Monthly Archives: January 2015

Australia Day

It is Australia Day today.

We celebrate everything Australian !

It is a national public holiday today. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships atPort Jackson, New South Wales. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies, fireworks, music and barbecues the day is celebrated everywhere around the nation.

I am having a quiet Australia day long weekend. I thought I would post some drawings that I have done in previous years on Australia Day and also some classic Australian animals and birds I have previously drawn. All in watercolour pencil of course !

Australia Day 2014

Australia Day 2011 – the free bucket hat given away at the park

Australia Day 2012

I had a great time reminiscing while looking back through my sketches since 2008. I have 49 sketchbooks and all of the drawings have been scanned onto flickr (a photo sharing website) . I can search flickr by keyword. So as long as I have described the drawing when I put it on flickr , I can find my sketches on a particular subject. As a librarian , this level of organisation and functionality appeals to me!

Here are some Australian birds and animals – drawn from real life, photos or at the museum

Wombat. Drawn from photos taken in Tasmania. This was the drawing that really set my direction in watercolour pencil sketching. Cathy Johnson included it in her Artist’s Journal Workshop” book and it my viewed drawing on flickr. I discovered I could achieve so much with watercolour pencils

sketched at Australian Museum, Sydney

sketched at Taronga Zoo Sydney

sketched at Tarona Zoo, Sydney

sketched at the Art Gallery NSW when the Rainbow Lorikeet sat at our table in the cafe

Welcome to 2015

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Welcome to 2015 and my new website.

This new year is full of opportunities and promises many adventures.

Like my dishmop drawing (below) I am having a clean out in the New Year. 2015 has started well as I have successfully moved from a Blogger blog to a WordPress website, which you are looking at now. I still have the same address www.alissaduke.com

You may notice differences on my blog page formatting and I hope to smooth these out over the next weeks.

As well as a blog, WordPress provides the options of a Gallery (to display some of my drawings in themed groups such as food, travel, nature) , a Shop and more !

I am spending time looking at the process of getting my drawings from the pages in my sketchbook onto cards and prints.

I have been busy spending time working on my website, but have still been drawing everyday – even through a recent headcold.

website update

My website is currently being updated as I change from Blogger to WordPress, with all the little technical issues that go along with it. My web address will remain the same at www.alissaduke.com

fish in 6 ways and other food sketches

Evelyn’s Birthday lunch.

A table spread with fruits, cheeses, dips and breads and much more.

All the people gathered were sketchers, so the food was a focus for many reasons.

breads, dips, meats. cheeses

Then Angela arrived with smoked trout.

I drew the trout once in ink, then again in colour, then again bigger and in colour, then in ink……I experimented with drawing some in a larger A4 Jasart 150gsm sketchbook, and with one of the new Tombow pens that I got for Christmas.

I really enjoyed doing these sketches today and felt very creative and inspired . I am sure it was not just the subject matter(the fish), but being surrounded by creative friends an in the right state of mind..