Author Archives: alissa

MRBW – lead up to the event

A special mid week post.

I have been the official urban sketcher at Melbourne Rare Book Week (MRBW) for the past two years.  Each year during the week I write a daily blog post, posting my sketches from the events I attend. If you would like to see the sort of events they have held in the past and my sketches from them just click on this link  . You will see all the results of a search of my blog.

I am honored to be involved again this year and will be sketching at over 20 of the 43 events. held during the week. I will be writing a blog daily from this Friday to the following Sunday. 

Then my blog post returns to its usually weekly format 

What is MRBW? A week of interesting and entertaining lectures, presentations and exhibitions. 
It includes a wide variety of interesting topics on book-related themes, and entry to all events is free of charge. There is something for all interests and taste. They welcome bibliophiles, established collectors and those new to book collecting.

How does my sketching  work ? I look at the program for the week and circle the events that I would like to attend and can get to, There is often an overlap of times of two events and sometimes not possible to travel from one to another , even though they are generally all in Melbourne CBD. I don’t have to book for the event (many have seating limits due to  the space they are held in) and I usually stand at the back of the room. Therefore there are lots of “backs of heads of people’ sketches. If there is an interesting feature to the room ( Tonic House has a wonderful internal brick wall) I add to colour to it. I have been to some places previously and know what to expect, and others I need to decide on the spot. But that is the joy of sketching on location! Tackling the unknown is all part of the joy urban sketching .

Events go for 45 minutes to 90 minutes, All of my sketches are done on location, not from photos . They capture the event and are an impression of the moment. Sometimes I manage to do two sketches. Some are on single pages and others are double page spreads, I decide on format at the time.

All of sketches are done with watercolour pencils and Lamy Safari Joy ink pen in a 13 x 19 cm Moleskine watercolour sketchbook. 

 

AND I get to hear amazing people share their passion and knowledge for their area of bookish expertise. !

I hope you enjoy my reporting of the event. Please say hello if you attend any  of them and see me sketching !

Home

laundromat sketching

For the last two weeks I have had to take my laundry to the local laundromat SoapBar. It is a few stops on the tram, modern and easy to use (once you know how) .  

Of course, I knew that I would sketch there. It is ‘given time’ as I knew how long the washing and then the drying was going to take. 

 

These are the first weeks’ sketches. I also had lunch there. 

 

Above is my most recent  visit . I wish the I had taken photos along the way . You will have to use your imagination as I describe the step by step process of creation of this page. 

First I sketched the washing machines and dryers with my Lamy Safari ink pen in my Moleskine 19×13 cm watercolour journal. I am generally never unhappy with a page of sketches. However, at this stage the page just didn’t feel right , so I added the black watercolour pencil and it softened the page. 

I knew that I had lots of time left so I started drawing the laundry basket in Payne’s Grey watercolour pencil and then added more colour and then the used the waterbrush to pull the colour across the page . I then drew over some of the finer, harder lines of the basket edge and pattern of holes. 

I still had dryer time , so drew one of the tokens in Cool Grey IV watercolour pencil. 

Once at home I wrote my notes on the page.

Then instagrammed – and received a lovely reply from the Laundromat .

and then decided to write this post. I hope that it explains my thought process.

If this was in another country and I was on holidays It would be travel sketching,  and this is the sort of page I would sketch when travelling, as it is all part of the journey.  Join me in travel sketching classes in Melbourne. For more details:  https://www.trybooking.com/eventlist/travelsketching

 

travel sketching classes

I am running Travel Sketching classes in Melbourne in over July and August.

In the cooler/cold Melbourne Winter months it not practical to run my Travel Sketchwalks in East Melbourne, However, you can still sketch in the cold weather and I have TWO travel sketching classes to inspire and motivate you.

Class One: Travel sketching

Have you ever wanted to sketch as you travel, adding a drawing to your diary or creating a whole travel journal, but not sure where to begin?

In this class learn to use watercolour pencil to create a travel journal. Learn to look and see in a different way  – it is all about capturing the impression of the moment.  Your sketches in your travel sketchbook will bring back memories of a time and place when you look at them.  

Class Two : Travel Sketching – food and drinks.

Learn to use watercolour pencil to sketch the food you eat, your drinks and the places that you stop for meals when travelling, capturing the impression of the moment.

Looking back at the pages of your sketchbook you will relive the sights, sounds, taste, and smell through your lines, colours and words on the page . 

 

For more details on dates and prices and to book for one or both classes at  www.trybooking.com/eventlist/travelsketching 

I look forward to seeing you and sketching with you !

moving house sketching

A very short post this week, as I have moved house over the past few days. There have been moment of waiting when I could sketch and have been able to document my move.

Man With a Van removalists

I sketched the removalists while sitting on the stairs waiting.

The night before the move – all the boxes lined up. I meant to add more detail, but ran out of time/ energy.

 

My bears in my backpack. 

Now that the absolute basic are in place in each room I can spend time organising my art cupboards, greeting card supplies, travel sketching class kits and everything else. Fun ! 

