Author Archives: alissa

Sketching at Erin’s

I was invited to Erin Hill’s Sketchclass on Friday to give a short talk about my travel sketching. I’ve talked to the Saturday group before, but not the Friday people. Have a look at Erin’s Scandinavian sketching session this week for our results. I gave a quick 10 minute talk about me and my sketching. I brought along my two London/Barcelona sketchbooks from my holiday in July last year. See these on my flickr page in the  London and Barcelona  SETS.  My sketchbooks were eagerly devoured by the class of enthusiastic sketchers. I think that looking through my sketchbooks provided them with an idea of the sort of things that can be sketched, with a different approach and  style.

 ” the power point converter for the UK – who would have thought of that”
“oh look … suitcases”

I also write notes on my pages -(something that not everyone does) and use watercolour pencils in a few different ways on the page. Read here about my watercolour pencils

I also brought along my current Moleskine watercolour sketchbook of which I was on the final pages. I started it one month ago.  Lots of time to sketch now. I approached the day as if it were a holiday. And it was an adventure. I knew that I was going to Manly , so  drew a map. Then at Circular Quay, where I had time before my ferry left.



The ferry ride takes 30 minutes, so I knew I had that time to sketch. I had run out of ink in my Lamy Safari Joy pen, so  I used the first pencil I took out of my pencil wrap to draw the people on the ferry.
 

 
 
 

Then down to business – looking outside the ferry window . I was experimenting with blue today.  Australian sky blue is difficult to get right and the ocean can be a challenge too. I like the Derwent Inktense Sea Blue. When combined with other blues in my sketchkit it has a good colour.

So after three pages I arrived at Erin’s class and gave my talk and my sketchbooks were quickly passed around. But not for long, as it was down to classwork (but we continued to chat through the morning and over lunch). While the students did the wonderful experiment of drawing a drawing upside down (it makes you draw lines that you see rather than those you think should be there), I drew the gift Erin gave me – some delicious and decadent looking pastries .

 

I drew them for 15 minutes, while the class did their lesson and then completed it at home. Although I do not have a sweet tooth , I find biscuits and cakes fun to draw and I seem to have quite a collection now . See them here

 

 


next : 15 minutes – draw something from your bag – my keys



Then a walk to a wonderful local store The Modern Furniture Store where they generously allowed us to sit in the store and sketch.



and home on the bus… a full day of drawing . I Love it !

my tea and coffee cups

I am aware that I draw my coffee cups a lot. I am not a particular coffee aficionado and I also drink tea as well, especially at home. I also draw my wine/champagne glasses.

I have finally gathered them all together in a SET on flickr, there are over 80. Click HERE to see them all together on flickr. Some are quick and sketchy and others more studied.

I know which watercolour pencils to use for the coffee (and tea) and how the colours will change when I add water .

All Faber Castell Albrecht Durer. Of course I don’t use all of these in the one drawing, but they are a part of my kit and can be used

Ivory
Raw Umber (I lie – this is a Derwent)
Burnt Yellow Ochre (oops – Derwent also)
Burnt Ochre
Burnt Umber
Walnut Brown
Burnt Siena (excellent for the chocolate bits on top. Too chocolaty for general use)




I think that I tend to draw coffee cups because when I am drinking it I am sitting down, comfortable and with time to spare. I am obviously not in desperate need of caffeine, or I would start drinking straight away. Therefore I do drink cool or cold coffee very often. But I am usually very pleased with my drawing.  The coffee shop staff love it when you draw their art ! It starts so many conversations.

Sometimes I just draw the coffee and sometimes I draw my food as well. Other times I will draw what I see in the café or the view outside, to give it some context. It really depends on the day and the moment.

Of course, then it dawned on me that cappuccino’s also leave interesting marks down the side of the cup after you have finished it ! I just have to remember to drink it and not start drawing straight away, which is my normal immediate reaction. I also have to learnt to spell cappuccino as I seem to change it each time.

 
 
of course then there are the coffee cups themselves to draw ON…….
 
