Today I held another wonderful Travel Sketching class in Melbourne. Nine enthusiastic sketchers joined me to hear and learn about the concept of travel sketching and also using watercolour pencils to capture their travels on the page. Some had sketched a little before, others a bit more, many already owned the watercolour pencils.  

I have held a few travel sketching classes in the last year and a few areas of discussion seem to come up each time. A common issue is not knowing where to start when sitting in front of a scene, and so then not starting at all. 

On Saturday when we walked out the front of East Melbourne Library where the classes are held, a lovely street scene met us.  What to draw? Where to start?

  I have found that setting a short timeframe helps people.  I choose 15 minutes sessions in my class. When travelling you need to seize opportunities to sketch. In 15 minutes you have to make a decision very quickly on what to sketch.

Sometimes  at first, people panic, but settle on something. We then move areas and sketch another view or subject. It is easier the second time (or the third) to choose what to sketch. When you look back on your page it is a reminder of what you can achieve in a short time frame.  Of course, over time and with practice and confidence in your ability and tools, you can achieve more in a  short time frame.

These are two scenes that attracted me The ironlace terrace and the little cottage against the large brick wall. 

The majority agreed that when you sketch you forget everything else – time goes quickly 

I also learn so much . There are so many people who don’t start, even though they want to because they ‘can’t draw’, who then produce amazing lines on paper capturing the event and how proud they are of what they have on the page.

I also am reminded of how very fortunate I am to have the passion for sketching and the opportunity to share it with others.

Join me next Saturday for Travel Sketching Food and Drink. The same concepts but applied to food and drink travel sketching as the travel sketching class. The meals that you have along the way are part of your own unique adventure and can be captured on the page. You can have your cake and sketch it too! Book here https://www.trybooking.com/386957

This weekend I have been catching up with life, being slightly social and working on future projects. I have been inspired and motivated by discussions with my old and new sketching friends. ie friends who have been sketching for years and those that have just started.

This page has slow, medium and fast sketches that I completed during the week.

SLOW drawings

This is a very small part of a commission I am working on. I have my original drawing and then photocopied it and added colours to the photocopies. I  am experimenting with adding sky  and ground – how much and what intensity. I am working on this drawing over many nights. To be completed by the end of August.

without sky or grass

with grass

with grass and sky

MEDIUM  sketch

Coffee and catch up with a sketching friend. We talked and sketched for over two hours. My coffee and pear tarte are examples of my travel sketching style that I will be talking about in my upcoming Melbourne ‘Food and Drink travel sketching” classes in July and August. The sketches are often just the impression of detail, leaving the rest to your imagination, The cup  and tarte  are only half finished. I have also included the branding of “Laurent” patisserie, and written about my catchup. Join me . Book here 

QUICK sketch

These are some of the quickest sketches I have done, They were drawn from the laptop screen from a live event. I was watching the Goodwood Festival of Speed Pre and Post War car racing.

These sketches are on three pages of my sketchbook. I experiment with using, black watercolour pencil, then coloured and then black ink. I decided early to sketch small on the page. They were on the screen for literally seconds. 

Any hints and tips for sketching car racing most welcome ! I will be attending a big event later this year and hope to sketch a lot of old automobiles.

Happy sketching !!

The 46th ANZAAB Australian Antiquarian Book Fair
Friday 6 July to Sunday 8 July 2018 is presented by the Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers (ANZAAB) as part of Melbourne Rare Book Week

Admission to Melbourne Rare Book Fair is free

My sketches from the Fair. All sketched on location with Lamy Safari Joy ink pen and watercolour pencils in a Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook. 

to see all of my sketches from the week visit my flickr album

It’s getting towards the end of Melbourne Rare Book Week. I have combined the last two days into one blog post.