I have over 30 boxes of books to unpack at some time.

We strolled to Fitzroy Gardens and had a delicious lunch at Kere Kere Green cafe. I sketched the outdoor area while we relaxed for a while before going back home to unpack more boxes.

A house warming present of a nest that was found on the ground . It is tiny and from South East Queensland – does anyone know which bird it is from. This is now the smallest nest i have and will join my others in a display cabinet, when I unpack them.

If you like the idea of a nest housewarming gift , I have a series of greeting cards printing with my watercolour pencil drawings of feathers and nests available for purchase on my ETSY site 

Melbourne Rare Book Week exhibition

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. ! 

 

 

Courts Open Day

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 .

 

Happy Mothers’ Day

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)

drawing shoes

This week’s blog is about shoes.

I have been drawing my boots this weekend as a I decide whether to take them on an overseas holiday later this year. Drawing them helped me focus. The decision has not been made yet. 

I decided to make these the basis of my blog and include a few previous shoes as well. 

All drawings are in watercolour pencil , or ink pen. 

 

Faber Castell watercolour pencils

  • Burnt Umber
  • Walnut Brown
  • Dark Sepia, 
  • Raw Umber
  • Light Yellow Ochre 
  • Black
  • Payne’s Grey

I draw my shoes 

The plusses of drawing your own shoes , especially at home is that you are in control of when and when they sit. They can sit on the table/chair for as long as you need or want them there, If you are drawing your own shoes as you wear them, you are almost in control of the situation, unless you need to get up, I usually draw my shoes at the doctors or dentists if there are no other patients around, There is never nothing to draw !

    

 

 

and other people’s shoes 

 

 

Drawing other people’s shoes is little quicker, as you never know when they are going to walk away ! It does provide an opportunity to sketch in public without staring at people, as you are looking down at their feet, 

and shoes in museums and shops 

These shoes stay still, but you are usually standing up in front of the glass window that the stand behind. There  are always people moving around you, only spending a few moments looking at the objects. 

 

 

Happy sketching !

 

the watercolour pencils I use

Last week I drew (in watercolour pencil) the watercolour pencils that I have in the sketchkit that I carry with me everyday. I carry 26  colours that I like and which suit what I draw and my style. There are over 120 colours in the FaberCastell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencil range. I do not own them all and have built up my collection over time.

I knew that I had drawn my pencils previously and was curious to see which colours had changed over time. I know that the vast majority have stayed that same and was aware that a few had been changed along the way . My drawings were from 2013. 2016 and 2018. They were drawn as part of my pre holiday packing. 

 

 

 

Looking back, I see that I have not swapped too many colours over the past 5 years. I have put an asterisk next to those few that I am not as pedantic about. There are often a few variations on colour in the range and for some of these I am happy to use whatever spare I have in my pencil box at home or can buy at the art shop. 

Here is a long list of the Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils I carry with me. There are two Derwent watercolour pencils and I use them as I cannot get the same colour in FaberCastell. Sometimes the names of colours are changed, which makes life a little confusing. I think Light Orange used to be Orange Glaze.

I have put some quick notes about how or why I use these particular colours. These are a personal choice.

Ivory – I use this all the time – buildings, food, often useful when something is not white
Light chrome yellow * there are a few yellows I could use
Light Orange – not used often, but a lovely real orange 
Scarlet red * it is an orangey-red. There are a few different colours I could use 
Magenta – useful for iron lace of buildings
Venetian Red – great for buildings. I used this a lot in my 2016 visit to Manchester . I also used Indian Red there 
Madder Carmine (Derwent) – a real red
Pink madder lake – don’t use often, but it is a real pink
Blue violet * handy to have but I could easily use another colour
Indanthrene blue – I use for shadows, skies, darkening area of a page. I just really like this colour
Ultramarine – so handy for everything
Skyblue – a lovely sky colour on the page, but turns grey when water is added. Good for skies of Melbourne 
Grass green – that hint of bright green in grass, trees
Chrome oxide green  – trees, iron lace of buildings. very useful
Mineral Green (Derwent) – a real green
Earth green – a wonderful colour for Australian – trees, 
Light flesh –for a hint of flesh tone on a face or limbs. often combined with a hint of one of the brown colours below
Cold grey IV – often used for many reasons
Warm Grey II – good for buildings – I bought this when I moved to Melbourne, as the Sydney sandstone was a very yellow colour 
Payne’s grey – I use this a lot 
Black – not often, but very useful
Dark sepia – I have recently discovered and love this colour 
Light yellow ochre This colour and the rest of the list I often use together. I draw a lot of nature objects and food, coffee. I can build up a lot of depth in an object using a combination of these colours. 
Burnt ochre
Brown ochre
Raw umber
Burnt umber
Burnt siena
Walnut brown

I will probably change a few when I visit the UK in September to suit the buildings and greens of the UK, 

 

What are your favourites in your sketchkit ?