~ FEELING / GRASS / ENVIRONMENT

How did I feel exploring Royal Park?

I explored the park in a way that felt like I was frolicking in the woods. The weather was hot, to rainy, to a consistent 20 that the air and the smell of the grass was so fresh and relaxing, I forgot I was in the bustling city known as Melbourne.

The park had area of dryness, which felt like I was in the 'wild', but it also had lush green grass, usually peaking around trees. As I got closer to it, the grass reminded me of the scent of lemon grass, the texture, too.

The soft winds, rustling trees, and nearby crickets brought me a sense of solitude and peace, despite being placed right in the city, I felt far from it.

This was how the grass felt and sounded during the day. The faint noise of the birds can be heard.

Additionally, this was how the dry parts of the grass felt/sounded like. It was very hay in texture and it crunched under my foot, further enhancing that wild safari feel.

DAILY RELFECTION #1: What skills outside your comfort zone do you want to explore?

I want to explore live drawing both traditionally and digitally because I don't do much live drawing, especially when it came to environments. With how much I enjoy the outdoors, this gives me the chance to go out of my way and draw whatever perked my interest. I also wanted to practice drawing on my phone, as I'm someone who usually draws on PC, I want to try draw using the convenience of my phone. While drawing on my phone, I also used the text options to jot down notes during my time at the park, which I included below.

THE ANT...

During the talk with Weird Flex Studio, I was resting on the grass ontop of my bag before a Myrmecia Fabricius, a bull ant, bit my right leg... Bull Ants tend to live underground in dry, woody areas, and my bag happened to be sitting right on top of the hole. Bull Ants get aggressive when their path or territory is disturbed and bit me as soon as I took my bag out to grab my drink bottle. When I look back, tons of Bull Ants were rushing out of the hole, running everywhere. These ants were huge, almost the size of half of your index finger! The sting was painful, about a 6/10. Sometimes the pain would leave, then come back full force minutes later. The wound was quick to heal, though, and stopped hurting after 24 hours.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

A lot of the grass in the grass field were called Red-leg Grass, as shown in this picture. Walking through them was tough work, followed by the uneven surface. I recall parts of the grass getting into my shoe too and when I took them out, they looked like seeds. This grass is considered a warm-season grass, again reminding me of safari, wild environments. A lot of the softer, lush green grass are called 'Weeping Grass', one of my personal favourites from their touch and smell alone. It was perfect for lying down and leaving a mark with your body, similar to how people left marks on the tree stumps.

There were also several species of Wallaby and Spear Grass spotted, all which were commonly found in grasslands and near bushes.