In December 2013  my position at work was made redundant. It became clear in the current market, that I may have time on my hands for a while. I took this as an opportunity to focus and invest time into my art !

I have had in mind for a while that I wanted to “do something” with my art. I draw everyday in my Moleskine Watercolour sketchbooks with my watercolour pencils  and/or my Safari Ink pen. I usually fill a sketchbook in 8 – 12 weeks. I felt like I wanted to see it go further and had some vague ideas.

To guide me along I started working with an arts business coach, Vihn Van Lam from ArtShine. I began in March 2014 and we began to look at what do I really want to do and what is important to me and to prioritise my goals.

The concept of Art Licensing appeared to suit my style art of drawing and one of my goals, which is to have my art produced on products. In broad terms Art Licensing is a process where an artist “rents” their artwork to a client to use on certain products. The goal of the art is to enhance the look of a product that they manufacture and sell it to retailers. Products may include everyday items such as dishtowels, stationery, textiles, apparel, dinnerware and more. The intent is that the art will make the product irresistible to consumers, who then buy the product, earning the retailer, manufacturer and me, the artist, an income. 

Here is my art “mocked up” (using Photoshop)  on  trays, coasters 

I then used the ArtShine planner to set daily, weekly, monthly goals and met with Vihn regularly to remain focused along the way and get things done!

                         

Along the way life included a move from Sydney to Melbourne in September to start a new job. 

And during the year I have had unexpectedly achieved one of my goals – to see my art on products 

1. pillow & tea towels
The first set of products was created by me, ordering an online product through Zazzle with  my drawings uploaded onto it. It was a learning experience as to the quality of scan to upload (I had enlarged my drawing and it lost clarity when printed on the cloth) .I did not like the quality of the material it was printed on. 

2. Sketch used on Globetrotter Postcards website and business cards . 
I received an email from  from Sam, an Australian  blogger and traveller, living in London and asking to use one of my sketches on her website and business cards.  Wow ! 

Looking back, I have achieved a lot and am very proud of my year, my accomplishments and the challenges met along the way.

2015  ??? 
I will be sending my Portfolio to Art Licensing Agents and I have some ideas ….. a website, exhibition, markets, Etsy ….

drawings of brooches

I then began to draw some presents that were waiting on my table to be wrapped.

and made a Christmas card . I drew some sweet handmade Croatian biscuits that I was given by a neighbor for Christmas and I will give the card to her

The Cre-Art-tive weekend of Kaz, Meegan ,Lisa & Alissa  .

We arrived Friday night. After dinner, we spread out our Art gear over two tables to see what we had to play with. We couldn’t help ourselves, and had to try something out straight away and make some marks on paper. We made a decision that the next day we would start the day by each trying three materials we had never used before. We made ourselves go to bed by midnight, but only so that we could be up early and have a whole day of art, not waste time sleeping in.

trying soluble pens. I also tried a parallel pen – a new discovery and used again  liquid ink – with a dropper from a bottle , then a watercolour wash



I was determined to try a watercolour wash and contrast colour of ink



THE CICADA SERIES

On Saturday morning I went outside to explore the backyard an found a shell, shed by a cicada beetle. This is my normal subject  – a small object drawn realistically – a study on a page. But by using something within my comfort zone (the subject matter)it allowed me feel at ease using other things outside my comfort zone. This was the key for me ! and I had a wonderful time and am really pleased with these results



experiments for background



experiment with Tim Holz Distress Stain  to see the colours for my cicada



A3 paper. Golden Liquid Acrylic background. I think the sketch is in crayon . I should have made more notes as I went

Derwent soluble graphite XL block and Pilot parallel pen on A3 paper

A3 paper. Derwent soluble graphite XL block background. I first painted an old newspaper with Distress Stain in a few brown colours, dried in , ripped roughly into strips that could fit into the pencil outline. Matte Medium to stick down & seal. The next morning it looked like it needed some intensity to pull it together – I  added scribbled lines with a thin marker




gold pen on A3 black board – unfinished. I am not sure where this was heading



smaller than A4 – old book , Rough texture liquid,mixed with acrylic colour. painted and scraped over the page It dries with a texture of course sand. I thought it was too rough to draw on for what I had in mind. I asked for suggestions. I drew and coloured cicada on transparent paper and stuck it down with that wonderful Matte Medium  . I really like this one

smaller than A4 – old book , face-on cicada

Cicada on Gestetner or Roneo

BEGINNING OF A GESTETNER SERIES



twig covered in lichen

twig covered in lichen

 
 There was heater, so we could lay painted sheets of paper out on the floor in front of it to dry while we started another page.  We were all working on a few projects at once, I tried some collage. My new favourite best friend is Matte Medium. I bought some on return to Sydney and will use this in the future

I created this one over the weekend .gluing scraps of paper down. finding images. The only real realistic drawing I did was the keys and then I stuck them down on the page and added the shadow.  This took a while to come together. It looked nothing at first and Kaz kept encouraging me to add more. By the end of the weekend I was so pleased with it.

newspaper . I sealed the page with matte medium and then painted with ink

 

AT THE END OF THE WEEKEND

I was inspired and motivated by letting the creative juices flow. I think that I need this sort of time (even a day would be good, but a weekend is more like a holiday) every 6 months or so . It is great to try a different sort of creativity for fun, with no pressure. It is also good for me to discover that I can do other sorts of art.

me !

