Author Archives: alissa

counting down to travel and MRBW

The countdown is really on to two BIG events for me. Melbourne Rare Book Week in two weeks and UK holiday in three weeks.

Here is an update.

HOLIDAY

Three weeks to go ’til we leave on holidays to the UK – here is this weeks envelope to Mum. I a not at prolific this year and have forgotten to scan them before I send them !. Here are lots from last holiday three years ago to the UK.

MELBOURNE RARE BOOK WEEK – PART 1 – Sketching

As I have described previously I am going to be sketching the events of Melbourne Rare Book Week. They will be quick sketches in pen, maybe adding a splash of colour. I plan to combine these with some sketches of the buildings or room they are held in to provide context, interest and colour. Yesterday I spent time at the beautiful State Library of Victoria (after dropping some of my greeting cards off at Readings bookshop – they reordered ! Hooray. But that’s another story) .

Five talks are being held there in two different rooms at State Library of Victoria. I could only gain access to one room yesterday – The Red Rotunda. I sketched from two angles – both sketches are very heavy handed, but they give an idea of the room. I may go back and redo these.

MELBOURNE RARE BOOK WEEK – PART 2 – Exhibition

The other part of my involvement in Melbourne Rare Book Week is my exhibition “You Can’t Draw in Books?” at Melbourne City Library. Yesterday I met with one of the Library staff to look at the practicalities of the display. We tried to find display stands to suit the various book sizes and see how they would look in the different areas of the library.

Life is very busy and exciting !

stocking up for travel sketching

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I have I started thinking about my art gear for my upcoming three week holiday in the UK, and have purchased and ordered some supplies. Some had to be ordered online and I bought extras to stock up for home as well.

I am going to attend the Urban Sketching Symposium in Manchester for three days, and will I be continuously sketching for the entire time. I sketch daily now and will have even more to draw when I am away.

I’ll be taking my current pencil wrap (same old one as my new one did not get made), filled with new Faber Castell LONG pencils. I’ve bought new watercolours pencil and will take doubles of a few that I am prone to use/loose. Payne Grey, Ivory, Light Yellow Ochre.

I also bought some new watercolour pencil colours that I have been advised for UK trees, buildings – Sap Green, Hookers Green, Alizarin Crimson.

I am taking three Moleskine 13 x 19 cm Watercolour Sketchbooks. I have already started the first one by holiday sketching- drawing my new suitcase, some British pounds. I’ll sketch my clothes before I go. Then at the airport, on the plane ….

My eraser is specific – it fits in my pencilwrap in a pencil space. TOMBOW Mono Zero 2.5 x 5 mm

I’ll take two waterbrushes – one in use and one spare. I use ZIG Brush H20 Medium Tip. It has a filter that slows the flow of water. This suits my drawing style, as I don’t flood the page with water and colour and I like to work in small areas on the page.

And a spare sharpener. Blunt pencils make for a bad drawing – so much of my drawing of objects relies on the hint of detail, which a sharp, fine line provides.

Of course, this is just my usual sketching gear. I am enrolled in four workshops and four activities at Manchester Urban Sketching Symposium. They will all challenge me and build my techniques and skills but are all suited to my drawing based approach. I will buy some extra art gear in Manchester when I get there. I am sure to get ideas from the other 500 sketchers there !

exhibition preview

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Today I held a special champagne preview for some close friends of my upcoming exhibition “You Can’t Draw in Books?” for Melbourne Rare Book Week.
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from left to right. Leon, Alissa, Louise, ,Michaela, Adam

Today’s preview was at my apartment for some good friends who will not be in town while my exhibition is on. The books were displayed, grouped as they will be in the different areas in Melbourne City Library. The difference was that today, they were spread out over a table, mantle piece and my bed, instead of labelled in display cabinets.

The exhibition is at Melbourne City Library, Flinders Lane from 14 – 24 July. I will be giving a talk with book collector, Chris Browne on Monday 18 July at 6pm. We will explore aspects of drawing in books, from early manuscript illustrations and the presentation of pictures on the printed page, to my own informal drawing in books. Book here for the talk.

Above are a selection of the books. There are forty in total.

