A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about a visit home and drawing nostalgia at home (part two). I shared some drawings of everyday objects from around the house I grew up in. I recently took a final trip home before the move and drew some more ‘significant objects’. Some are objects that I always remember being around the house, but I don’t particularly want to own them now. I also tried to find out the history and whether my family members had the same memories. (not always)
jasmine
at the back door
front gate
dustpan and brush from the Big Shed
Others were quick sketches standing at the door, looking out over the back yard. A memory for me.
view out the backyard
view out the backyard
And now new memories will be made in a new place . Here are my first sketches as the shift was made.
the new clothesline, proving that the washing machine was connected correctly
NBN fixed
a lovely welcome basket
I am planning a Nostalgia and Memories watercolour pencil sketching class in March as part of Summer classes. This was inspired by the these experiences and how many memories an object holds and how this can be captured on the page. My class schedule will be announced in the next few weeks. Watch this space.
I have been away the last two weekends, and although I have been constantly sketching, I did not have the opportunity or time for my weekly art blog. I have started scanning the 25 pages I have completed in that time and today are my sketches in getting from A to B. They are my ‘usual’ sketches on the bus to the airport, at the airport and on the airplane.
A few times a years the Museum invites people to register to attend the Drawing Studio and you can request a specimen from the Museum’s collection to draw. I attended this special event at the Melbourne Museum once before in February and wrote about it and shared my drawings from the day here.
A Melbourne Museum staff member was in the room all day and if we wanted the specimens moved on the table to a different angle they donned their gloves and shifted these fragile objects. Some have also been preserved with arsenic,so they are hazardous too. Wet materials were not permitted, so I was not able to use my waterbrush in the room. I got around this by adding lots of marks and colour with watercolour pencil on the page and then leaving the room and adding water to the page with my waterbrush just outside the door.
At 10am I started immediately on my sugar glider.
The drawing is in a A4 Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook. I drew the shape lightly on the page to make sure I would fit him on the page. I worked on him solidly all morning. In hindsight, I probably should have done a few quick sketch from different angles, just to get in the mood. Next time I will take that approach. Yesterday I kept adding colour and detail til lunchtime.
I did not know how the specimen would be positioned when I ordered him. He is not in full flight. There is a membrane between the front fingers/paws and the back leg which allows the gliding between trees. In this specimen you can see all of the folded fur that would stretch out when gliding. His nose is a little missing and scrunched. They are usually pink, And I could not see his paws and claws on the branch.
I chose a sugar glider as we had seen them when I was young when we went on a camping trip at a National Park. I remember seeing them in the trees and feeding them, but I don’t think I saw them gliding.
This is the specimen
After lunch I decided to move to other specimens in the room that other people had requested.
This hare looked simple, but was very difficult to draw. Three of us were sketching him from different angles and all agreed that it was a lot more complex that we all thought it would be. Not sure why…
Above are some birds from the collection
And now some real life live birds. Sketched on the way to the Museum. These two rainbow lorikeets were loudly screeching on the street sign above me. They never stay still for long. I was going to take a photo and decided to try for a very quick sketch, So glad I did. I sketched this in only a few minutes. I then walked up to the Melbourne Museum to spend over two hours on my next drawing of the sugar glider. From one extreme to another.Both were immensely fun an satisfying.
Saturday was a very Spring-like day in Melbourne, with sun shining with warmth and blue skies. I walked through the Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne,looking for ducks to sketch, but they were not there as their pond was being drained. I easily found another source of inspiration in the Gardens in the form of daffodils!
Below are photos I remembered to take as a work in progress.
This weeks blog is all about drawing to capture personal memories. I do a lot of quick on location sketch to capture the moment. The other part of my sketching is a little slower, with more thought behind the choosing the object or scene, and more time spent putting watercolour pencil to paper.
On a recent visit home I continued my drawings of everyday objects from around the house I grew up in. These are things that only mean something to me and some members of my family. I am sharing this to open your mind to the concept of capturing special memories on paper. These objects are not always big and exciting, but sometimes the small and everyday. In fact, the everyday can resonate more than bigger things. Objects that were meaningful to me , did not have the same connection for my brother.
Doorhandles from 1970
I do not want to actually own or take away any of these, so drawing them is away of keeping them. I also would like to find out the history of the object – where did we get it, when was it used. I want to write down my memories and other family members’ memories .
Other family history and memory drawings can be seen at :
drawing my dad’s shed – This is one of my favourite posts and I get very nostalgic reading it
all in a flickr album. I have drawn family history items as well as everyday objects. Looking back over these I start to feel all nostalgic. Here are are few previous drawings
I draw these with the object on the table in front of me.
I finished the weekend by drawing the front gate. I started by sitting out on the footpath and realised that I wanted more time to get more detail (and it was cold). I took several photographs and am still working on this. I return home again a few weeks and have a few more things I want to draw!
