Eight little ducks went out one day
over the hills and far away
Mother Duck said quack quack quack quack
… and all of the eight little ducks came back.

That is the last verse of a childhood rhyme. You may have an equivalent version,
I have been reminded of it each time I visit the baby ducklings at Treasury Gardens in Melbourne. They first appeared in early August. Spring did not begin until 1 September, so it was still very icy for a few weeks. I am happy to say there are still eight.

These are Australian Wood Ducks. There are only two species of ducks in the gardens and I have not seen the others with ducklings.

This blog post has my sketches since August . This is the current sketch. The rest of the page I have them listed from early August to now.

12 September

Sometimes they are the highlight of my day in lockdown Melbourne. I go out to the gardens in my one hour allowed exercise. Looking for the ducklings is a goal. I can’t stop long to sketch so it was just been basic lines in watercolour pencil or ink pen, with a bit of colour.

2 August

6 August

16 August

25 August

10 September

From Monday we can go out for recreation for two hours, so I think that means I can stop and sketch. I am looking forward to one day, sitting under a tree, sketching and reading and enjoying the sunshine.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

I drew this lemon as I listened to the latest update on lockdown in Melbourne and Victoria. Drawing always soothes me. I shall now take this enforced extended home time to continue with a few more art projects.

The first photo is the colours I used. Cadmium Yellow Lemon was the star of the show. I am now sure if I have ever used it before. The second photo is some of the other yellows that I could have chosen from. Below is a colour chart

This week I ordered and received in the mail a photo lightbox studio from a Sydney company Hypop.

I bought this as I am going to be taking photos of my “drawn in books” to put up on my ETSY online store. One of the amazing events that I had been invited to have a stall at this year was Clunes Book Town Festival. All events are cancelled this year and Melbourne has been in lockdown since March. At the moment we can only leave home for essential reasons (including food and exercise) once a day.

I am working from home and spending all of my time there. I am trying to be as productive as possible. I decided to put the books I would have had at a stall onto my ETSY online store. There are two shelves off books ready to go, with another two ready to draw in. I went on a fabulous shopping expedition with a friend in January, We went to lots of op shops in North Melbourne and Collingwood and found some gems.

I am purchasing books that are about to be discarded, Less than $5 – usually $5 for a handful or bag. They are the books no one wants – except me.

When you list an item on your ETSY store, you have the option of adding a number of photos. I had a lot of problems taking photos that did not get a shadow in them – of the iPhone, of me, from the multiple overhead lights in my apartment. Solution – to purchase a photo lightbox studio. The interior reflective surface, when lit, allows for photos without shadows. I am not a technical person, so this has been a steep learning curve. I took my first photos today. I am even more amazed that could actually put it together. There was a very helpful video on the store’s website. I was ok until they got to the bit that said “you will need two people for this”, but it is possible on your own…”

One hour and thirty minutes later, I switched it on and it worked! Now I just have to learn how to use my iPhone camera properly. I am sure there are plenty of YouTube videos for that!

and the first photos are below. I still have a lot to learn, but it is a big step forward.

The other books I have put on my ETSY store this week include the ones below. I have not taken photos of these in my new photo lightbox studio yet. That may be next weekend’s project.

I have postage set for Australia. Please contact me if you would like to find out about international or express post

Enjoy.

It may look like a leftover bit of pizza to you. Why would you bother drawing it? In reality, this little sketch represents a lot to me.

This is a short and sweet blog this week. I have not been as busy in my daily sketchbook, as I have been “attending” some online sketching sessions and also preparing some “drawn in” old books to go to my ETSY online store.

This last piece of pizza on the plate was sketched after I finished a short (we had a bad connection) Facetime call to my mother, brother, and nephew who live interstate. Our borders are closed and Victorians are in lockdown.

All of my sketches are special to me. They are sketched for a variety of reasons, some more important than others. Two of my previous blogposts have pondered this .

Why I sketch what I sketch

Why drawing makes me happy.

Enjoy and let me know your thoughts about why you sketch !.

Last week I wrote about my blue and brown watercolour pencils. I did review of the ones I use and don’t use (now that I have the complete FaberCastell set).

This week is green . Thanks Tina for the prompt. I hope that these are interesting and of use to someone.

Below is a drawing I did in 2012 ! of the green watercolour pencils I had at the time. I had been given a lot. I have added to them since then.

