In the past week I did two sketches on location. Both are very similar and yet different.

Similarities

• both in my 13 x 19 cm watercolour sketchbook, which I carry with me everywhere
• in each case I sat at the back of the room.
• I am a member of both organisations and many of the staff and volunteers know me and remember me as the sketcher when set myself up at the back of the room.

Sketch One

Yarra Birrarung: Artists, Writers and the River

Royal Historical Society of Victoria

At this event they launched both the exhibition and Dr Judith Buckrich’s latest book, which is the first comprehensive illustrated history of the Yarra Birrarung from before European settlement to the present day, a 200 year story, examined through the lives of its creatives.

 This book is an illustrated history of life on the Yarra. Through the lens of artists and writers, the book explores how life has flourished on the river, including recreation, industry and land use, as well as infrastructure, natural history and social history.

Despite much despoiling, our river remains the vital artery of the city and beyond to the Yarra Ranges. Just as it was the fulcrum of Wurundjeri life, it continues to inspire and fulfil our lives. From the Heidelberg School to the MCG, the river has been a centre of Australian arts and culture for decades.

• over two pages
• ink then watercolour pencil
• 30 minutes
• i did not know how many people would attend. They kept coming and it was standing room only. I stood at the back and tried to give an idea of how full the room was

Sketch two

Dressing Up: The depiction of fashion in magazines in the 18th and 19th centuries with Professor Emeritus Chris Browne

The Johnston Collection, Melbourne

The development of both men’s and women’s fashions from the later part of the 18th century until the end of the 19th century has been perhaps surprisingly well documented. Surviving colour lithographs and hand-coloured engravings can show us today what was in fashion at precise dates throughout that period. Professor Browne will describe the history of these illustrations and the magazines that first published them in both England and France.. The lecture will be illustrated by examples from his personal collection, some of which will be on display for direct inspection after the talk.

• on one page
• watercolour pencil
• one hour
• a set number of chairs in a small room for this smaller presentation

In each I have made choices on

• what to use
• what to sketch
• where to add the colour

I usually make my decisions on the spot with no plan!

This week’s blog post is the nature sketches that I completed in England on my recent holiday.

I have not finished my holiday sketching books yet. I plan to add more notes about the plant to each page.

I will not be adding any more detail to the sketch. I like to consider these to be capturing the moment when I sketched them. A journal rather than an illustration

Some of these were completed on location as I sat in the fields in the lovely England countryside.

I had to look most of them up online to see what I was sketching.

Others I took cuttings of and placed in a glass of water. I later sketched them at my own leisure in my lovely cottage.

I was familiar with some of the plants as we have them in Australia. Others I had to check on, and some I had not heard of at all.

I learned to take scissors out with me on my walk, as many of the plants were very spiky.

I hope that you can see how much I enjoyed discovering the plants of the English countryside,

On Saturday I presented at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library. This marked the end of my year long Artist in Residency, I last wrote about this in January, when it was just beginning.

My brief for the Artrist in Residence was “12 illustrations of various aspects of the Athenaeum Library and Archives”.

I gave a one-hour presentation and had lots of questions from the audience. I knew many, but not all, in the audience, either from The Athenaeum events, friends or my own classes. It was a very friendly, relaxed talk.

I explained the commission and my approach. I talked about how I use my watercolour pencils and then the objects I sketched. I then discussed my on-location sketching at events and how that translated to a final drawing.

There is currently a display of the commissioned pieces. On the day I also had my sketchbooks for people to look through.

I am holding two classes on watercolour pencil at the Library.

It was such a wonderful experience and I was honoured to be invited to interpret the collection and add to its history through my Residency.

Due to technical difficulties, I was not able to access my blog until now. This is a last minute post with sketch done this evening at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria book launch.

I had left my sketchbook at home on the scanner and attended an event with my watercolour pencils and ink pen only. This was no excuse not to sketch! I borrowed some sheets of photocopy paper from the front desk.

I used my ink pen to draw across the A4 page, and onto a second page. I decided not to add watercolour pencil, but leave it in pen.

If I had forgotten my sketchkit, I would have borrowed a blue pen.

The book is Melbourne Ghost Signs by Sean Reynolds, published by Scribe. Amazing photographic documentation of stories of ghostly ads, aged signs and iconic architecture of Melbourne. Read more and purchase it here .

It looks so interesting and I can”t wait to dive deeper into my copy and discover Melbourne.