Kaz

Kaz’s art

Meegan

Meegan’s art

I am a librarian, and although today my work is dealing with information and database, I spent many years handling books everyday– shelving them, checking books in and out. I still have a referential place in my heart (and head) for paper and books. I have not yet joined the Kindle or “i” device  movement- I am still  a  Luddite when it comes to books . I enjoy holding the book, its weight in my hand, the turn of the page, the sight of books on shelves. 

• It would be a book on the place I was going to (London)

• It would have to be an older book – so that it would have glossy pages. The paper would need be able to take the watercolour  and ink .  

• It would be better to have a light layer of gesso on the pages I want to draw on to allow the drawing to show on the page

book with tub of gesso , ready to paint onto some pages

drawing on notepaper, catalogues, on music, on a map – these were breakthroughs

part of my family history project , the watch has meaning, but the music does not have significance

another family history drawing. The music has no special meaning

drawing in the catalogue  at an Exhibition

drawing in the catalogue at an Exhibition



at an exhibition – drawing in the catalogue

 



sketching on the run sheet at the choir Christmas concert warm up

On a map. I am very pleased with this one as this is the map that was actually used on the day in Hawaii, when my boots fell apart. I drew them from a photograph. I think that this piece of paper really tells the story

Welcome to my new blog!

Please click on the About Me tab above for more information.

Over the past four years I have been scanning all of my drawings to flickr to share, so please drop by and browse through them all . http://www.flickr.com/photos/alissaduke/

I have started this blog to allow me to explore and explain my sketching and drawing a bit further.

What do I use?

My sketchkit includes:

Watercolour pencils

I use watercolor pencils (both Derwent and Faber Castell). Watercolour pencils are coloured pencils that are made of a soluble pigment, so, if and when you add water to the page or the pencil tip, the pencil the pigment dissolves and becomes like paint. I add water with my waterbrush (which has a reservoir of water) when I am out and about, or with paintbrushes art home.

This past Saturday at  Erin Hill’s sketch class .  Over lunch, I did a demonstration of how I use my pencils, by drawing a teapot! I was overwhelmed with how interested the students were in this technique. I also really had to stop and think about what I do, step by step. That has prompted me starting the blog with this post!

 

How I use watercolour pencils

Sometimes I lightly mark out where I am going to place the object or scene on the page in a HB or 2B pencil, just to make sure it will fit on the page and I also think where I am going to add my written notes on the page.

 I then lightly and roughly sketch in lines and areas in the colour that am going to use in that area – there is usually one or two main colours. For this teapot it was Faber Castell Cool Grey III. I blocked out main areas in that colour and then lightly and loosely brushed on water.  For example, I added a heavy area of colour on the left hand side of the teapot and then used the watercolour brush to pull some of the colour acoss the page, getting lighter as it moved away from the edge. The plate is Faber Castell Burnt Sienna . I also used Cool Grey VI in the shadows

I add more pencil colour in specific areas, and water, building up the colour over the page.

To get finer detail or more intense colour I take pigment off the tip of the pencil with the water brush.  I also add finer details and any crisp clean areas to the page directly,  with a finely sharpened pencil.

I use a combination of all of the above – making it up as I go along  . That is why I love to use watercolour pencils – they can be blended, layered, provide rough texture or fine detail.

Pen

I also use a Lamy Safari Joy ink pen (with a cartridge of Noodlers waterproof ink). Sometimes I don’t add any colour and other  times I put in a light wash or heavy colour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sketchbook

I use a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook 21 x 13 cm . I only use one sketchbook at a time starting at the first page and work through to the end. I have completed 30 sketchbooks since I began using them in December 2009. It suits me perfectly at the moment. I love the way they look sitting lined up on the shelf (can you tell that I am a librarian?) . However, I have also have been known to sketch in spiral bound notebooks with biro in meetings, and on serviettes in cafés, programs in theatres.  Not having my sketch kit is no excuse not to draw! And lately I have been experimenting on drawing on larger sheets of paper.

Sketch Kit

see 25Aug12 Part two: making my pencil roll,

I hope that this has been an interesting start to my blogging world. I look forward to my flickr , facebook and new blogger friends exploring small and large parts of my world through my pencils.