 
 
 
and the  tea cosies.. but that is another story

sketching while walking

I have a few different sketching styles using both watercolour pencils and ink, sometime combining the two. I draw objects with detail over a few hours and I also sketch quickly.

My sketches in ink are usually sketched out of my apartment. If I have time I add colour on the spot or write a quick note and add later.

Sometimes my sketches of people are done as I walk behind the. I am moving and they are moving. I sketched one today for this weeks Urban Sketchers flickr Group Weekly Challenge of MOTION . (look in the Discussions. It is posted at the top of the page and you share it with the group)

I looked back through my sketches and have gathered a few here together. I am very fortunate to walk into Sydney city across a wide pedestrian bridge and then along a wide wharf. There are lots of tourists a well as office workers, so plenty to choose from. But I choose  times of the day, when it is quieter. There is also lots of space around so I don’t run into anyone coming the other way.

I choose subjects that are walking slowly, and at a nice steady pace. That way I can look at repeat movements of arms and legs swinging to try to capture it on paper.

 
 

Small nest drawing

 This Christmas I was given FOUR birds nests, as well as some feathers, bugs and butterflies. My mother knows just what to give me as a present each year! 
 
I managed to get them all home to Sydney, although the nest on the far left of the photo was a bit of a challenge as the twigs are precariously intertwined and balanced. It travelled as hand luggage in a plastic bag and I made sure it was not knocked or squashed on the flight and train home.
 

Four birds nests on my desk with my Moleskine Watercolour sketchbooks on the shelf behind.

 
The drawing featured in this blog is of the smallest nest on the far right. I finally remembered to take photographs of the work in progress. Most of my drawings are completed in the one sitting or the next day. I tend to spend a longer amount of time drawing my feathers and nests, usually over a few days or weeks. I have only drawn a few nests and it is a challenge each time…..  I have learnt a lot from number of books and inspired by MaryJo Koch, especially her books Bird Feather Nest Egg, and even better The Nest. In fact, I have just taken them off my bookshelf to re-inspire me for my next nest drawing. Her paintings are in gouche and I use watercolour pencils, so I am trying to figure out to how to work with my pencils to draw nests. The lines are so fine and light and the whole concept of light and dark lines is a challenge. and I enjoy it so much, especially when it all works out.
 
 

I am not sure which birds any of these nests belong to. I’ve done a bit of searching online using Google Images and have not been able to identify them . I have found out what they are NOT.

NOT a willie wagtail, fantail, pee wee, pardalote, pipit, gerygone.

MAY be a crested pigeon or a drongo
 

They were found empty on local footpaths in Toowoomba in South East Queensland Australia . If anyone has any suggestions of what they are I would love to know so that I can “put a face to a name” so to speak.
  

I am drawing this nest in my  Watercolour Moleskine Sketchbook. I have been drawing all of other feathers and nests on A4 Arches Watercolour 300 gsm Smooth paper, but started this in my everyday sketchbook. I am not sure why. I left the back of the page blank and have cut it out of the book and added it to my growing collection of feathers and nests on loose paper.  

 

PHOTO 1 HB Pencil. Ivory and Flesh pencils
 
 
PHOTO 2 adding a few individual twigs

PHOTO 3 adding shadow

PHOTO 4 – just a bit more colour
 
 
in situ…..
 
The final version … at the moment

I drew this over a few nights from the 13th to 20th February 2014. I will probably add abit more over the weekend.  I added a little bit at a time. It is easier to look at the drawing fresh the next day to see where to add colour and line. I usually am working on a few other quicker sketches at the same time, so I have a huge sense of satisfaction at the end of each day. It also gives me a chance to use some colours other than the creams, browns, ochres etc of the nests.
 
 
 

 

Australia Day long weekend sketching

January 26th is Australia Day and this year there is a holiday on the Monday, so a long weekend for many of us. It was a big weekend for sketching, which also means catching up with lots of friends. The sketching community is full of friends.
 