In essence, it is all about drawing objects that I have have a connection with, no matter how obscure or ‘everyday’ it is. I hope this inspires you !
A quick sketch for this weeks blog. Before , during and after my frozen pizza meal.
It was a disappointing meal as the taste did not live up to the photo on the box. It had lots of toppings but was very doughy. My drawing is a lot more tasty looking than reality . I did not even eat this piece, but thought that the final photo of the empty plate looked good and completed the set.
starting the sketch on the page
finished sketch
all done
Here are a few of my previous blog post that have step by step food drawings in watercolour pencil.
I am a librarian and I love books . I spent the first week of July sketching book-ish events of Melbourne Rare Book Week. You can see some of my blogposts here. I have been privileged to be official sketcher on location for the past three years, The combination of sketching and books is my idea of bliss !
I also DRAW BOOKS and DRAW IN BOOKS.
I originally drew IN books as part of a Melbourne Rare Book Week exhibition “You Can’t Draw in Books”, where I drew in books that were about to be discarded, giving them a new life. See some of them here . Some of these are available for purchase on my ETSY online store
My current “Drawing in Books” projects is for the Blarney Biblio Art Prize. I entered this last year with my drawings in Field Study Guide to Nature. This year the entry has changed a little. Instead of creating an art work inspired by a title of your own choosing, you enter and are given a random title. Mine is Year of Wonder: a Year of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks. Of course , I will draw in the book with my watercolour pencils, however you can interpret your given title in any way artistically. Open to anyone around the world!
I have read the book twice, once to read the story, the second time to identify pages and paragraphs that have the potential for illustrating. The novel is about a village which quarantines itself in 1666 from the plague in order to prevent the disease from spreading further. I will post updates here as I go. There will be at least one rat drawn n the pages….It is due in October.
And finally, I draw books, I love old books, with character and old worn pages, Some of these have been printed as greeting cards and are available for purchase on my ETSY website
2019 sees the eighth Melbourne Rare Book Week (MRBW) but the 47th Australian Antiquarian Book Fair, presented by the Australian Association of Antiquarian Booksellers (ANZAAB) and Rare Books Melbourne (RBM) . Thirty-five Australian and international antiquarian booksellers will offer a rich and diverse array of items catering for all who genuinely love print on paper and who share a passion for books. Millions of dollars worth of rare and collectible books, maps, photographs and manuscript material will be on offer at this major event in the Australian antiquarian book calendar, at prices to suit all levels of collecting .
Friday 12 July6:00pm-9:00pm Saturday 13 July10:00am-5:00pm Sunday 14 July10:00am-5:00pm University of Melbourne
The Rare Book Fair opening Reception was held after the last event on Friday. It was a time for the booksellers and event partners to join together.
Friday night ! Let the Fair begin. It was my final day/night of sketching for Melbourne Rare Book Week. I strolled around the Fair, sketching people as they chatted and browsed. The Fair continues over the rest of the weekend. It has once again been a wonderful week of fascinating free talks by amazing people. The amount of specialist knowledge that has been shared is unbelievable and I was honoured to be a part of of it.
Melbourne Rare Book Week is coming to a close, but there are still a lot of events between now and Sunday.
My day started at Museums Victoria for Marketing and promotion of rare books and special collections. Three librarians Gemma Steele, Daniel Wee & Nicole Kearney outlined different aspects of communicating with the public about their collections. Gemma Steele discussed research she conducted in 2018 on marketing and promotion of special libraries and collections. Daniel Wee talked about personal branding in the age of social media, and his experiences in running his Instagram account with 40,000 followers. Nicole Kearney focused on the Biodiversity Heritage Library digitization project, and its possibilities for contributing organisations. It was a slightly different group of people in the audience today and I am assuming lots of librarians, including myself.
Legal Luminaries and their Books . Law Library of Victoria. Held in the iconic Supreme Court Library, this session celebrates the richness of the written word and the beauty of the book. Presentations by Justice Cameron on Emily Dickinson, Solicitor, Tim Finlay spoke on his personal book collection, from Biggles to Thomas More. Law Library of Victoria Director and Supreme Court Librarian, Laurie Atkinson highlighted some of the historic books in the collection. The audience was then invited into her office which is the the Classics Room, with its ceiling height shelves of of books, library ladders and classic books purchased in the nineteenth century..
Ten Enemies of Books at Melbourne Museum presented by Alice Cannon. Flood waters, flames, ultraviolet light, and absent-mindedness: what do all of these things have in common? They are all enemies of books. Conservator Alice Cannon discussed how books can be lost, destroyed, damaged and saved. The talk was accompanied by a small display of damaged books from the Museum’s library. A fascinating presentation for people who have books on their shelves.
