Drawing Sydney in my lunchhour

 Drawing Sydney in my lunchhour
 
I have been working  at an office near Macquarie Street, Sydney for the past three weeks. I took the opportunity to go out in my lunchhour and sketch some of the historic sandstone buildings.  Macquarie Street is one of Sydney’s oldest government districts with a number of heritage buildings built during the city’s early colonial years.
 
The weather has been the warmist May in many years, so it has been lovely to sit in the sunshine and sketch with my watercolour pencils.It is little capture of the buildings. I made a conscious decision to draw the buildings and not include the busy street life and am pleased with the result.
 
 I usually spent about half an hour on each sketch .
I sketch with watercolour pencils in a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook
 
 
Sydney Eye Hospital and Sydney Hospital
 
Sydney Eye Hospital and Sydney Hospital

St James

Hyde Park Barracks

 



St Stephens Uniting Church
 
 
State Library of NSW
 

drawing biscuits step by step

Today  I drew two biscuits for the Everyday in May challenge of Draw a Cookie.
I thought that I would share my drawing process with you. I use watercolour pencil in a Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook.
 
Everyday in May is an art challenge I have participated four times in previous years.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alissaduke/sets/  A list of daily challenges is provided at the beginning of May and everyone draws/paints their interpretation. See everyone else’s at https://www.flickr.com/groups/edmeverydayinmay2011/pool/
These are based on the list of Danny Gregory Everyday Matters challenges.
 
Here is my drawing of a “Cookie.
” In Australia we call them biscuits and these are two Arnott’s classics. A Monte Carlo and a Shortbread Cream. These two are not my absolute favourites, but definitely part of growing up in Australia. The Delta Cream biscuit was added later……
 
Monte Carlo: a raspberry and cream fondant sandwiched between two golden syrup, honey and coconut biscuits.
Shortbread creams: two vanilla shortbreads with vanilla cream in the centre
 
 

 
 
 
 
The finished drawing. It took about two hours
 
 

 
 

Easter food drawing

Happy Easter

Each Easter I draw a hot cross bun and any other Easter eggs I have been given



a chocolate I was given
 

a card I made
 


Here is this years hot cross bun.
 
 
Hot Cross Buns are part of Easter for me and my childhood in Australia and they come from a English tradition.   They are spicey sweet buns with a cross on the top (made of flour and water usually) and are eaten on Good Friday.

I searched around a few local bakeries and bought three buns as I wanted to see their various interpretations. Usually they are sold in half dozen, but I bought single ones. I did not realize how traditional and picky I was, until I came to buy and draw them. It cannot have any strange additions (chocolate ? custard ? )  and HAS to have currants and if possible, peel.   I chose to draw the one that was home baked by a friend Judy. It has a lovely glaze (secret recipe).

Last year on my blog I showed step by step of my hot cross bun as I drew it.   http://www.alissaduke.com/2013/03/hot-cross-buns.html

and also a  collection of my other Easter drawings of chocolates and rabbits and more hot cross buns http://www.alissaduke.com/2013/03/happy-easter.html

Happy Easter break everyone

sketching a ferry quickly

 
Today I sketched this Sydney Ferry “Charlotte” at King Street Wharf terminal, while I was waiting for my ferry.
 
I made a quick set of notes as to each step so that I could explain how I used watercolour pencils to capture this part of my day on paper. The ferry is about 6cm x 6cm on the page
 
 
 
 
Sketched the basic structure of the ferry in Faber Castell Chrome Yellow as it pulled up to the wharf, unloaded and then reloaded passengers. I did not know how long it would be there but knew this would take a few minutes as it was just after 9am and full of commuters.
 
Quickly added the shapes of the windows in HB  pencil (to get the numbers and shapes correct)  and marked the height of the passengers against the front windows
 
Quickly and roughly shaded (scribbled) with Faber Castell Chrome Oxide Green and Yellow  in the correct areas
 
The ferry started to pull out backwards so I decided to draw the front of it  (in green) now that I could see it all
 
Added light loose background shapes of buildings across the other side of the water.
 
 
on the 8 minute ferry ride to Cockatoo Island
 
 
I added a little Faber Castell Ivory pencil direct to the page on the yellow area. This is to tone down the yellow, which is a little brash for the Sydney Ferry colour. These two colours mix as the water is added and they are spread over the small area on the page .
 
Use the waterbrush on the page to spread the colour
 
Added a few finer lines and the red and blue colour with the pencil direct on the paper
 
 
Then I was off the ferry and ready to enjoy my day !
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 

Sketching on Cockatoo Island

I spent the last two days  on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour. A place full of Sydney history from convict to industrial era and through to the present day, where you wander and explore. While Liz Steel and Paul Wang ran their Expressive Urban Sketching Workshop on the island, I spent the days drawing and taking the opportunity to catch up with my old and new sketching friends before and after the Workshop each day. I could feel the sense of enthusiasm and excitement in the group each time I talked to them. There will be many blog, flickr and facebook posts from the 25 participants from around Australia and the world . Have a look at the Australian Urban Sketchers blogsite

I had put aside these two days take my watercolour pencils to the island to explore and draw on Cockatoo Island. I generally ignored the Sydney Biennale Art installations that were on the island. There is already so much to see and sketch ! The Biennale was launched on the Friday and crowds were expected. But it did not cause any issues.