This sketch was actually done just before the long weekend, but these ferries are an iconic part of Sydney. I had half an hour to spare and stood at Circular Quay sketching as they arrived and departed. I was sketching the one at the bottom of the page and a man stopped to say “that’s fabulous”. I thanked him and said – they keep moving so quickly. He replied that this one would not go til 12 (in 10 min) as he was the ferry driver !
 
 

 
 
Saturday 25th January  International Sketchcrawl
 
What is it ?  SketchCrawl is a World Wide event: having people from different corners of the world join in a day of sketching and journalling ALL ON THE SAME DAY !!!  and then, thanks to the Internet, having everyone share the results on an online forum.
 
It was started by Enrico Casarosa, San Francisco, California in 2006. Sketchcrawls happen every couple of months on a date named on the forum. Then on the forum, organise your city/town/village Sketchcrawl and then post the drawings and comment on others. It is so fascinating to see what and where people draw. Just create an account and you can comment
 
Today there were a few Sydney Sketchers – I sketched with Chris, Lisa and Erin. Wendy & Rod were close by, but we missed them. Our little group had lots of catching up to do . As usual, I journalled my day, starting with the trip into the city. I decided to continue my ferry theme and catch the ferry in, instead of the bus.
 

 

 
I spent over an hour on this sketch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is always a challenge.  I spent some time setting up the lines in pencil, just a few lines in pencil. It took some time. Once I was happy with the basic lines and curves I started sketching with my Lamy Safari Joy Ink pen. I really wanted to concentrate on the features of the areas that were closest to me. I kept adding lines and shading. I stopped when I thought that I was just adding lines for the sake of it and making it muddy. Chris and Lisa also did the same angle and had the same issue . The area at the far end of the bridge was all in  shade and it was difficult to know when to stop and where to add the dark shades. We each had a different approach. Have a look at their sketches and painting and the other Sydney ones here

 
 
 
 
 Seizing opportunities. We were walking to find some lunch and saw a wedding. So I did this 5 minute sketch of a wedding at the Park Hyatt on the waterfront.  I started with the heads at the moment of the bride and groom kissing.  – just a few lines. Then drew the lines of their bodies and the stances. Then sketched in groomsmen, who were standing still, the bridesmaids, the other figures. Then they all started to move and hug. I filled in the ink after.

 

 
After lunch I got a bit silly and took out a larger spiral book cartridge paper sketchbook and played with drawing bigger and in colour and later added the sunglasses at home. I quickly learn that my watercolour pencils can get limited realistic effects on cartridge paper. I cannot get the detail, and it does not like layers or lots of water. But drawing bigger was fun and next time I will do it on watercolour paper.

 

 
Australia Day Sunday 26th
 
There are so many activities in the Sydney in the city and elsewhere on Australia Day. I could have been very distracted to sketch all the way on my 30 min walk to State Library where Sydney Sketch Club were meeting at 10am. In fact if I had not been determined to be there, I would not have made it past Hyde Park.
 
My first distraction that I did stop to sketch was five minutes from home. The  MS ColourDash. A 5km fun run raising money for multiple sclerosis. At each 1 km a coloured powder is thrown at the runners/walkers. They start off in white t-shirts and 5 colours later are a riot of colour all over. Love it. Maybe next year I will enter.
 
 
 

 
 
Although the weather was not great – 24 degrees and not a lot of sunshine and a shower or two, the city had a happy buzz to it, and I did not even go near the actual Harbour events.  Everyone has Australian flags that were given away. Lots of families and people of all ages and plenty to do and be entertained by.  
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Sketching with a group of people is so interesting, as they each choose different subjects, and even if they sketch the same subject, no two drawings are alike. That is the excitement and joy. There is no right or wrong. Everyone does their own thing and there is always something to learn from other people. I was able to show how I use watercolour pencils to some girls who were watching me draw my baked bean toastie. I met some lovely new sketchers. 

