I had planned to sketch at the zoo last week, however, an extended lockdown 5.0 in Melbourne has changed that. AND it was going to be 13 degrees and raining. Instead, I stayed cosy at home drawing the animals I have …. In old books that were about to be discarded. I have books with frogs, poodles, and porcupines….Already available for purchase on my ETSY online store are books with a lion, dogs, elephant, squirrel and fish!

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In April 2020, our first lockdown had begun in Melbourne, and I purchased all of the Faber Castell watercolour pencils and wrote a blog about it.

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Over the past year, I have been testing the color ranges. Today is all about the greys – and there are a lot of them!

In my daily sketch kit I use three:

• Payne’s Grey – I use the Payne’s Grey for shadows. My Moleskine 13 x 19 cm watercolour sketchbook is small, so I don’t mix colours to create a grey. For me, it is all about a quick sketch and capturing the moment. There is not really the space to play around too much with colours.

• Cold Grey V – I use the Cold Grey V for lighter greys.

• Warm Grey III – I have discovered that the Warm Grey III is a good colour for old buildings, especially the sandstone of Melbourne. I http://alissaduke.com/2014/10/new-city-new-pencil-colours.htmlwrote about this when I moved from Sydney to Melbourne.

I have written about other colour ranges previously. I hope this provides an insight into the colours. It is important to note how the colour can change when water is added. Being aware of this factor is key to knowing which colour to choose and take out of your sketchkit quickly.

my blue and brown watercolour pencils http://alissaduke.com/2020/08/my-blue-and-brown-watercolour-pencils.html

my pink and purple watercolour pencils http://alissaduke.com/2021/03/my-pink-and-purple-watercolour-pencils.html

my green watercolour pencils http://alissaduke.com/2020/08/my-green-watercolour-pencils.html

my yellow watercolour pencils http://alissaduke.com/2020/09/my-yellow-watercolour-pencils.html

Let me know if you have any questions and share your watercolour pencil experiences.

Happy sketching. Stay safe and creative.

I was wondering why I only had a few sketches in my sketchbook this past week. Then I realised that I had spent some evenings on the following project. I have started to draw again in those discarded books that I had been collecting.

I wrote about his project in a blog post earlier this year which explains why and how I draw in books and where you can purchase these new creations.

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And below is the rest of my week. My topics are almost back to normal: on the tram, in the park and food and drink.