We are now at the stage of designing the flyer, and writing the content for the different areas of the display. In just over three weeks we will set up the exhibition. Today, it was great to receive some lovely comments from my friends and to get their feedback on some questions I had. Thanks all for a lovely celebration and sharing my exciting art adventures.

travel countdown drawings

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In six weeks my mother & I will be on a plane to England.

Once a week I write a letter to her (a real letter, on paper, in an envelope, in the post) and draw something related to our holiday. It is a way of building the excitement and also being aware of how the weeks are flying by,

Last holiday, three years ago, I drew on the envelopes that I mailed each week in a ten week countdown . This year I have only managed one original drawing on an envelope.

This year, life is a lot busier, so I am using the drawings from one of my other projects, which neatly fits into the holiday. My exhibition for Melbourne Rare Book Week title “You Can’t Draw in Books?” involves me drawing in old (about to be discarded) books, illustrating the words on one of the open pages. One of the books is an old A-Z London Street directory . I am drawing images of iconic images of London or something that reflects the place on the page.

I then cut and paste my final saved and drawn image into an envelope to mail to my mother. That means that this year she is not getting ‘an original’ on the envelope – but still gets a surprise each week !

I have completed (or started) five drawings on pages so far and identified another few pages with potential, including Regents Park (draw a squirrel) , Kew Gardens (a flower) , Battersea (Power station), Greenwich ( something to do with time OR the Cutty Sark ), Hampton Court (the palace) ….

my travelling Visconti ink pot

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I am excited to be writing this blog post about my new travelling ink pot – because it means that I am travelling !!!

In seven weeks I will be flying overseas. We are going to England, flying directly to Manchester for the Urban Sketching Symposium … more about that later.

The Visconti travelling ink pot, eyedropper and my Lamy pen

I have recently purchased a Visconti travelling ink pot to carry and refill the ink for my Lamy Safari Joy pen. I will be sketching furiously for three weeks in England and will need to refill the ink in my pen during that time. It is like an old-fashioned fountain pen where you dip the pen into the ink bottle and draw the ink up into the pen. At about $100 (more than twice the price of the pen) the travelling ink pot was a little investment, but it will bring me the peace of mind that I will not open my suitcase to a leaked/broken ink bottle. It is vacuum sealed and received excellent reviews.

My last overseas holiday was three years ago to Barcelona for a previous Urban Sketching Symposium. To transport my ink, I used a small interesting plastic bottle wrapped in bubble wrap, put in another plastic jar, sealed in a plastic bag. Secure, but it took up valuable luggage space. See my post from three years ago to read more about it

I will start using my new travelling ink pot now, so that I can figure out how it works ! I will be refilling with Noodlers Bulletproof Black ink until I finish the bottle. Noodlers is not stocked in Australia anymore and I have purchased DeAtramentis Black Document Ink as a replacement product.

Over the next few weeks/months my weekly blog will be about my Melbourne Rare Book Week activities, Urban Sketching Symposium and as well as drawing in the countdown to holidays.

Melbourne Rare Book Week

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“Melbourne Rare Book Week – for the love of books” was launched on Monday night. The program of free events has been announced and bookings are open. It is on from 14 -25 July 2016.

I am absolutely thrilled and humbled to be involved with the event in two ways. Melbourne Rare Book Week (MRBW) is a very prestigious event – attracting a wide range of local, Australian and global visitors.

Firstly, I have an exhibition, “You Can’t Draw in Books?” and an accompanying talk. I have over 40 books that I bought for a dollar or two, or were being discarded. I am illustrating on pages in reaction to the text on the page. One of my thoughts is that this drawing may make the viewer look deeper at the page and the book. And by doing this, giving the book a new life.

The drawing from my exhibition that was chosen to go in the MRBW promotional brochure (above) for the event is drawn in a old law book. I have illustrated the Hare Preservation Act 1892 (UK) . Just read deeper and you will find out about regulating the hare breeding season.

The exhibition has an associated talk , with book collector Chris Browne, who will explore aspects of drawing in books, from early manuscript illustrations and the presentation of pictures on the printed page to some examples of formal and informal book illustrations in more modern times.

Here are some of the sketches in books I have already shared online. They are all still “works in progress “as I have a bit more to add to each before July.