 
 
Macquarie Street is closed to traffic from Hyde Park to Circular Quay. There is a large display of historic and car clubs, as the cars are able parked all the way don the street and people wander in and out, taking photos and talking to owners. It was damp when we started and a little showery so I found the nearest shelter with Rod & Chris. That was overlooking the Rolls Royce club. It does seem strange to draw American cars on Australia Day. Last year I drew MG’s !  But I always make sure to draw some of the people and events of the day as well.
 
Cars are very difficult to draw, I know that and yet I only draw them once a year. I need to practice more. It is not as if there are no cars around the rest of the year !

 

 

 End of the morning ! then off to an Australian Day lunch with a large group of (non sketching) friends

 

 


Melbourne holiday sketching

I have just returned from five days in Melbourne. It was 44 degrees for four days in a row – the four days I was there ! Very hot

A lot of the time during the day I met with some of the Melbourne Urban Sketchers, which I have written about in a separate blogpost.

The rest of the time I sketched alone or when I was with my friends Louise & eon, who I was staying with. My sketchbook pages for my time in Melbourne are journal of my days. They are reminders of what I ate, where I went and events that occurred and the people I was with.

I carry the one sketchbook a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook 13 x 21, my watercolour pencils in a wrap and Lamy Safari Joy ink pen – note to self – Always bring extra ink. I ran out with two days go. Not a tragedy and I could have bought more. Instead it just meant that I used other pencils and left the writing until I got home.
 
I starting with my traditional airport sketch – with extra excitement this time when the departure lounge was cleared.

 

 

Some iconic Melbourne – Flinders Street & tram

 
 
other sketches  – a motorbike parked outside State Library
 
 
 
 
 

A building in Flinders Lane. It is on the last page of my sketchbook, so has some scribbles. I show people how watercolour pencils work on this last page – scribble scribble scribble, splash splash
 

I did sketches at my friends – lettuce in pot that was sitting in the sink . I later printed it at home on a card and sent it as a thank you card for having me as their guest. We did eat some of the lettuce.

We also ate out.Brunch at Mossgreen tearooms in Armadale on Saturday.  I have a page of notes next to write next to this sketch about our wonderful experience there. I sketched my breakfast while we were there. Scrambled eggs with salmon and dill.

The waitress watched and chatted to us as it was nice and quiet and early. She also loved to sketch and we left her inspired and with the contact details for Melbourne Urban Sketchers.


I took a photo of the tearooms from across the street and sketched it at home. I like to sketch on location, but I did not have the time and it was too hot.

DINNER

My friend Louise was cooking dinner from a simple recipe form the internet (she searched for something with spinach as she had a lots in the crisper) it was untried, but simple, so she tried it, I have no enthusiasm for cooking, but was happy to chat in the kitchen while she sliced, chopped and baked.

I was inspired by their home grown garlic (small but very strong smelling) and had an idea to draw the ingredients, spreading over two pages.  It then moved to drawing all the ingredients and the finished results, which would hopefully be mouthwatering .

As I have used my watercolour pencils for the past five year I am very aware of the colours and how to apply them and what will happen when I add water (some colours change a lot !) I also know how textures can be achieved, although I am still learning all the time. That is why I am passionate about using them …

 

I then the decided to leave space to add the list of the ingredients and recipe.
The pressure was on to draw the ingredients before they were added to the pan. Some were drawn after the pie was in the oven (an onion is an onion). I grabbed some spinach before it was added and other being chopped. I could make a whole blog of this.

I realised that I would have to add tasting notes, as we were all a little disappointed at the bland taste .

The next morning I was up before the others, in the kitchen, had take the left overs (just as well there was some) out of the fridge and drew them before the others were up for breakfast ! This was the day I was leaving……


My plane to go home

Sketching with USK-ers interstate

Urban sketchers is a global community of sketching, sharing the places we live and travel to online. It is also a global community of people that you can meet and sketch with all over the world. There have been many stories and sketchers of people meeting up with local urban sketchers in a country they are visiting.

