Melbourne Rare Book Week (MRBW) 2023, returns following a break of three years due to Covid-19. This year, MRBW will run from 21st July to 29th July. It will consist of 21 events, culminating in the ANZAAB Melbourne Rare Book Fair which will run from 27th to 29th July.
Our guest speaker for the launch this year was Jane Sullivan, well known in Melbourne as an author and journalist who has written with great skill and passion about books for many years.
I am the official sketcher at all MRBW events again this year and will be attending all events.
I have two events – a display “You Can’t Draw in Books?” and a talk about the display,
You Can’t Draw in Books?
Curated by: Alissa Duke
What happens to the books no one wants? This exhibition demonstrates Alissa’s ability to turn unwanted books into objects of art. Using watercolour pencils, she illustrates these books with a wide variety of subjects, including fiction, travel, food, history and nature.
East Melbourne Library for the month of JULY
Mon-Fri 10:00am-6:00pm, Sat 10:00am-1:00pm. Sun Closed.
No bookings required
This Saturday I set up the display. I have had displays in my wonderful local East Melbourne Library previously for my sketchbooks. I am aware of how my sketchbooks fit in the glass display cabinet sections and could organise a fair bit in advance. But this time, I had no idea of how my oddly shaped “drawn in ” books would fit in, so I brought them all in two large suitcases to experiment with on the day. It took two and a half hours to set up.
ORGANISING AT HOME
SETTING UP AT THE LIBRARY
DISPLAY CASE ONE
DISPLAY CASE TWO
DISPLAY CASE THREE
All books are available for purchase on my ETSY website. They will be posted after the exhibition has finished on 31 July. My ETSY website is set for Australian Postal delivery. If you are overseas please message me here or on ETSY. Prices vary depending on the country and the size of the book.
If you are in Melbourne, you are welcome to visit or come to my talk. Book here for the talk.
You Can’t Draw in Books? Speaker: Alissa Duke
“Inspired by words on the page, and using watercolour pencils, Alissa draws in books that were about to be discarded, giving them a new life and value. She questions some preconceptions about writing and drawing in books, talking about her creative process along the way. The talk will include a tour of the books on display.”
chickens move – all the time, a lot, This group never seemed to return to the same position or place.
However, their feathers do not!
The Faber Castell watercolour pencils used are some of my favourites:
Dark Sepia
Burnt Ochre
Cold Grey IV
I will not be posting a blogpost next week, but watch for the week after when I can show you an exciting new exhibition and details of a talk I am giving at an event!
July 1- 7 was International Nature Journaling Week.
This year they are taking a ‘Sensory Safari’,focusing on the delights that are available to us when we pay close attention to our sensory experiences.They will also have a theme for each day during the week to guide our focus. The daily themes were :
My days changed and I did not get to go out in nature as I had planned. I was still able to interpret the themes. “Movement” was from a photo, because sparrows never stay still, not even for a quick sketch. I listened to the video for the day and it opened my mind and eyes as to what is movement.
“Flavour” was much easier
I loved the “Heart” video. It is all about the invisible connection that you can have with nature.
In case you missed last week, I am going to post the links.
“Explore the website – there is lots to discover! You can Start Here and then find out How to Participate in the week. There is a page forParents & Teachers, one for the Reluctant Artist and a page on sharing the Written Word in our nature journal pages. On the Blog you will find posts from nature journalers around the world, sharing ideas and knowledge on different aspects of journaling. The Books & Inspiration page will point you to books and websites where you can learn more about nature journaling and nature connection.”
Two of my sketching friends are some of the Administrators of this amazing week. There is so much to learn from watching the daily interviews and explanations. Congratulations to everyone involved in organising this special week.
International Nature Journaling Week1-7th June 2023
It is halfway through INJW International Nature Journaling Week. I am providing the information below from their website, as I cannot explain it any better !
“This year we will be taking a ‘Sensory Safari’,focusing on the delights that are available to us when we pay close attention to our sensory experiences.We will also have a theme for each day during the week to guide our focus. The daily themes will be:
Colour
Texture
Aroma
Song
Flavour
Movement
Heart
“Explore the website – there is lots to discover! You can Start Here and then find out How to Participate in the week. There is a page forParents & Teachers, one for the Reluctant Artist and a page on sharing the Written Word in our nature journal pages. On the Blog you will find posts from nature journalers around the world, sharing ideas and knowledge on different aspects of journaling. The Books & Inspiration page will point you to books and websites where you can learn more about nature journaling and nature connection.”
Two of my sketching friends are some of the Administrators of this amazing week. There is so much to learn from watching the daily interviews and explanations. Congratulations to everyone involved in organising this special week.
I am not sure how I will interpret the last three prompts
There are hundreds of online art challenges that you can get involved in. They sometimes involve themes, lists, timeframes, and media. They motivate, inspire and challenge and people get involved in different ones for different reasons.
