I was given two miniature bottles of drinks recently. They each contain enough for one drink. You can see the size of them compared to the size of my hand and watercolour pencil drawing them. I don’t drink spirits, so I decided to make it a bit of an event. And the bottles are so cute.
Vodka Expresso Martini
One was a Vodka Expresso Martini made by Melbourne Martini – a premixed drink that came in a glass jar. Vodka and drip filter coffee. The instruction was to put it in the fridge, shake it, drink it. Of course, I had to drink it from a Martini glass. I couldn’t find one in my local op-shop. so one ordered online. IKEA $4 plus postage, which cost more than the glass. It arrived in such a big box that I had to sketch it. !
And the event. Drawing it was such fun. It tasted quite good with quite a kick! However, I will stick to wine and prosecco. But I do have a martini glass in my cupboard now.
Ink Gin
Ink Gin is the name of the New South Wales company that makes this drink. It is gin, “… made from botanicals but has an added ingredient. The deep violet colour is butterfly pea flower petals, an exotic flower from Thailand, which is infused into the gin after distillation. Normally used in herbal tea, the petals are highly sensitive to pH, causing the gin to change from blue to blush pink when combined with acidic mixers like tonic water, lemon or lime.”
So I drew it before and then after adding the tonic water.
The fun was in the event and the drawing and not the alcohol. (I won’t be trying sprits in a rush again).
I have started the New Year with a project to get my teeth into. As you are probably aware, I draw in old books that about to be discarded – the books no one wants at op shops ! They are either free or under $5.
I have a lovely stock of these at home, which I bought a year ago, (before our 9 month lockdown) and have recently been given some more. I usually read or browse through the a book, sometimes two or three times, noting pages that have potential. I will narrow it down to one or two which mentions or describes something that I can illustrate with my watercolour pencils. I then search on the internet for copyright free images to use on the page. I often have visualised a concept in my mind and try and locate an image that matches that. I am not always successful and sometimes need to change ideas.
Below are some of my recent “drawn in books” and a few current projects. All are or will be available on my ETSY online store for purchase. The postage rate is set for Australia, but please contact me and I will find out what the International country rates would be. At the moment postage is unpredictable and there is no guarantee how long a parcel will take to arrive.
These three drawn in books have just been added to my ETSY online store. Did you grow up reading these? I only know “Timmy” as a black and white border collie in the 1970’3 TV series, but not in the original book.
Timmy a ” large, brown mongrel” in Famous Five (1967)
Scamper a “golden spaniel” in Secret Seven (1957)
Snap a ‘big , shaggy white dog’ in The Bobbsey Twins (1955)
I am currently working in three books. I usually have two or three going at the one time, so that I can move between. One book will often sit for a few days and I will leave it open to the page, and walk past, think how it could be improved. Usually, this involves adding more colour to one area.
This Motoring: Being the romantic story of the Automobile Association by Stephen Cooke Published by the Automobile Association in 1931 268 pages
This is about 80% complete. Some more details need to be added. Finding an image to inspire me to draw was not as easy as I thought it would be. It is a book about the founding and growth of the Automobile Association in the UK up to 1931. I assumed there would be a lot of references to cars, but there wasn’t. However this early page explained the history of motoring. The famous annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run commemorates the 1896 “Emancipation Run” as a celebration of the then recently passed Locomotives on Highways Act 1896, which increased the speed limit to 14 mph (23 km/h). The Act also abolished the requirement for the cars to be preceded by a man on foot with a red flag. The Annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is open to vehicles built before 1905. The 1953 comedy movie Genevieve is set during one of these runs.
Sheet Music
James Hook Sonata in G for Descant Recorder (or Treble Pipe or Violin) and Pianoforte(Bergman) Published by Schott & Co, Ltd. In 1948 12 pages. The recorder, which many of us may associate with primary school music lessons, actually has a long history. I discovered this in my research.
Report of the Botanical Section for the Year 1936 By Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society in 1936 6 pages
I have only just started this one. This pamphlet lists grasses, small flowers, and lichen by botanical name. I looked them all up online and none of them were very dramatic to draw. However,Chanterelle mushrooms are mentioned in the text and they are very colourful.
I hope that this provides some insight into my process and way of thinking.
I have another shelf full (or two) of books with potential to draw in. Many hours of fun!
I write a blog post at this time each year looking back at what I have done during the year with my art. I have found this is a very useful way of realising how much I have accomplished in a year, as I usually forget about some events or do not realise how many classes I have run etc. It is a good reality check for me. ( I have done this in 2019 2018, 2017 as well as 20142015 & 2016 )
This year of course is different, as with everyone. My carefully planned year, and all its exciting events were cancelled. I have been working from home (in my daytime work) since March when Melbourne went into lockdown. Restrictions have only recently been eased, however, there is still a long way to go back to normal. This new way of life did not stop me from sketching and achieving other art-related goals. I have put links to separate blog posts if there is one.