This page is about my experiences in the last month. I live in Sydney I had the opportunity to connect with urban sketchers in Brisbane, Newcastle  and then Melbourne in the Australian Christmas holiday break. In each city I sketched with the locals (and some other Sydney travellers). I had met some of them previously but also met new people. I initially contacted them online via facebook or their blogs and let them know that I was visiting and the dates and they arranged place to meet and sketch. Often an event was organised around my visiting dates !

This is a bit of a long post with my sketches and a some notes. I filled many more pages of my sketchbook in Melbourne, but they are not Urban Sketches. They will all get scanned and put on my flickr page. I will also write a separate Melbourne blogpost on my site with those adventures soon.

Have watercolour pencils , will travel !

BRISBANE

A day in Brisbane in early January included a group of JJ, Asuka, Leeanne, Geoff (who sketched with us in Sydney recently) and Chris (also from Sydney) .

Asuka, Leeanne, Geoff Chris, JJ and me (in a circle left to right) at Steam Café, Southbank. Thanks to JJ for the photo
We met for coffee and quickly moved into discussion of art materials and looking through each others sketchbooks. It is so different to see the sketchbooks in reality and turn the pages. JJ and I had a discussion on drawing feathers.
 
  
 

  
 
We sketched at Southbank in the shade of the trees looking over the river to the city. It was very hot and we were outside in the morning and headed for airconditioning from lunch onwards.



I revisited the same area later in the week to draw some more.

 



NEWCASTLE


Newcastle was an organised USK event where Sydney Urban Sketchers visited Newcastle. I have written the day up separately  http://australia.urbansketchers.org/2014/01/newcastle-alissa-duke.html.

It was a wonderful event and so good for many of us to connect with Urban Sketchers we had met online and for the Newcastle sketchers to meet us (and vice versa) and show us their city . Thanks Phil .



Thanks Judy for the photos

MELBOURNE

Both of my visits interstate coincided with extreme heat. It was 41 degrees in Brisbane and 44 degrees (for 4 days in a row) in Melbourne. But still we sketched, finding shade in the morning and then air-conditioning. A hardy bunch !

I was in Melbourne for a week and fortunate to have all my days free , so lots of time to line up sketching activities with Urban Sketchers in Melbourne.  Kym, Evelyn and Angela – combinations of the three, and others as well. I had met them two or three times before, so it is like meeting up with friends (which is actually what it is). We took every opportunity to meet and sketch: before they started work (a 7am start one morning!) their lunch hours and any other time. My visit also coincided with another Sydney sketcher travelling. Chantal was in Melbourne and visiting her sister Suzette. We had a morning with them too.

DAY 1

Sketching with Kym before she started work. The staff at The Quarter on Degraves Street  took our photo and put it on instagram. We received lovely reactions and had some great conversations everywhere we sketched. In most cases cafe staff love it when you sketch their food, cafe or coffee. I think that it is because you are taking the time to appreciate on paper the food they have taken time to prepare and look at it in a way that other people do not.  

 
Breakfast with Kym at The Quarter café in Degraves Street

 
Old Treasury Building – historic museum and exhibition




with Angela and Evelyn at The Old Treasury building

with Evelyn at Time Out Café in Federation Square

with Evelyn at Time Out Café in Federation Square
DAY 2 
 
With Chantal, Suzette, Evelyn at Koko Black cafe where they let us sit all morning and gave us a sample of chocolate

 

 
 After farewelling Suzette and Chantal, Evelyn and Angela and I ventured outside into the heat.The joy of sketching with locals is they can suggest places to sketch and it is often an opportunity for them to sketch something that they have been meaning to do for ages. They took me to Town Hall. There are a number of pianos in public spaces called “Play Me I’m Yours” – which is what it is. A piano is there (all painted colourfully).  You can sit and play them. I do not play, so sketched them !
 



with Evelyn and Angela at Town Hall “Play Me I’m Yours” piano

 

I then found another piano and player outside State Library of Victoria


another “Play Me I’m Yours” piano. State Library. on my own

DAY 3

The earliest start 7am, for a prework sketch with Kim & Angela in one of Melbourne’s laneway cafes. Plenty of time for continuing conversations that we had started the day before !

