International Nature Journaling Week 1-7th June 2025
Conversations with Nature : This year the theme was exploring the conversations we have with the natural world.

Each day there were video interviews, presentations and a lot on contents on the website. This is their introduction to give you an idea

Explore the website – there is lots to discover! You can Start Here and then find out How to Participate in the week. There is a page for Parents & Teachers, one for the Reluctant Artist and a page on sharing the Written Word in our nature journal pages. On the Blog you will find posts from nature journalers around the world, sharing ideas and knowledge on different aspects of journaling. The Books & Inspiration page will point you to books and websites where you can learn more about nature journaling and nature connection. Sign-up to the newsletter to receive updates and ideas.

I had limited time this week and did not get to spend as long on each page as I hoped. I also found these themes very challenging as they were prompts for concepts and involved words.

Once I decided what to sketch I was in my comfort zone. But before I put watercolour pencil to paper I had to do a lot of thinking, processing and decision making.

Day 1 Describing the indescribable

Day 2 Playing with words

Day 3 Exploring nature through poetry

Day 4 Storytelling with nature

Day 5 Listening attentively

Day 6 Sensing the world around us

Day 7 Creating a vision for the future

Each year that I join in INJW I enjoy it. I learn so much about looking at nature and experiencing and ways to express it on the page. I only wish that I put more of this into practice in my daily sketchbook for the rest of the year.

See my previous years’ sketches here

INJW 2024 Exploring the natural processes within the cycle of life. Ithttp://alissaduke.com/2024/06/international-nature-journaling-week-3.html

INJW 2023 Sensory Safari http://alissaduke.com/2023/06/international-nature-journaling-week-part-2.html AND http://alissaduke.com/2023/06/international-nature-journaling-week-2.html

I have a Nature Sketching with Watercolour Pencil Class this coming Saturday at Royal Botanic Gardens of Victoria. I hope to pass some of this on.

Here are some of my recent sketches.

Enjoy !!!

A whole post on pencil sharpeners !? Is there really that much to say about them?

Yes!

I describe my sketching style as” the unfinished look” and “the impression of detail”. I give the impression of details by adding hard, fine lines with a sharp watercolour pencil to some areas of a drawing.

I also do longer, more studied drawings with my watercolour pencils. There is more emphasis on detail and subtle changes in texture, colour and line. A sharp pencil is needed for these.

Every day I carry a single Staedler pencil sharpener in my sketchkit and it works well.

Be aware that not every pencil will fit into every pencil sharpener. I had assumed they would until I bought one while on holidays that didn’t and now I test my pencil in the shop.

I also have a dual Staedler two pencil sharper at home. One side ie Graphite and Colour (which I use for my watercolour pencils) and the other is Graphite.

I own a pencil sharpener that can be fixed onto the bench. It is like a school pencil sharpener. It can sharpen them to a ridiculous point (which breaks as soon as I touch it to the paper with even the slightest pressure). It is best not to sharpen them that much!

With these last two closed sharpeners the pencil tip sometimes breaks off in the sharpener which means the sharpener has to be taken apart for the piece to be dislodged. A bit frustrating.

A lovely class yesterday for food and drink sketching with watercolour pencil. It was a free community engagement activity from Melbourne Library Service.

All food and sketching supplies provided in a two hour session.

A curious and engaged group of 15 had fun playing with watercolour pencils. Lots of chatting, eating and bright colours.

A few people purchased sketchkits and the following information will be emailed to them. Hopefully some are inspired and motivated to continue.

Below are a few links to some practical hints and tips from my weekly art blog.

• The 26 watercolour pencils I carry everyday http://alissaduke.com/2022/03/the-watercolour-pencils-i-use-2.html
• My top 12 http://alissaduke.com/2022/03/top-12-watercolour-pencil-colours.html
• My sketchkit https://alissaduke.com/2022/04/my-sketchkit.html
• Hints and tips  http://alissaduke.com/2014/03/five-watercolour-pencils-tips.html
• Practical hints and Tips http://alissaduke.com/2017/05/practical-blog-posts.html
• Video of sketching vegetables https://alissaduke.com/2025/03/sketching-vegetables-video.html  – not a cake ,  but colourful and the same concepts.

Happy sketching everyone !