I had such a wonderful holiday in England. I was continually observing the sights, sounds, tastes, smells and touch of the England I experienced.

I had many exciting and fulfilling days in London, but the majority of my time was spent in a small English village in the South Cotswolds. I don”t drive, so arrived by train to a nearby city and the property owner collected me, helped me get groceries and dropped me off at the cottage, explaining how to use everything. From then on I walked everywhere and caught the local bus a few times.

I was happy to walk down English country lanes, past bramble hedgerows and drystone fencewalls. There were squirrels, robins, and everything I hoped for.

I soaked it all in and there was so much to sketch at every corner. As I was there for three weeks, I knew that I had time. I had to time take things slowly, revisit places, and look closer. I also had time to talk to people, ask questions, and read about the places I was sketching.

I only had my phone to use to record, and had not (then) figured out a way to record as I sketch. I did not bring my larger filming setup, even though it is in theory portable. I have since discovered a small attachable device that I could have taken with me to film as I sketch. A future experiment.

Here is the only sketch filming I did. It is watercolour pencil, and captures a special moment on my English holiday. Sketching in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, in Wotton Under Edge. The first record of Wotton Under Edge appears in 940AD as Wudetun, Settlement in the Woods, It is known that there was a church there at the time. This church was consecrated in 1283. Many changes have taken place over the last 700 years, but the basic layout has remained the same.

The organ was originally presented to the church of St Martins in the Fields in London in 1726 by George I who engaged Handel top play at its dedication. Installed here in 1800.

I walked passed this church most days and through the churchyards.

The bell tower, from which those wonderful bells tolled has eith bells, originally cast in 1756,

I was fortunate to be there for the Church Fete. and I went up the very very steep stairs to the bell tower and listened to the Bell ringers explain what they do. Fascinating. I could not sketch up in the bell tower itself, but did sit in the pews.

Below are those sketches.

Writing this page and adding the sketches has brought back wonderful memories.

There are more to be shared in future posts, although life returns to normal here. I start back at work on Monday and am sketching in my everyday sketchbook and giving some talks and classes. These will be added to my website soon.

I have returned from my six week holiday in England and a little break after that.

I had a wonderful holiday, fulfilling all my dreams. I have so many sketches to share with you and I am not sure where to begin. I photographed my sketchbook and posted daily while I was away to instagram ( alissaduke1) and facebook Alissa Duke Art. You can look and see them there.

I completed four watercolour sketchbooks (13x19cm) with my watercolour pencils and ink pen. I still have to scan all of these. This will take some time as some of the sketches still need to be finished and I have to write notes on many of the pages.

Here is just a glimpse.

ten days in London

three days of Goodwood Revival

three weeks in Coombe near Wotton Under Edge in the South Cotswolds

Each sketch tells a story and takes me back to the moment I was there .

I will share more with you.

I am going on Annual Leave tomorrow for six weeks in England.

This week’s blog post will be the last until I return in October!

I am taking four sketchbooks and my sketchkit and some spare watercolour pencils . Below are some of my sketches in preparation. I will be sketching ALL THE TIME and posting to Instagram daily (alissaduke1).

Below are my outfits for Goodwood Revival Historic Motor Racing Festival. Three days of car racing from 1940’s-1960s . Everyone who attends dresses in outfits of the day. HERE are my sketches from 2018.

I will have so much to share when I return. Also lots of exciting plans and classes planned for the rest of 2024 !

Happy sketching

Alissa

Did you know that it was International Lion Day on Friday? i didn’t I don’t usually know about these international days until they are over. There are calendars you can look ahead at to find these things out. Here is a selection.

My immediate thought was the Trafalgar Square Lions, which I will be seeing in two weeks in London. Then I thought of all the other lion sketches and drawings I have done and decided to share them all here. I sketch them every time I visit London. I know I have arrived and it is now a tradition.

and then there are the real lions at Melbourne Zoo. They are usually sleeping on the platforms, but have come close to the glass wall a few times. Magnificent!

Sketched in an old ledger.

I have also drawn a lion in a book It is an old copy of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis. It took a long time to locate a copyright free image online that had the right look.

All with watercolour pencils and ink pen.

This week’s blog is this week’s sketches.

A variety of subjects, many of these I have sketched before. Most were sketched quickly. The longest one was Affinity Quartet which was one hour in the Library.

A week ago at Melbourne Athenaeum Library – Affinity Quartet. It was a lovely way to end my week of Melbourne Rare Book Week events.