Daily sketching. This year again I filled eight Moleskine watercolour sketchbooks (13 x19 cm) of everyday sketching. I scan every page of my sketchbook and put them all on Flickr (an image sharing website) Some go onto Facebook at Alissa Duke Art , some on Instagram alissaduke1. I thought that I would have less than last year, as I had not attended as many events and this is when I often fill many pages. However, it is the same as last year. I did sketch a lot in the gardens this year in my allowed exercise and recreation time, sometimes over multiple pages.
Two watercolour pencil sketching classes in February before everything closed down. Nature sketching and travel sketching,
I have maintained my weekly art blog. Thank you to the 148 followers of this weekly art blog. I hope that you find it enjoyable and interesting to read and full of information. I hope that I am able to share a bit of my passion for drawing and watercolour pencils. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to explain anything I do. I still hope to be able to produce a video one day, (but that is in the too hard basket again. I say this every year). If you don’t already, you can subscribe to my blog to receive it via email.
Etsy Sales – I have an Etsy online store selling my Greeting cards and ‘drawn in books’. This year was very quiet for card sales.
Newsletter. I sent two newsletters this year to the 127 people who subscribe to my newsletter, in April and October. The newsletter is for people who are interested in my art and would like to know when major events happen – new card designs, markets, exhibitions, and classes. They may not necessarily be interested in my Weekly Art Blog, but still want to be updated. Obviously a little quiet this year. This will be one of the places I announce any classes when they begin.
Instagram. I now have 1548 followers on Instagram alissaduke1. I post an image daily on Instagram, They are examples of sketching every day, and hopefully, inspire some sketchers.
2020 – Here are my projects and commercial activities. (paying for my pencils) This year is a little different. I did have a few one-off art events
Blarney Books & Art Biblio Art Prize. This annual Port Fairy (Victoria, Australia) event was held. When you enter the competition you get given a book title to interpret artistically. This year the books were by recently published Australian Authors. I entered and was given The Silence by Susan Allott. I drew on the pages the mentioned cigarettes and alcohol, which seemed to feature in the lives of the characters. The creativity and skill of the other entries were amazing and it is worth spending time looking through them at the Finalists Exhibition online.
Athenauem Library Art Group. I had previously arranged to hold a Watercolour Pencil sketching class with the Athenaeum Library Art Group. I was contacted to do this as an Online session, I had decided very early on not to do online classes, so I turned the class into a Zoom presentation. I created a slide show that I presented with examples of watercolour sketching and the types of mark marking that can be achieved with those wonderful watercolour pencils. I am really looking forward to seeing them all and continuing this in person.
I entered a Melbourne art challenge by gallery Art Aviso. Artists were supplied with a page of Newnes’ Pictorial Knowledge 1950’s Encyclopedia (Edited by Enid Blyton), which formed the basis of an artwork to be exhibited at some time on the other side of the Pandemic.Volume 6: What Master minds have done for the good of Man: How this book was built
Photobox. One of the BIG events of my year, the annual Clunes Booktown Festival was cancelled, I had been accepted to have a stall selling my ‘drawn in books amongst the second-hand booksellers and author talks. With this in mind, I had been going explorations of second-hand bookshops stocking up on those discarded books that I could draw in. I had an exciting selection that I had drawn in and had built up stock to take to the Festival. I made the decision to sell these on my ETSY website. To do this I needed to take photographs of them. I purchased a Photo Light Studio, and wrote about it here ) which allows photos to be taken without shadows. I could do this myself while in lockdown. It made a big difference so my sense of productivity and achievement, I have put 20 books on ETSY and sold 10 this year, mailing all over the world.
Books to draw in. As part of this project I was also given and sought out books to draw in , They must be under $5. In a lockdown, I could not go out all year and nothing was open in Melbourne. I was sent a few boxes of books from friends from various sources. Thank you all. They knew exactly the type of book I was looking for (ready to be thrown out) . I have shelves of books to draw in!
A3 Scanner/printer. I had an A4 scanner printer and decided to purchase one that would scan the double-page spread of my daily sketchbook, and also scan any commissions I draw, before handing them over.
Updated business cards. A graphic designer friend updated my MOO brand business cards: cards are the same design (in multiple colours), with updated information. They are now ready to hand out at events and attach to purchases from my ETSY online store that I post out.
Going forward into 2021. What will it bring?
More drawing in books. I will be continuing my daytime work from home. Watercolour pencil sketching classes will begin again at some stage. and of course, sketching everyday !!!
