SKETCHBOOK

Stephanie Bower on Sydney.

“Sketching is not only a way for me to capture the things I see, but the process also helps me to better understand and remember the amazing places I experience around the world,” says Seattle-based architectural illustrator Stephanie Bower ( stephaniebower.com). Earlier this year, the globetrotting artist staged a three-week trip to Australia that wrapped up in Sydney, where she had been invited to teach a series of sketching workshops in the old waterfront precinct of The Rocks. “One usually thinks of Australia as sunny and warm, but my visit coincided with the early southern autumn, so the weather was often cool and rainy,” Bower recalls. “But that has its advantages too. When I started this pencil-and-watercolor sketch of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, it was just after a big storm had blown through. I love how it captures the drama of the sky, and the way the shapes of the bridge are silhouetted against the clouds.”