I spent most of the week finalising MRBW sketches, scanning and sending them to the various partners or organisations involved.

This past Friday, I was back to the traditional Prosecco.

Saturday on the tram – about 20 minutes

This evening – a Zoom chat with UK friends

a quick sketch of some of the London books I have on table.

Last week I posted my sketches from Melbourne Rare Book Week days 1-3 . And now it is all done for another year. I had planned a mid-week blog, but time got away.

I will feature some sketches here but the entire 30 sketches from the week will be on my Flickr site for you to look at. click HERE. Flickr is a photosharing website. All of my sketches go there and I have organised some of them into themes in Albums. There is one for each MRBW,

THE WEEK

Now We Are Ten : A book collector’s reflections on a decade of Melbourne Rare Book Week                                                                          

Speaker: Emeritus Professor Chris Browne

Since its inception in 2012, MRBW has become an important festival in Melbourne’s cultural life. The current Program Director will reflect on the evolution of MRBW from the original concept to this tenth iteration of the festival. He will take a book collector’s view of its importance, as well as its international significance as a model for similar festivals. Appropriately, the event is co-hosted by The Melbourne Athenaeum Library, one of the original, ongoing partners of MRBW.

It was so lovely that I was included in the talk as part of the history of MRBW. I have been with then officially as sketcher on location since 2106.

It’s Cold and Old and Rarer than Gold :  Collectables from the Heroic Era of Antarctic Exploration

Ephemera Society of Australia Speaker: Tony Shields

Tony Shields has been a stamp and coin dealer since 1970. Every day he handles wonderful pieces of history and art which he researches and loves. Since childhood, he has been fascinated by the stories of Scott and Mawson in the Antarctic and has sought stamps and other items depicting the experiences of these incredible explorers. Come and share Tony’s enthusiasm and knowledge of collectables from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, 1820-1921.

Rare Sports Books and Ephemera :   A panel discussion on interesting items from the MCC Library

Melbourne Cricket Club Library

Panelists: Gideon Haigh, Cheryl Critchley, Kasey Symons, Greg de Moore, David Studham and Trevor Ruddell

The panel of sports historians, journalists and librarians will present selected highlights from the Library in its 150th anniversary year and they will discuss their significance in the history of Australian sport. Learn about the variety of items held in the collection, which goes well beyond the boundary of cricket, even stepping over the boundary line of Australian Rules Football into other sporting arenas. The event will finish with a Q&A session.

Albrecht Dürer’s Innovations in Book Illustration  : Albrecht Dürer’s Innovations in Book Illustration  

National Gallery of Victoria Speakers: Dr. Petra Kayser, Hansen Associate Professor Jenny Spinks and Professor Charles Zika

This session focuses on illustrated books and related prints by German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), drawn from the NGV’s rich holdings, including examples of his early work as a book illustrator, the Apocalypse in a Latin and a vernacular edition, a range of devotional books and illustrated scientific treatises. The speakers will discuss the technique and historical context of their production to highlight Dürer’s ambition and originality, as well as the breath of his knowledge.

THE RARE BOOK FAIR

The Melbourne Rare Book Fair is the major annual book fair of ANZAAB and one of only a few rare book fairs in the Southern hemisphere. Now in its 53rd Edition, the Melbourne Rare Book Fair again featured rare and wonderful books, manuscripts, ephemera, prints (and much more) from the best rare book and antiquarian dealers across Australia and New Zealand and from overseas. It was a gathering of buyers, sellers and lovers of books not to be missed.

I sketched Thursday night and on Friday. As I stood back and sketched I observed and listened. It was lovely to see a steady flow of all types of people exploring the Fair. For some, it was a curious or tentative first visit and others were regulars, greeting old friends and looking to add to their collections, big or small. I purchased a lovely book for the price of a dinner out.

And the BIGGEST surprise, when I entered the FAIR, my sketch from last year on the wall !!! I did not see them on Thursday night when I entered after the launch. So it was a big surprise to enter the door and see it. This is the cloakroom. Professional photos were taken with me in the photo, but this was on my phone.

It was a wonderful, amazing week of sketching and meeting new people and catching up with old friends. I am becoming a familiar face with the partner presenter orgnisations and the booksellers. See you all lnext year.

In the meantime, you can follow my daily sketches on Instagram alissaduke1 or Facebook Allissa Duke Art.