with Kym and Angela and No 5 Café
 

Then moving onto a tearoom that Angela had wanted to sketch. We sat outside looking in


with Kym and Angela at Hopetoun tearooms. the Block Arcade

My final sketch with a Melbourne sketcher was as Evelyn & I sat on the steps of the Parliament of Victoria. She sketched the panoramic view and is determined to bring the Urban Sketchers group here. I sketched the building for another project I am working on (which is another blogpost on another day) . We were sketching when a camera crew and others came out and were interviewing a politician/spokesman from Emergency Services about the ambulances coping with the demands in the extreme heat. So I sketched them !



on the steps of Parliament House. with Evelyn

 
 

Urban Sketchers in Newcastle

Yesterday, on a lovely sunny day around 26 sketchers met in Newcastle for our first regional Urban Sketching event. Quite a few of us caught the early train from Sydney for the 2 hour 45 min trip. We all met in a carriage and it was a great opportunity to catch up before arriving. Phil in Newcastle had done an amazing job in planning and organizing the day, with a map and photographs of potential buildings to sketch!
 



I started my day with a coffee sketch and a map

 



Urban sketching in Newcastle
After an initial introduction by Phil and Liz, and a look at the map we headed off in different directions to meet up again in two hours time.
 
 
A few of us walked a few blocks to the former Post Office building, now boarded up. I sat across the road with Ethna, Lorna and Diane and then with Deb and Lisa. The building may be boarded up and ruined inside (I later saw the consultants report online – scary) but exterior looks spectacular and I was fascinate by the shape and colour of the copper dome. My plan was to draw a small quick sketch in ink and then spend the rest of the time drawing some of the architectural features in more detail. But unfortunately I made the drawing too big on the page and got caught up in the detail. At a certain stage I said “enough” and moved onto the drawing the Dome , which is what attracted me in the first place!

Lots of green coloured copper and rust. Beautiful ! The FaberCastell Earth Green watercolour pencil is the perfect colour. I was enjoying this. It is very useful colour for many drawings. It is a very good for eucalyptus trees too.

Then it was time for lunch and a show and tell of our mornings sketches

Such a wonderful variety of styles and subjects. Some amazing use of colour too.  It was inspirational to be sitting and sketching with so many people that also enjoy sketching
 

 
After lunch we continued, deciding to head in a different direction. Phil suggested along the water to the Wharf. Once we got to Queens Wharf, we found new topics to sketch. I was taken by the skyline of the industrial area. Cranes, bulk storage for grains and a coal loader. Next time I would like to look closer at this area. Newcastle has a long history. It was one of the original convict settlements and then based on the coal industry. Some of this has moved away and Newcastle is re-inventing itself, although the coal terminals still play a vital role in the region.
 
 
I walked down the wharf and found my next subject ! An old rusting sign on an unused section of the wharf
 
I wanted to include enough of the sign to read the words, but also get a chance to draw the rusty cement wall. I was later able to add context by drawing the barnacles and the water. I stayed far too long in the sunshine drawing this. Even though I had hat, sunglasses and sunburn cream, I still felt the effects of the day that evening.
 
It is not the most beautiful sight in Newcastle and not one that the locals would prefer to be shown to the world. But I had such fun drawing this, and it is part of the urban landscape.
 
 
 
 
 
An extra treat was a cormorant bird emerging from the water and gulping down a fish in front of me !
 
and then at 4.35 we caught the train for the journey home.
 
It was a great day out and so good to meet with Newcastle sketchers that we had only met online.  Everyone would like to return to sketch here again.
 

Christmas day . a baby possum

Christmas morning
A special day was made even more special for me by a little adventure that my mother and I had in the morning.
I had travelled home for Christmas to Toowoomba (regional Queensland – population (150 000)  from Sydney and had promised myself to do more nature sketching when I was there. I wanted to go out into nature to draw, rather than drawing nature objects , such as feathers,  in my apartment.