The weather was spectacular – blue skies and sunshine.
All my drawings from the two days are on my flickr site . I filled 16 pages with drawings

Begin the day with a coffee !!


First drawing was on my coffee cup with Lamy Safari Joy ink pen.

Then a focus on one of the rusty cranes


 

 


and my drawing position – on a bin ! One person stopped to say it was a great drawing. Two people stopped and asked to use the bin !

 
 
 ok – a visit to one Biennale Art installation. I listened to the Artists talk and then watched the video made a lot more sense ! 

my morning drawing – looking up to the cliffs
  
 
and my afternoon drawing. I was sitting in the area I drew in the morning Looking down to where I sat in the morning. Does that make sense?
 
(Note to self: During the drawing, look at page without sunglasses on ! My long distance prescription sunglasses are great on a sunny day to shield the sun and focus on the distance to sketch BUT when I took them off and looked at the page at the end of the drawing the colour and linework looked completely different. )
 
 My quick sketches of the Expressive Urban Sketching Workshop
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 

Five watercolour pencil tips

As many of you may know, I draw with watercolour pencils. I enrolled in Cathy Johnson’s watercolour pencil course online in 2009.(It is now available as a CD).That triggered my love of watercolour pencils and I am still enjoying and excited by their possibilities.

Here is a list of MY top 5 tips for using watercolour pencils.

    1. Be aware of the colours that your pencils make on paper when dry AND wet

2. sharpen your pencils often- especially for those finer details

3. draw the outline of the subject with the pencil that you are going to use as its colour (when you blend it with water the outline becomes part of subject instead of an outline)

4. build up layers to create depth and texture

5. experiment with the many ways of using watercolour pencils.

These are tips that I have discovered work for me as my style has developed over the past few years. I hope that this provides insight to gets people experimenting with this wonderful medium. Let me know if you have any questions !

Have a look at the following links to see more indepth information about how I use watercolour pencils

http://www.alissaduke.com/2014/03/drawing-feather-step-by-step.html

http://www.alissaduke.com/2013/03/me-and-my-watercolour-pencils.html

drawing a feather step by step

This post is about drawing the feather of a tawny frogmouth. I have quite a few of these feathers in my collection. I am not sure why I have so many, as you don’t see that very many tawny frogmouth birds about. This is probably because they blend in so well with the tree branches they are on and they are nocturnal. However I still think that there appears to be a disproportionate amount of feathers compared to birds you see everyday, such as magpies. Tawny frogmouths are one of my favourite birds (I seem to have a few)
Tawny frogmouths. Photo: Keith Smith Photography

The Tawny Frogmouth is found throughout Australia. They are about 35–50 cm and can be seen in almost any habitat type except the denser rainforests and treeless deserts. Frogmouths are often confused with owls, but are actually more closely related to the nightjars. This feather was collected off the ground in Toowoomba, Queensland.

I often draw feathers, but they are usually simple and one or two colours. And I complete them over an evening or two. See them here . In this post I wanted to share my love of watercolour pencils and what can be achieved using this medium

The tawny frogmouth feather was more of a challenge as their feathers are highly patterned. This is the second time I have attempted to draw one and I am still figuring out how to do it. I was halfway through this one when I discovered that Derwent Inktense Bark watercolour pencil is the perfect colour for the tawny frogmouth feather. The pencils I was using were too brown or too grey and I was trying to blend them.
 
This time I remembered to take these photographs along the way to try to show my work in progress. It shows the real feather at the top and my drawing next to it. I started it in February this year and then put the drawing aside for about two weeks between the last two images.
STEP 1
 
STEP 2

STEP 3

 
 
 
 
in detail
 
 
 
 
 
 
STTEP 4 – FINISHED !
 
 
 
Drawn on Arches 300gsm Smooth Watercolour paper.
main Colours
Bark – Derwent Inktense
Walnut Brown – Faber Castell Albrecht Durer
Burnt Umber- Faber Castell Albrecht Durer
Ivory – Faber Castell Albrecht Durer
Raw Umber – Derwent
I have found that the Derwent pencils are too soft for the finer “feathery” details of the feather (the “afterfeather”) as you can see the texture of the pencil on the paper. Faber Castells are harder and give a finer line, which can also be dissolved beautifully to give the fluffy look. This is the area I love to draw.  This particular feather was a bit of an experiment. I am very pleased with the final result, and have learnt a lot along the way. NEXT TIME I need to figure out a way to achieve the dark colour patterns and the fine lines of the feather (I think these are called the barbs). I feel that it is a little heavy handed and muddy in this one. However, I am not looking for a photorealistic drawing of feathers. My drawings are more about the impression of detail, rather then actual detail.

