Melbourne Rare Book Week (MRBW)  will be held from 29 June – 8 July 2018. Bookings are now open for over 40 free talks . See the Program  

What is it ? MRBW  includes a wide variety of interesting topics on book-related themes. There is something for all interests and taste. So, once again they welcome bibliophiles, established collectors and those new to book collecting. It culminates in the Melbourne Rare Book Fair.

For the past few years I have been involved in a few ways including being the official sketcher on location at many of the events during the week. To see my sketches from previous years , just type MRBW in the search box at the top right of the page and you will get a list of results to click-through to. These will give you an idea of some of the past events and what I sketch.

This year I will be sketching on location at many of the events, and am also involved in the Melbourne Library Service part of the program. I was commissioned to draw the posters  for the MRBW events. They have five events .

My original watercolour pencil drawings are on display on East Melbourne Library alongside some very interesting rare books that began the Gothic novel and later books that were influenced by them. My drawings also feature in the Melbourne Library Service brochure and their events in the MRBW program !!! It so exciting to see them in print and to be involved in this unique event.

The planning for this year’s  week began as soon as 2017 event finished (and even before that). In February three of us spent a long weekend, watching classic films based on the classic (and very readable) Dracula. Ideas for the posters were put down on paper, there was lots of google image searching and putting sketching concepts on paper. 

All of this came together in Stage One this Saturday as we put up the exhibition of rare books, artifacts and my art work.

I also decided that it was about time that I read some of these classic (and not so classic) Gothic novels including Dracula, The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Castle of Otranto, A Sicilian Romance, The Raven. 

It has been a creative event so far and I am looking forward to attending and sketching the events in June/July. ! 

Hello 

There is no blog post this week as I have been busy packing.

Back next week with a Melbourne Rare Book Week update,

Happy sketching

Yesterday was Courts Open Day in Melbourne, as part of Law Week. It is a day when all of the courts in the Courts precinct  open their doors to let you see behind the scenes. It included talks and tours. 

I arrived early and sketched for about 20 minutes outside the Supreme Court  before going into work in the Library. The Supreme Court is the highest court in Victoria, and this building was opened in 1884.  The heritage-listed building is a wonderful example of the classical Renaissance Revival style on a grand and imposing scale. 

Photography is not allowed in the courts (apart from the library.) and the court rooms are usually only open when a court case is in session.  So today provided me with an opportunity  to sketch inside a courtroom, as this is not allowed when a trial is on. Last year I met a court sketcher who explained that the court sketchers were employed by the media organisations, not the courts .Her sketches of people in court were amazing, capturing character and features in such detail. 

Court Four – an overview of the room (yes, the walls are a pale pink) and a close up of a turned wooden feature. It was hard to capture the size of the elaborate architecture and features. Court 4 is the original central criminal court. It was the venue for the first sitting  in this building in 1884. Court 4 remains the venue for many of the state’s murder trials.

Banco Court  – just a small part of the judicial bench. I was not sure where to begin with in both of these rooms and could have planned my page a lot better. This court has elaborately moulded plaster in its ceiling and upper walls, and marvellously fitted joinery in the furniture of the room – the The Judicial Bench, the jury box, etc

I also had the opportunity during the week to draw the Judicial wig and wig tin of Justice John Barry. 

I have spent time in the  past drawing with my watercolour pencils in the library and then (from photos outside of the courts) the Dome, windows and doors of the Supreme Court of Victoria, I have had them printed as greeting cards and they are available for purchase on my ETSY online store .

It is Mothers’ Day today and (after asking permission from Mum) I am posting some  of my drawings of my mum. You would think that after looking at someone all of my life I would be able to draw her, but no, I still cannot capture that essence. 

Happy Mothers’ Day  to all mothers out there and in memory of all mothers.   

My sketches of mum have been done in the last few years and have usually been done when she is visiting or while we are on holidays. I am so very fortunate have my healthy and happy mum in my life and that she has always been there for me. 

This has almost captured her ! It was drawn from a photo. But there was so much use of the eraser to get to this.

(Mother’s Day – where does that apostrophe go ??, there are so many opinions, but it is the reason of the day that is important)

I was not sure what to write about this week, and realised there are things I take for granted in the way I sketch, that may be of interest to someonr.

The two coffee cups I sketched this week. My style is the ‘unfinished’ look. I sketch the object with the watercolour pencil that is the colour of the object. See a step by step blog. 