Below is the full range of all the green Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils colours.

My daily sketch kit still contains the greens that I was using in 2012 and a replacement colour that is included since then. These are personal choices that I use for my sketching in Melbourne.

• Earth Green
• Grass Green
• Chromium Green Oxide
• Pine Green. I was using Mineral Green in the Derwent brand, but wanted to get the nearest equivalent Faber Castell colour. This was purely personal preference, as I feel the Derwent’s are a little softer on the page and don’t sharpen to a finer point for detail.

There are a few things to note, which I mentioned last week.

• knowing the colours that you own enables you to be aware of the large range of colour choice that you potentially have.
• a colour can often change quite dramatically on the page when water is added.
• there is a huge range of colours available and many of them are very close
• you don’t have to use all the colours!

TIna ( who asked me about greens) is in the US and so the colours she uses will be very different. I describe a lot of these colours as “European”. I am not sure if this is correct, but there are a lot of blue/green colours.

It is good to be aware of the range that I have available to me. I will still only keep the four in my daily sketch kit, but I would be using strange unusual colours for commissions and my “You Can’t Draw in Books” project. I don’t do many commissions and they are usually buildings, sometimes with a few trees, grass for context. My “You Can’t Draw in Books” project involves drawing on a page of a book that was about to be discarded. The pages of different books vary in quality and age, most of them do not like to much work on them or too much water added to the pencil marks on the pages. in both cases, I would choose a single pencil colour if I had it instead of combining colours.

which greens do you use?

Let me know if you have any questions.

I recently wrote about my acquisition of the entire range of Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils. My goal was to explore my new colours, test them all and create a colour chart. As yet, I have not done this in a coordinated way.

However today I have tested the range of blues and browns as these are two colours that I have never been completely happy with in my sketchkit.

Blue

I have never been happy with Sky Blue for Melbourne Sky. It is ok until you add the waterbrush to the page and then it turns grey. Melbourne does have its share of grey days, but sometimes I want to capture the blue of the sky on the page. My current choice of Ultramarine is just not quite right either.

I am now going to use either Light Ultramarine and/or Light Phthalo Blue

Browns

I currently have Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Walnut Brown, and Dark Sepia in my sketchkit. I am definitely replacing Raw Umber as it far to yellow for any of the objects I sketch. I think Bistre might replace it. I rarely use Burnt Sienna, so it may go. Dark Sepia is a relatively recent discovery and I use it for many nature sketches.

There are a few things to note.

• knowing the colours that you own enables you to be aware of the large range of colour choice that you potentially have.
• a colour can often change quite dramatically on the page when water is added.
• there is a huge range of colours available and many of them are very close
• you don’t have to use all the colours!

Practice , practice, practice. Have fun. explore.

What are the favourites in your sketchkit?

We have a new shutdown in Melbourne and it looks like we will be staying home for a while to come. I decided to order new colours of nail polish to keep me entertained with my nail colourings over the coming weeks/months. see my previous recent blog post with the first range of purchases.

I ordered them online and a parcel arrived in the mail last week. So I sketched them. I remembered to take some “work in progress” photos along the way. This may give you an insight into my approach. It starts with the final sketch and works backward.

Step Four. I decided to stop there. They have been sitting on my dining table for a few days. This is a sketch and not a still life! Then finally, adding my commentary among the sketches. This is usually what I do. Add the words last.

Step Three. more colour.Defining the light and dark sections of each bottle and reflections. I used a paintbrush to add water to the page to pull/ spread the colour within each bottle. Usually, I use a waterbrush, but as I am at home all the time I use paintbrushes. Depth and texture are created by waiting for the colour to dry and adding another layer in the same colour, or a hard line. I am an impatient person, so it is good to be able to move onto a different colour and bottle while I wait.

Step Two. Refining the colours and lines

Step One. I don’t use a HB pencil , My first marks are with the watercolour pencil that is the colour of the object. Now that I have the entire range of 126 Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils on my dining table, I can experiment with some of their unusual colours.

This weeks sketches have been a combination of very quick sketches when out and about and slower drawings at home. All in watercolour pencil of course.

Me in my facemask. I took a screenshot of myself on Skype and drew from that. So much easier to sketch from that, than in the mirror for this self portrait. Facemasks have to be worn when outside the home.