Yesterday I had the joy to hold TWO Nature Sketching with Watercolour Pencil classes at Dromkeen homestead at Riddells Creek, an hour out of Melbourne. This was part of the Macedon Ranges Autumn Festival. Dromkeen also had a Wonders of Nature art exhibition with 130 pieces of art by amazing local artists. I visited for the opening two weeks ago and was very excited to meet and talk to some of the artists involved. It continues for another two weeks.

In the photo are a small suitcase with sketchkits for those who have purchased them. They contain a pack of 12 FaberCastell watercolour pencils, a Pentel medium waterbrush, an A5 Art Spectrum 210gsm smooth watercolour sketchbook (draw and wash), an Albrecht Durer watercolour pencil, a hints and tips sheet and a serviette ! all have a purpose.

I also have a backpack of some of my sketchbooks to show examples. I take a pull-up banner which I display at events. I also have done some swatches of the colours in their kit.

My class was held indoors. Autumn has decided to arrive in Melbourne and the day was drizzling. This is not good for watercolour and watercolour colour paper (or people). I made a decision to hold my class inside when I arrived on the train from Melbourne. This was Plan B. The class was held in Garden Room which is a separate room from the homestead, as there was so much happening in Dromkeen tea rooms and Art Gallery.

I collected some autumnal leaves. branches with lichen, nuts and a few peacock feathers (there used to be peacocks on the homestead property) for attendees to sketch.

An email was sent to participants with the following links.

• The 26  watercolour pencils I carry everyday http://alissaduke.com/2022/03/the-watercolour-pencils-i-use-2.html
• My top 12 http://alissaduke.com/2022/03/top-12-watercolour-pencil-colours.html
• Hints and tips  http://alissaduke.com/2014/03/five-watercolour-pencils-tips.html
• Practical hints and Tips http://alissaduke.com/2017/05/practical-blog-posts.html

Happy sketching every and let me know have any questions.

Easter Greetings 2025.

I am enjoying a lovely long weekend. Lots of Easter sketching!I have two videos for you of sketching a hot across bun in watercolour pencil and step by step photos of an small soft toy rabbit.

These are my annual Easter sketches that I have been doing for at least 10 years. I get to try our new hot cross buns each and practice my rabbit after his emergence from the cupboard where he lives for the rest of the year.

• Warm Grey II
• Payne’s Grey
• a Pink Madder Lake – nose
• Black

and then onto the serious stuff…

• Ivory
• Warm Grey II
• Burnt Ochre
• Paynes grey
• Dark Sepia
• Black (coloured pencil) – I use for the lines where I dont want the pigment to dissolve or blend. This is the only non watercolour (in coloured pencil) pencil that I have in my sketchkit.

And a second video. What happened next…

new colours of

• Light Cadmium Yellow
• Cream

Farewell from the Easter Bunny

note: the darker the colour around his tail, more white it appears becasue it stands out more.

and he left a colourful Easter Egg for me to sketch in my Zoom catchup with UK sketching friends Sue, Jules and Jean.

The Melbourne Urban Skechers had their montly catchup on Sunday in Fitzroy Gardens.

It was a summery Autumn day and about 40 sketchers turned up at 11:00am , spread around the park and met up again at 1:00pm for a “throwndown” where we spread out our books onth ground. We can then see the amazing vaierty of markmaking and colours. Each sketch is different and no two are the same.

I sketched the sketchers! They stay still !

I focused on the trunk of this Moreton Bay Fig. I got in close as I am always fascinated by the lichen and scars and textures that make each tree individual.

I also wanted to sketch Nature, which was easy in the Gardens. I have two Nature Sketching with Watercolour Pencil classes on 26 April at Dromkeen homestead, just outside of Melbourne. See more details here.

It is part of their Autumn Festival, which began with a pop up art show last Saturday.

150 beautiful art works by Macedon Locals. One of many events over the next few weeks.

I quickly sketched at the launch!

I received a lot of lovely comments on my timelapse watercolour pencil sketch of vegetables last week. I was asked if I could show one in real-time.

This is a 15 minute video. Next time I may figure out to have appropriate music playing in the background.