It will culminate is Rare Book Fair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Thirty-two Australian and international antiquarian booksellers will offer a rich and diverse array of items catering for all who genuinely love print on paper and who share a passion for books. Millions of dollars worth of rare and collectible books, maps, photographs and manuscript material will be on offer at this major event in the Australian antiquarian book calendar, at prices to suit all levels of collecting.

talks

Criminals, coppers, and columnists: The craft of collecting crime
State Library Victoria
Daniel Wee

From the seedy back alleys of early 20th century Melbourne to the unforgiving landscape of the high country, discover the gritty and sordid underbelly of crime through the State Library’s rich and surprising collections. From heart-wrenching letters to intriguing scrapbooks, Daniel Wee will tell the tale of some of Victoria’s most violent crimes.

Ghastly Gothic reads for kids 
Melbourne Library Service
Jeanette Becklar

Can you remember the first scary story you ever heard?The dark, dangerous, mysterious and spooky have always held a fascination for young readers.Come and listen to some favourite ghastly stories and be inspired to create your own Gothic masterpiece. You will discover the compulsory elements to write or illustrate a Gothic story. Suitable for 10 years and over

My drawing for the posters for this event.

The Gothic novel : A Grand Tour through lurid worlds
Melbourne Library Service
Chris Browne

2018 is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein and is also the 200th anniversary of birth of Emily Bronte, author of Wuthering Heights. To mark these occasions, we are presenting a brief history of the Gothic novel, highlighting important elements and influences of the Gothic tradition. Readings will be given from key books, and brief clips from influential films will be shown. Chris’s personal choice of collectible editions of Gothic novels will also be presented.

Today I sketched events at Melbourne Rare Book Week. All sketched on location during the talk.

They are in watercolour pencil and Lamy Safari Joy ink pen in 13 x 19 cm Moleskin watercolour sketchbook. You can follow Melbourne Rare Book week on instagram and facebook @rarebookweek. You can follow me on instagram @alissaduke1 or facebook Alissa Duke Art 

I’ve added the information from the program below the sketches .

I attended two fascinating events today.

The medieval art of dying at State Library Victoria presented by Dr Anna Welch.

Medieval Christians were acutely aware of death, and spent much of their lives preparing for it. Through illuminated manuscripts and early printed works from the State Library collection,

Codex Sancti Paschalis , Franciscan missal from 1290. There was a small group of people for this talk and viewed some amazing rare books They were passed around the table on a display pillow.

We stood up around the table as the importance of these incredibly historic texts were explained to us. 

And for something completely different ..

Vampires and Victorian eroticism 

presented by Melbourne Library Service by Chris Browne

A big day with a choice of SIX events to choose to attend at Melbourne Rare Book Week.

I began with The MV Anderson Chess collection at State Library of Victoria. I knew that there was an impressive chess book collection and wanted to know the story behind it, I also saw the possibility of drawing something to do with chess and a black and white theme, There is a large chess set outside the State Library of Victoria, so I drew a few pieces before going inside.

Then onto the iconic Melbourne Cricket Club at the MCG for a presentation and book launch on “Oppy” the life of Sir Hubert Opperman, whose epic feats captivated the cycling world. 

Finally to Dark Tales: gothic traditions in children’s books & fairy tales. This is part of the Gothic series presented by Melbourne Library Service. Below is my drawing for the poster for this event. I am thinking of selling this as a print…

There was only one event today. The Australian Sketchbook: Colonial life and the art of ST Gill.

The room was full at the beautiful Old Treasury Building to listen as Dianne Reilly spoke of his life and great talent depicting the daily life of diggers in search of gold in the goldfields.  

I was trying to make the drawing different by adding colour to the richness of the grand furniture. 

Melbourne Rare Book Week Day 2. There were five amazing talks on today

I was able to attend three today. The day started with free Rare Book Appraisals by three experts. People brought along their books and prints to be appraised, find out about them and get a value.

There were already a few people gathered when I arrived and a steady stream of people came in during the time I was there. I overheard some interested snippets of conversation!

A quick tram ride across town to Armadale Cellars to hear Michael Hince talk on wine publishing in Australia, An entertaining talk, in the cellars surrounded  by wine, What else could I sketch!

In the evening Susannah Fullerton and Chris Browne presented on the literary greats who visited Australia what they observed.  thoughts of Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson were some of the readings given. 

What a day !