Finally, after months of lockdown, Melbourne restrictions eased and the Zoo opened for ticket sales. I was in an online queue for an hour and joined as 4995th.

The Zoo opened Tuesday 26th October and luckily everyone wanted weekend tickets. The capacity was capped at 3000 a day which was 25% of normal numbers. My sketching friend Kaz & I got tickets and planned our day. I had been singing this childhood song all week. Click the forward arrow to START it.

I wanted to draw in an old ledger book which I used last time at the zoo. This time I decided to use watercolor pencils, but not add water, as the paper is quite thin. I also wanted to try a few other pencils I had. On the day I ended up just using Black watercolour pencil, a Black coloured pencil and a few with my new multicolour pencil (just for fun).

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I did lots of quick sketches, and there was not a lot of time for studied observations. It was a matter of being flexible and making the most of opportunities, Some animals were just not visible and we did not wait for them to turn up. I filled many many pages. Here is a selection

I have never seen koalas so close and so active. They are usually a shape in a tree that I can’t spot. And they sleep 80% of the time. What a treat! One of the zoo staff was there to tell us all about these two. But as you can see, there were lots of false starts as they moved around.

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Just three sketches with my multicoloured pencil.

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I did ten sketches of elephants. I have sketched elephants for a project in 2009 (The Sketchbook Project: Elephant in the Room) and it sort of came back to me. I had to look where parts of the head intersected. Thankfully, there were four elephants and they returned to specific poses as they were feeding.

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I also sketched kangaroos, swans, orangutang (from a distance), and a tortoise.

I think the key for me is no expectations. be flexible,

Get the shape of the face right, maybe even the eyes and nose, A few basic shapes or key features of the body.

I had such a great day and I am really looking forward to my next visit.

I have been exploring the full range of Faber Castell watercolour pencils.

I am up to the final few pencils in this blogpost. I have tested Payne Gray, Black, Silver, Gold, Copper, Ivory and White. I carry some of these is in the pencil wrap that I carry with me daily and that Ivory, Black, and Paynes Gray. These are frequently used colours.

You might wonder why I would use some of these, especially Ivory and White. Ivory makes a big difference on my Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook pages. It adds warmth to the white page.

The Gold, Silver and Copper can add a hint of metallic. with highlights on the paper at some angles. However, you can see in the tests below that using the pencils on different coloured papers can make a huge difference.

This paper is an envelope I received in the mail. It is sort of like a thin Kraft paper.

I don’t use coloured papers. If you did want to explore in this direction, there are so many to choose from, and the pencils will look different on each.

Below are links to all of the colour tests in the full Faber Castell Water Colour pencils. Explore and enjoy

my red and orange watercolour pencils http://alissaduke.com/2021/10/my-red-and-orange-watercolour-pencils.html

my grey watercolour pencils http://alissaduke.com/2021/07/my-grey-watercolour-pencils.html

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

On Saturday I attended a zoom online life drawing session.

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There are two different life drawing sessions I attend, (they are not classes). Both are based in Melbourne. One of the few things that lockdown has allowed me to attended these online.

Both life drawing sessions follow a traditional format and start with a few quick poses 2 minutes or 5 minutes, then a few 10 or 15 minutes, and then two longer poses 20 or up to 45 minutes. Logon into Zoom. You keep your video and mute your sound, At the end, you hold up to the screen camera and show your art if you want to and can share on social media – usually Instagram. When people hold their art up you can see LOTS of completely different styles, art materials, and sizes of paper (some are huge on easels) or a few on ipads. I sketch on A3 size paper.

However, they are run differently. I like them both.

The first is at The Art Room. They are usually on Saturdays, which is when I usually hold my own watercolour pencil sketching classes and so I have not been able to attend. I had attended a few at the studio before lockdown. In the online life drawing session, they provide wonderful high-quality photographs that were taken of the models before lockdown. Nude. male and female, all sizes, shapes, and ages. The photos are on the screen for the set amount of time.

The sketch below is with a new pencil. It is a multicoloured pencil from Daiso (a two dollar shop). It changes colour as you go. A few friends had talked about it and one posted me one. Fun.

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So while I sketch, and my Audio is on mute I can play whatever music I want to listen to. Usually ABC Classic or Jazz.

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Today it was a combination of close-up hands and feet and some full-length body poses. For me, it was one of those sessions, where everything just came together and worked on the page, This does not always happen. I always have fun, it is always challenging

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Top Secret Life Drawing is run by another organisation via their Facebook page and I have never been to their live drawing session. During the lockdown, they are held on Thursday nights. I could never attend these in person at this time.

The models are live and also on zoom from their respective cities and countries. There is usually a theme- a director’s movie’s (Quentin Tarantino), a singer (Madonna), This month there is a theme of horror movies. am not attending any of those,, The model (or two) have props and sometimes clothed in something from the theme. So there is a bit of time spent as the model sets themselves up for their camera, getting body angles right for viewing and sketching,

Music is played that suits the theme. From 7.30-10.00. So I am all lively and awake at 10pm on a Thursday night and have to wind down and sleep soon as I have work the next day.

I am looking forward to going back in person, however, I am appreciating what I have now.

Over the past year, I have been exploring the colours in the full set of Faber Castell watercolour pencils. I have written about other colour ranges previously and have put links below. There are so many reds, too many reds and each a little different.

The watercolor pencils that I use in my everyday sketch kit are:

• Orange Glaze
• Alizirian Crimson
• Dark Red
• Burnt Carmine
• Caput Mortuum

my grey watercolour pencils http://alissaduke.com/2021/07/my-grey-watercolour-pencils.html

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

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.

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

Happy sketching. Stay safe and creative.