A container of mixed olives. I chose this as I wanted to use an obscure colour that I do not carry in my everyday sketch kit. Olive Green Yellowish. You can see it is perfect for olives, but probably not much else in life.
I used a few other colours from my daily sketchkit:

• Caput Mortum
• Black
• Cold Grey V (for the plastic container)

I put the pencils out on the table beforehand. I began by sketching the different olives in each colour as I changed olives,

I used a serviette (offscreen) to squeeze water from the waterbrush to clear the colour from its tip between colours.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I have been meaning to film some watercolour pencil sketching for quite a while. I don’t film regularly so it is always a challenge to remember the technical parts of it.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping, choosing some colourful vegetables, that would be ideal for showing watercolour pencils: pumpkin, carrots, broccoli and red onion.

Now that I have my subject, I decide what I want to sketch and then where it will sit on the page.

I do this all in my head. I don’t do thumbnails (small tonal studies). My sketches are not still-life compositions. They a quick, often spur of the moment, captures on the page. Often the subject will move or get moved. A lot of my sketching process is based on travel sketching.

Before I started to sketch I choose the watercolour pencils that I am going to use. I always chose from MY SKETCHKIT that I carry with me everyday. It has 26 watercolour pencils, an ink pen and sharpener. I know my pencils, their colours and what they do on the paper and then when water is added.

If you have watercolour pencils play with them on the page, make marks. scribble. add water and see what happens. I have been using watercolour pencils for over 20 years and know them well, but still excited by what they can do.

Today I used:

• Magenta
• Orange Glaze
• Chrome Oxide Green
• Grass Green
• Payne’s Grey
• Naples Yellow
• I would have used Pine Green but forgot to put it aside for this demonstration.

I do have the whole 126 Faber Castell watercolour pencil range, but usually only use these when I need very specific colours for a commission.

In my watercolour pencil classes. I explain watercolour pencils, paper, waterbrush and we play on the pages. We then go and find a place to sketch for 15 minutes! Not a lot of time but enough to get some colourful lines on the page, capturing the essence of the object or scene. As you will see…

In the first video my first marks on the page are getting the basic shapes of the vegetables on the page. I sketch in the colour of the object ie the carrots and orange, the broccoli is green etc.

The next steps are:

• sketch with heavier lines and blocks of colour
• spread with waterbrush
• wait to dry
• add another layer of the colour to intensify the colour and add volume or texture.

While I am waiting for one area to dry I work on another, You will see that I move all over the page, changing colours.

NOTE : when I use a new colour on the page I squeeze the waterbrush onto a napkin / serviette (or my hand, because I did not have one nearby). This is to clear the waterbrush of the previous colour.

You can slow this down by locating the Speed control (the first icon. the two parallel lines) and the SPEED . slow down to 0.25 for the slowest.

My second video – focusing on just one vegetable.

See how much can be achieved in 15 minutes! I have sketched pumpkins before and I also know the colours. It is the impression of detail, not actual detail. There are a few areas where I add hard, defined lines to give that impression.

While I was sketching and filming, I was making notes in my head of what to explain. I know that I have left a lot out. Please feel free to ask any questions.

I hope this has inspired and motivated you to get your watercolour pencils out again.

I will now go and cook these and may even sketch the final meal!

Happy Sketching

I am home from another wonderful Clunes Booktown Festival.

This two-day annual event dominates my evenings and weekends in the months leading up to it. Once I receive the email confirming my application, I focus on drawing in the old books I have been acquiring throughout the year.

We drove up from Melbourne 1 1/2 hours and immediately set up in the Old Bluestone Church. Most of the stall holders are in the main street in the large white marquees. There was excitement in the air, with everyone setting up stalls, signs and books.

The weather was perfect sunny, Autumnal weather all weekend. It could have been better.

and in the town. Thousands of book lovers filled the streets to browse books, enjoy the talks entertainment and local traders.

You get the idea !

Here is our Old Bluestone building set up.

Cheers to us at the end of day 1

and again on Monday morning with coffee.

and of course, I brought some bargains to draw in for next year!

I had wonderful conversations with friends, librarians, and book lovers galore.

My greatest thanks to my good friends Adam & Micheala who provided transport support and fed me ! Also to the organisers and many volunteers who made it a success.

Any books that I did not sell on the weekend will be added to my ETSY store this coming weekend !