Very quick sketches in the park. We are allowed to go out for exercise, so I do not linger longer. These were all sketched in just a few minutes. Sometimes more colour is added at home. I could take a photo and draw from that at home, but that is not within the concept or spirit that I enjoy, of capturing the moment and sketching on location. These sparse sketches reflect the time we are in and the fact that I not taking 20 or 30 minutes to sketch out on location as I usually would.

When I am out walking, I am often looking up at the sky, trees, and Melbourne city skyline. I take in deep breathes and appreciate what I have, I am also looking down on the ground for treasures to take home and draw, This week I picked up a lovely stick, with peeling bark. Is it sitting on my dining table and I am slowly adding to it. As it is already deadwood, it is not going to change colour, or shape while I sketch it. Leaves often change in a few days.

Another quick sketch, capturing the moment, Waiting in line at the pharmacy. It looked like I was in for a bit of a wait, so I took out my sketchbook and the first pencil I picked out of my sketchkit.

I also enjoy taking longer to draw objects on the table in front of me, but still finishing within one session, (as the dinner was eaten). The cork and wine glass were completed the next day.

And the challenge of sketching from a Zoom talk. It was difficult to capture a likeness, even when the author being interviewed is on screen most of the time and didn’t move position lot.

I wonder what this week will bring …

I have drawn my hands (and feet) before, but it is more interesting when I wear bright nail polish. I don’t wear it to work, so it is only long weekends and holidays. Of course, at the moment I can wear it all the time, as I am working from home. A positive of working from home (you have got to look for them ) is that I actually have long nails, all the same length. I work in a library and am constantly handling books all day. I do miss my physical books, but my nails have stopped chipping and tearing!

Just before the first shutdown in March, I bought some bright nail polishes and have been alternating them, depending on my mood. As Melbourne is now back in shutdown until at least 16 August, I have just gone online and ordered another six colours. So you can expect more nail polish drawings on my Instagram account.

I draw daily and post on my Instagram account. alissaduke1. Follow me there, Some of them are quick sketches, others are glimpses into projects I am working on. I am always sketching and I hope that by showing daily sketches, I show that anything is sketchable and that you just need a few minutes spare to put pencil to paper.

I post this weekly blogpost. It is always about my art, Some of the blog posts are instructional, about how to use watercolour pencils. I love to share my experiences and encourage people to put a pencil to paper. Sometimes my blogposts are about projects, big or small that I am involved in. This, of course, has changed in the last six months. I previously held Watercolour pencil sketching classes in Melbourne. I have not transferred these to online classes. Technically and timewise this is way beyond me. I am working from home fulltime, and my art is my relaxation. When I sketch I don’t think about anything else in life. I can lose my self for hours. But if I do figure something out about presenting online I will let you know.

I have a facebook page for my art at Alissa Duke Art and post there regularly, as well as to relevant private and public groups – Urban Sketchers, Nature Artists, Artists Journal Workshop, Food Sketchers, Commute Sketchers…

I put ALL of my art on Flickr. which is a photosharing website. I joined in 2008 and have over 6000 postings there. It has Albums for grouping key projects or themes, these include food and family history and Melbourne Rare Book Week. It is my database and I have key tag words. Unfortunately, I have not been consistent over time but can generally find all drawings on one subject by using the search function eg wombats, or nail polish or shoes.

Enjoy, explore and let me know if you have any questions.

Last week I joined in SBS Life Drawing Live online. This week the UK version of Life Drawing Live was on SBS. It had the same format, great instruction, and challenging poses. All poses are challenging, some more than others. The poses were based on classical works of art. The presenter showed an example and explained its place in art history.

After last week’s online session, I realised how much I enjoy life drawing and signed up at a local art studio for upcoming sessions. And then the next day Stage Three Restrictions were brought back to Melbourne for the next six weeks, so no going out for a while. I will sign up for their online sessions.

I do miss using the large A1 sheets of paper, standing up at the easel, with messy charcoal in my hand. It is so outside of my usual art practice of drawing in my sketchbook. I will not be able to do that at home.

Once again, they are on A4 paper, sketched with a black coloured pencil (except for the sanguine)

This cello pose was my favourite. And they played cello music in the background during the pose. I knew straight away that I had the stance and proportions correct. It is such a good feeling. Once you get the basics right you can build on it. I could have spent another half hour on this, adding shadow, and colour.

Happy sketching everyone !