Note:

• the cup is not fully coloured in, but you know what colour it is. 
• You don’t need to draw the entire object – just the hint of the saucer is enough . The viewers’ mind will fill in the blanks. 
• I have drawn the muffin . I decided not to draw the plate the muffin was on, as it would have taken up too much of the page. And the muffin was more important than the plate. And I was hungry.
• I draw cups often and am comfortable with the circles and ellipses of the cups. Practice, practice, practice.

• I also sketch these Pacific Black Ducks regularly as I walk through the gardens and their everyday. I have sketched them so often and know what they look like and my pencil flows across the page.
• Like my teacups, I also use the same watercolour pencil on the spot as the colour of the duck . No lead pencil first and then going over it in colour. There is often not the time. No eraser – and I keep the watercolour pencil marks on the page of where I was finding the line.
• There were about 20 of these birds at the pond. If the one that I was sketching moved away, there would soon be another one in is position. This can also work with drawing people. There are some positions that are a constant. 

I hope this provides an insight into the way I sketch , Let me know if and how it has been of use. It is lovely to know when I have made even the smallest impact on someone’s sketching and understanding of watercolour pencils. 

I could not have asked for better weather for my full day Travel Sketching Workshop on Saturday (especially after the last two heavily overcast classes and a week of cold weather).

An enthusiastic group  of six  – Lily  Beryl, Don, Bernadette. Denise and Trishia joined me at Arts on Burgundy in Heidelberg, Melbourne. 

See the end of this blog for links to my blog pages on practical sketching and watercolour pencil hints and list of sketching books I had today in class.

Today I followed the same format as my previous Workshop in January, but spent more time before we went out  explaining and using watercolour pencils. 

“Scribble hard on the page, HARD , HARDER.” This is because the more colour (pigment) you have on the paper, the more intense the colours will be and the more you can use them on the page. If you add water to a faint line it can disappear. I wanted everyone to understand this concept before we started out. 

I used the example (above) which I sketched on the bus on the way to the Workshop, to show how I use the ink, then the watercolour pencil and then the waterbrush on the page to achieve different effects,  

We then walked out of the studio to put theory into practice. We walked up a block , stopping for 15 minutes at Heidelberg Primary School to sketch, then walked a few blocks to the beautiful Heidelberg Park, doing two 15 minutes sketches.

Back to Arts on Burgundy for lunch in the studio and talk of travel and drawing. After lunch I gave a short talk on things to think about when composing a page, before a 30 minute sketch at St Johns Church. There was a wedding on, with people gathering before the service. They went into the church and the bride arrived and she didn’t stay long at all outside.

Then back to the studio for final talk and coffees and sweets provided by Sarah !

Links to other blog posts

In a  previous blog posts I talked about the practical part of my art .

I have written them under four headings

•  Watercolour pencils, pen and sketchbook
• Thoughts and processes 
• travel sketching
• Step by Step examples

Travel sketching classes

I have vacancies in my upcoming two hour Travel Sketching classes with two levels of charge – purchase a sketchkit or bring your own watercolour sketchkit. See more details here.

Contact Sarah at Arts on Burgundy to ask about more full day Workshops.

Books

Below are some books that I had on display (as well as my own travel sketchbooks). 

They are not’ how to draw’ books, but rather show different people’s sketches and styles. I’ve put links if you are interested, I will often borrow a book from my local library before deciding to purchase it.

An Illustrated LIfe by Danny Gregory

Reportage and Documentary Drawing by Veronica Lawlor

London You’re Beautiful by David Gentleman 

Taking a Line for a Walk by Christopher Lambert

Drawing Paris by David George Holm

Manchester Sketchbook by Manchester Sketchers

An Eye on the Hebrides by Marie Hedderwick 

A great book to start drawing is Danny Gregory’s book  Creative License .   It will open your eyes to creativity and drawing. I return to it regularly to refocus and relearn.

Urban Sketchers

Anyone interested in sketching on location with  Melbourne Urban sketchers, (facebook page) see their next events and see what other people are sketching in Melbourne. 

Happy sketching everyone. Contact me if you have any questions about my watercolour pencil sketching  or anything I mention on my blog.

I hope that you have a Happy and safe Easter holiday. Here is my annual Hot Cross bun sketch.