Ross’s Outlines of English History

Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

All but one of the books are on open pages.

However the London A-Z Street Map is falling apart and is just asking to have many pages drawn on.

July may seem a long way away, but is rapidly coming closer. My time between now and then will be spent investigating signage, labels… and completing the drawings.

Secondly, I am involved as an urban sketcher. I was excited to be contacted by Chris Browne last year after Kay Craddock (the organiser of MRBW) had seen some of my sketches from various Melbourne Rare Book Week events last year.
Chris suggested the idea of me visually recording some of the events and activities in 2016 through drawing. I started by sketching the launch (above). Urban sketchers draw what they see, on location, in real time, as it happens, and share their drawings on line. There are 55 events over the week and I will be kept very busy! You will see more about this over coming weeks on my blog, facebook, Instagram and flickr.

And then before it ends, I jump on a plane and fly to Manchester for the Urban Sketchers Symposium !

High Tea at The Gables

secret drawing projects

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an old drawing from Illustration Friday challenge “silent” from Nov 2011 –

I am doing a lot of drawing at the moment. However they all for an upcoming exhibition and a private commission, so I am not able to share them with everyone at the moment.

Here are some glimpses …..

Lost Trades Fair Part 2

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Lost Trades Fair PART 2

Last week I wrote Part 1 of my visit to the Lost Trades Fair in March. Here is the next part of my day of sketching at the Lost Trades Fair.

I have been asked about who runs the Lost Trades Fair and here is a little information about Glen & Lisa Rundell. Please see more at their website Rundell & Rundell . There is a wonderful five minute video that gives an insight into the day. It is really interesting and well worth viewing.
Who are Rundell & Rundell ? Lisa & Glen Rundell initiated and founded the Lost Trades Fair and it has grown so quickly with their passion, drive and organisation. LISA RUNDELL runs “The Chairmakers Wife” traditional trading store in Kyneton, with international traditional quality makers and showcasing work by local artisans that are part of the growing ‘Lost Trades’ guild of makers. GLEN RUNDELL is a Chairmaker, designer, woodworker, artisan, instructor and craftsman and holds bespoke workshops.

MY sketching day …
I wandered down the wide grassed areas , with white tents either side. I would choose a stall that looks interesting to draw, has a place for me to sketch, without blocking other people.

The first stall I stopped at was Whisky & Wolf , where I talked to Leon, the artisan leatherworker. I stood in the stall and sketched. There were the finely handcrafted leather goods in a beautifully displayed area – old fishing gear, a stuffed pheasant, old books and nests. I felt relaxed in these surrounds and started drawing the pheasant. I heard about the hand finishing and stitching of the goods, and how Leon got to be doing what he is today.

There are fascinating stories everywhere at Lost trades Fair.

I often observed a stall for a while, firstly for my own appreciation of the skill and knowledge of the person and their trade. Secondly, to see how the person is going to move around while I try to sketch them. Often they are making a specific object by hand in front of a growing audience. They stand alone, the onlookers kept back behind a rope. They explain the process of creating the object as they do it. Sometimes it involves repeating processes and stances .

Pete Von Trott – spoon maker was a great example of this . He worked on the same block of wood, using different tools, to carve it down to a fine wooden spoon. He told us about the timber (sycamore) , wood grain and carving and tools.

In the stall next to him was Glen Rundell with his wood lathe. Glen is the Chairmaker and features in the video.

But sometimes I didn’t discover how much someone moved until the person had changed positions and moved about. For example, Doug Tarrant, the blacksmith only used the fire to periodically heat the rods (I am getting all the technical names wrong here). He would pump with his foot, which would turn the wheel and add air to stoke the glowing coals. The majority of the time was spent with his back to me , talking to the onlookers on the other side of the table.
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Duncan McHarg is a custom boot and shoemaker. He uses traditional construction techniques, and described them to us: from hand sewing every seam, to measuring and making of the wooden shoes lasts. This fascinating 4 minute BBC video explains a lot

Sam Fray demonstrated the centuries-old craft of letterpress printing. Her company Wood Duck Press specialises in letterpress printing vintage, hand-fed, letterpress She was working on “Daisy” a 240 kg press built in 1905, describing how she found the press in a factory alleyway rusty, neglected and how it came to be the working press in front of us.

