I joined the WA Naturalists Club for a tour of Kaarakin in Martin (Perth Hills).
It was a wonderful visit where Sam our guide explained about the history of the place, the tree regrowth and caretaking of previous animals, the rehabilitation process and issues facing our three black cockatoo species in Western Australia.
Before the tour began I had some time to get some metadata down and do a somewhat blind contour drawing of Princess Rex, a critically endangered Baudin's cockatoo who can't fly anymore after being hit by a vehicle. During the tour we did a fair bit of walking around the grounds and there was lots of information to note down so I didn't draw anything else, but took photos.
I was very impressed with the great work they do there, mostly from volunteers (>180!) and inspired to care for our endangered wildlife. I would highly recommend a visit to learn more and if you want to help they accept donations (both supplies and monetary) and have a shop.
Here are my nature journal pages from the visit:
Materials
- Clairefontaine Kraft A5 sketchbook
- TWSBI Eco fountain pen with De Atramentis Urban Grey ink
- To shade in the cockatoo I used a Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour marker (Cold Grey IV 233)
At the end we got to meet the "friendlies" i.e. cockatoos that can't be released because they are too friendly with humans and wouldn't cope in the wild. This unfortunately means they have to be looked after for many years, as black cockatoos can live longer than 50 years under care. Please consider how long you need to be responsible and care for an animal before you get a pet!
I'm hoping to do a watercolour painting or two based on my notes and photos.
Plein Airpril
Now that I have my bike with me again (I'd previously left it in Mandurah as I have nowhere to store it undercover at home) I've been using it to explore my nearby places and practice plein air painting with lightweight supplies.
I only managed to do plein air painting four times this month, but it's better than nothing! I played a bit more with gouache and discovered that it holds up remarkably well with the Clairefontaine Kraft sketchbook (that I haven't enjoyed using with other materials).
The page with the banksias felt like a combination with nature journaling as I was excited to show all the different growth stages on the single tree.
Looking back at these pages they seem rough, loose and somewhat playful, a reflection of how I felt painting them. I explored gouache with a very open mindset since it had been so long since I'd last used it, delighting in the bright colours on the toned paper. I was not worried about getting all the details correct but still fell into a flow state. When I was painting the tree stump peeking above the gum leaves I was conscious of the light changing during my time there, with the orange sunlit patches shifting in intensity and position. Of course once I completed that painting two rainbow lorikeets came to perch and hop about on it, too late for getting their portraits included this time.
Seasonal changes
The weather has shifted to autumn now, becoming cooler during the day and even quite chill at night. We've had dew on the grass and a misty morning as well as a storm and heavy rainfall.
The grass is very green and slugs and centipedes are crawling around. The birds are still very noisy and conducting daily inspections of the backyard for bites to eat. A large garden orbweaver has made its home by our bedroom window and hides at the top during the day then drops down and floats at night in its moonlit web. Small skinks are soaking up the last of the heat on the bricks and I encountered a bobtail lizard in the bush. The firewood and acorn banksias are blooming. The illyarrie were at their peak flowering at the start of the month but have waned now and red-flowering gums are beginning to stand out instead.
Nature observed at the start of Djeran
This is really an ideal time of year to paint outside with golden hour and pastel sunsets as well as cool weather. Just need to avoid the odd rainy day! But the days are getting shorter and soon there will be more rain, so we shall see if I continue painting or sketching outside as much, it might be time to do some more detailed paintings indoors.
Coming up
The first week of May is International Urban Sketchers Week so have a go at sketching on location and check their website for more ideas, tutorials and events. I will also be away on a camping trip up north so I'm excited about doing some nature journalling and hiking there with friends. Although I won't be attending the Australian Nature Journalling Retreat in Tasmania I look forward to reading up on it afterwards.
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