I had my chance before I knew it (although it still was sketched at home) !

On Christmas morning, Mum and I went for an early morning walk. Up the street we came across a dead brushtail possum on the footpath, just off the road. This is not unusual, as possums live in the urban community and can be pests (especially if there is one living in your roof). This one must have been knocked by a car and wandered onto the path to die. There were no visible injuries. But she was definitely dead. We looked closer and saw movement. 
There was a baby possum in her pouch !
The tail was the only thing poking out from the pouch, and when I touched the pouch he moved more.  (I shall call it a he rather than it or she) . Movement was a good sign!
But we did not know what to do! Thankfully, I remembered the name of an organisation that takes care of injured native wildlife and phoned to get their number. I left a message on voicemail and we walked home, as there nothing we could do.
I sketched what I had seen from memory, not knowing how the day would turn out or if I would see it again
 

 

Trish, the volunteer carer from Wildlife Rescue, Rehabilitation and Education Association called back (she was out feeding 12 baby joeys) and gave us instructions. This was all before 7.30 am on Christmas morning !!!

The volunteer lives 35 minutes drive away and still had some animals to feed. We walked very quickly back to the possum, hoping that nothing had happened in the meantime. We had been asked to see if he was off the mother teat, but he did not want to move away from inside the pouch. So we picked up the body of the mother (about the size of a small cat) with joey  still in pouch. She was so light. I expected a heavy body.
A quick walk home and followed more instructions. The mother’s body temperature would be dropping so we filled a drinking water bottle with warm water and laid it against the pouch.

 

 

It was an anxious wait to see if he would stay alive. Every now and then I would go in and stroke the pouch, the joey would wriggle inside and I would sigh with relief that he was alive.

I also had the chance to sketch a special moment. I have sketched animals taxidermed at the museum before, but was not sure how I would be about sketching a recently dead animal. I felt ok as the little baby was still alive. I am not sure how you all feel about this?
I guess I am an inner city Sydney girl, who does not have much interaction with nature. 

Trish arrive at 10 am. She removed the joey carefully and put him in a little soft material pouch. If he was taken off the mother’s teat too quickly it would have torn the inner membrane of his mouth. I am so glad I did not try to do that. Mum took one quick photo as Trish held him. We would have loved to take more and look longer, but it was not the right time or place. Getting the little possum into proper care was most important.

He is 15 weeks old and nice and healthy.

His skin is velvety and he is about 15 cm long,

Trish will feed him every three hours at first . He will stay in her care until maturity.  

I felt a huge sense of responsibility for this little vulnerable animal. It made my day that we assisted in saving his life.  and on Christmas Day it seemed even more special. I will be making a donation to Trish and her volunteer carers who do such wonderful work in helping our native wildlife.

 This is what a possum looks like (with and older baby on her back)

 

 

 

Christmas drawings

The countdown to Christmas is on and I have been drawing Christmas objects and scenes over the last few weeks. I thought that I would gather them all here on one page to share the festive joy. Season’s Greetings to everyone.
 
It began in early December when I made brooches from my used pencils. – the red and green ones – to wear in December. I only wear two or so at a time but decided to do all of them . I had gathered them together on the table when completed, and decided to draw them as they sat
 
drawings of brooches
 
 
The sights around Sydney also provided wonderful opportunities to sketch. This gorgeous Christmas tree dress in the QVB Building had  to be drawn. This gets lots of comments
 

 
The large floating Santa’s in Darling Harbour are also very festive and hard to miss
 

I then began to draw some presents that were waiting on my table to be wrapped.

and made a Christmas card . I drew some sweet handmade Croatian biscuits that I was given by a neighbor for Christmas and I will give the card to her

 
On the weekend I drew on letter writing paper and an envelope I am posting today. Those of you who know me will know that I enjoy drawing on envelopes. I have a lovely time drawing and someone enjoys receiving it in the mail.

 
and finally – on the top of a friend’s tree. I was sent a photo and had to draw it !