It was two months ago that I visited the Lost Trades Fair. Looking back through my sketches and writing this blog has made me realise that I will remember these people and their passion and their skill for a long time.

Lost Trades Fair Part 1

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In March this year a friend and I took a one hour train ride from Melbourne to the regional town of Kyneton (population 8000) to go to the Lost Trades Fair. It was first held in 2014 and has rapidly established itself as an event, this year attracting over 15000 people in two days.

What is the Lost Trades Fair?

“The Lost & Rare Trades Fair celebrates the art of skilled manual work and ancient and traditional trades and crafts, their special tools, traditions, languages and secrets which are now threatened by mass produced products in our modern society. Our aim is to unite people that still have these skills and reignite the significance that these trades and crafts have in todays environment, setting them on a steady path for the future, before they are lost to history. “

Read so much more about this incredible initiative at the website Rundell and Rundell

There were over eighty amazing, knowledgeable and skilled traditional tradespeople set up in white tents in the grounds surrounding the Kyneton racecourse. These artisans practiced their crafts and explained them to fascinated onlookers. It was very interactive and the people are passionate about their trades and craft. They included an armourer, cooper, fletcher and windsor chairmaker. The crowds grew during the day, but there was food and entertainment to sustain us.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my lunch sketch.

Last year I eagerly raced around, trying to take it all in, wanting to sketch everything and not miss out on seeing anything. This year I decided to focus on a few craftsmen and artisans, and be prepared not to see everything – quality not quantity. The stalls that I sketched were not chosen for a specific reason, I just happened to be there and there was a good place to sketch nearby. Sometimes the artisans did not know I was sketching them and others I chatted to while I sketched. I sketched 11 stalls. Maybe next year I will go for the two days of the long weekend.

A Country Affair – vintage coffee cart

On the day I took a while to ‘warmup’ and feel comfortable in my role as sketcher for the day.An initial wander took us to coffee. I sat down, trying to decide what to draw and what style to use. So I drew what was in front of me – the coffee caravan, In hindsight, it was far too ambitious. I should have stayed in my comfort zone and drawn my coffee, and then moved on to scenes.

I then sketched the leathergoods stall across from me.

I was also choosing which medium to use when – my watercolour pencils and my Lamy ink pen. I also brought along an A4 Moleskine watercolour sketchbook to try and draw larger, as well as my everyday 19×13 cm Moleskine watercolour sketchbook. My aim for the day was to attempt to give character and movement to a scene – capturing the moment. I was not attempting to draw a portrait (although it is always pleasing when the figure vaguely looks like the person) but some of them are such characters that they are unmistakable.

Sometimes I started sketching in pencil and capturing the moment. Once I discovered the person was going to stay still or repeat the moment I added colour and features. Here are the sketches. Note: The combination of light graphite pencil sketches and light watercolour pencil does not scan very well and I am disappointed that they do not look like my originals.

Dean the cobber – a really enjoyable time here as I sketched Dean mixing clay with an enthusiastic member of the crowd, who was really enjoying getting stuck into the mud. Her brother and then her family chatted to us . Dean builds a cob oven from clay, sand, straw and water. I was watching on and sketching but so tempted to join in. I could almost feel the mud between my toes. This was in an A4 page.

I was feeling weary so sat under a tree, but it had to be one with a view to sketch and it was the Spoonsmith.
This was the other sketch I did on an A4 page

Penny Farthing – attracting attention with the Penny Farthing Bicycles and steampunk gear. Large circles are difficult to sketch sometime so I tried to focus on the costume.
I will continue with Part 2 next week, with some more of my sketches from the day and the stories behind them.

You can see my sketches from last year

Lost Trades Fair 2015 Part 1

Lost Trades Fair 2015 Part 2

alissa duke

watercolour pencil artist

Author Archives: alissa

counting down to travel and MRBW

stocking up for travel sketching

exhibition preview

travel countdown drawings

my travelling Visconti ink pot

Melbourne Rare Book Week

High Tea at The Gables

secret drawing projects

Lost Trades Fair Part 2

Lost Trades Fair Part 1

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