  
 
Tawny frogmouth and chick drawn from photo, 2010
 

Sketching at Erin’s

I was invited to Erin Hill’s Sketchclass on Friday to give a short talk about my travel sketching. I’ve talked to the Saturday group before, but not the Friday people. Have a look at Erin’s Scandinavian sketching session this week for our results. I gave a quick 10 minute talk about me and my sketching. I brought along my two London/Barcelona sketchbooks from my holiday in July last year. See these on my flickr page in the  London and Barcelona  SETS.  My sketchbooks were eagerly devoured by the class of enthusiastic sketchers. I think that looking through my sketchbooks provided them with an idea of the sort of things that can be sketched, with a different approach and  style.

 ” the power point converter for the UK – who would have thought of that”
“oh look … suitcases”

I also write notes on my pages -(something that not everyone does) and use watercolour pencils in a few different ways on the page. Read here about my watercolour pencils

I also brought along my current Moleskine watercolour sketchbook of which I was on the final pages. I started it one month ago.  Lots of time to sketch now. I approached the day as if it were a holiday. And it was an adventure. I knew that I was going to Manly , so  drew a map. Then at Circular Quay, where I had time before my ferry left.



The ferry ride takes 30 minutes, so I knew I had that time to sketch. I had run out of ink in my Lamy Safari Joy pen, so  I used the first pencil I took out of my pencil wrap to draw the people on the ferry.
 

 
 
 

Then down to business – looking outside the ferry window . I was experimenting with blue today.  Australian sky blue is difficult to get right and the ocean can be a challenge too. I like the Derwent Inktense Sea Blue. When combined with other blues in my sketchkit it has a good colour.

So after three pages I arrived at Erin’s class and gave my talk and my sketchbooks were quickly passed around. But not for long, as it was down to classwork (but we continued to chat through the morning and over lunch). While the students did the wonderful experiment of drawing a drawing upside down (it makes you draw lines that you see rather than those you think should be there), I drew the gift Erin gave me – some delicious and decadent looking pastries .

 

I drew them for 15 minutes, while the class did their lesson and then completed it at home. Although I do not have a sweet tooth , I find biscuits and cakes fun to draw and I seem to have quite a collection now . See them here

 

 


next : 15 minutes – draw something from your bag – my keys



Then a walk to a wonderful local store The Modern Furniture Store where they generously allowed us to sit in the store and sketch.



and home on the bus… a full day of drawing . I Love it !

my tea and coffee cups

I am aware that I draw my coffee cups a lot. I am not a particular coffee aficionado and I also drink tea as well, especially at home. I also draw my wine/champagne glasses.

I have finally gathered them all together in a SET on flickr, there are over 80. Click HERE to see them all together on flickr. Some are quick and sketchy and others more studied.

I know which watercolour pencils to use for the coffee (and tea) and how the colours will change when I add water .

All Faber Castell Albrecht Durer. Of course I don’t use all of these in the one drawing, but they are a part of my kit and can be used

Ivory
Raw Umber (I lie – this is a Derwent)
Burnt Yellow Ochre (oops – Derwent also)
Burnt Ochre
Burnt Umber
Walnut Brown
Burnt Siena (excellent for the chocolate bits on top. Too chocolaty for general use)




I think that I tend to draw coffee cups because when I am drinking it I am sitting down, comfortable and with time to spare. I am obviously not in desperate need of caffeine, or I would start drinking straight away. Therefore I do drink cool or cold coffee very often. But I am usually very pleased with my drawing.  The coffee shop staff love it when you draw their art ! It starts so many conversations.

Sometimes I just draw the coffee and sometimes I draw my food as well. Other times I will draw what I see in the café or the view outside, to give it some context. It really depends on the day and the moment.

Of course, then it dawned on me that cappuccino’s also leave interesting marks down the side of the cup after you have finished it ! I just have to remember to drink it and not start drawing straight away, which is my normal immediate reaction. I also have to learnt to spell cappuccino as I seem to change it each time.

 
 
of course then there are the coffee cups themselves to draw ON…….
 
 
 
 
and the  tea cosies.. but that is another story

sketching while walking

I have a few different sketching styles using both watercolour pencils and ink, sometime combining the two. I draw objects with detail over a few hours and I also sketch quickly.

My sketches in ink are usually sketched out of my apartment. If I have time I add colour on the spot or write a quick note and add later.

Sometimes my sketches of people are done as I walk behind the. I am moving and they are moving. I sketched one today for this weeks Urban Sketchers flickr Group Weekly Challenge of MOTION . (look in the Discussions. It is posted at the top of the page and you share it with the group)

I looked back through my sketches and have gathered a few here together. I am very fortunate to walk into Sydney city across a wide pedestrian bridge and then along a wide wharf. There are lots of tourists a well as office workers, so plenty to choose from. But I choose  times of the day, when it is quieter. There is also lots of space around so I don’t run into anyone coming the other way.

I choose subjects that are walking slowly, and at a nice steady pace. That way I can look at repeat movements of arms and legs swinging to try to capture it on paper.