I have described some below and added links to the sketches/art for you to browes if you are interested. I have had a great time putting this together as it brought back so many memories.
I have been involved in a few and have enjoyed them immensely. I am writing this blogpost now as one of them has come full circle and some of my Sketchbooks that have been in NEW YORK for a few years have now come home I will share the Sketchbook Project adventure and talk about some others.
Sketchbook Project
Since its founding as a non-profit organization in 2006, the Sketchbook Project grew to include over 50,000 artists’ books, which have been contributed by 30,000+ artists from over 135 countries. Each book is 5″ x 7”, with 16 blank pages and a unique six-digit barcode, for cataloging and tracking purposes.
THE IDEA- sign up for a sketchbook and you are given one of many themes and can interpret it any way you want, as long as the book is returned the same size so that it can fit back on the shelf in Brooklyn Art Library in New York.
They were housed in New York and some were included in regular pop-up tours around the US. Mine even toured Australia and I saw it! You could borrow a book (specific or random) to browse on-site and would be given ones either side of it from the shelves. That way you got to see lots of people’s interpretations of the same theme
After 17 years, hundreds of thousands of book checkouts, over 50k sketchbooks created, and thousands of miles traveled, the Brooklyn Art Project is now closed.
On Monday, February 28th, 2022 the moving trailer that was transporting the entire Sketchbook Project collection from Brooklyn to St. Pete was in a devastating accident Around 70% of The Sketchbook Project collection was saved through the heroic efforts of local volunteers, firefighters, and community members from a nearby church who so kindly moved each box of books one by one into their parking lot. They lost around 7,000 books from the collection. One was mine – Travelogue. But I do have the scanned version and I have printed it as well.
Last year, the wonderful volunteer team decided that it was “No longer financially viable.” to continue. The books were distributed to other galleries. I decided this was the moment that my sketchbooks came home.
I revisited my Paris 2007 holiday, as if I was sketching as I do now ! .. and of course planning how would approach future travel sketchbooks. I sketched from photographs.
Sketchbook Project 2012 : Sandwiches. I decided to draw the memories of my Primary School sandwiches (1970’s Australia). I had such FUN doing this one. I researched original packaging from the time and chatted with my brother and mum to see if my memories were the same as theirs!
I interpreted this literally – going to the zoo and sketching and photographing elephants and then drawing them in rooms.
EveryDay in May
Another challenge – this one is still going. A list is posted on the Flickr and facebook page on 1st May and you draw one item on the list (see below) every day in May until you finish on 31st May with number 31.NO stress if you miss a day – just go on to the next one and catch up if you can. It is ok to combine a few, or to jump around if it suits…but the ideal is to do the right one on the day like everyone else….but most importantly have fun! This was and still is a wonderful project.
I had to go back to the Archives and found this description on Liz Steel’s website
Started originally by French Toast Girl, the idea was to do something creative every day for the month of May. The first few years that I was online, everyone in the Everyday Matters(EDM) group did a different thing ( The daily discipline was great.Then in 2010 a few of us in Sydney were chatting and decided we would draw the same things – using the EDM list for inspiration. There was only a few people doing it, I managed the list manually on my blog – wow – those were the days! It was so much fun to see everyone drawing the same thing each week, and the great thing about the EveryDay Matters list is that a lot of them are prompts rather than specific objects so you have the chance to be creative.
Illustration Friday was a weekly illustration challenge. A topic was posted every Friday and then participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation it was at www.illustrationfriday.com/
Below is my response to Paisley
I prefer to call them projects rather than challenges. I love a project and a deadline ! They can be individual however being involved can also connect you to a larger community.
All of these started in 2009. I started adding photos and then scan of my art to Flickr in 2008. It must have been a time when I was looking for creative outlets. We had Sydney Sketch Club, but Urban Sketchers had not started up in Sydney.
Three Sydney friends & I used to meet once a month at a food court in Sydney to work on our Sketchbook Projects. We still kept meeting after some had decided not to continue. We still meet now on Zoom and I write the meeting in my diary as SBP (SketchBook Project)
EveryDay in May – posted to Flickr (a photo sharing website) . I am still in contact with some of the group from 2009 and Mum participated each year too. The only time of the year she sketched It took a few days for her to warm up but she was great !
Giraffes was a great project – Mum drew more than me!
I don’t do as many challenges anymore as I have so many art projects in my life. International Nature Journalling Week starts on June 1. I will be focusing on their broader prompts and themes and thinking a lot more, rather than responding to a subject/object.
I had the opportunity to sketch at Lyrical Lunchtimes, a concert in the Supreme Court Library in Melbourne Victoria. There is a piano in the Library, belonging to a previous Chief Justice and it is played on special occasions – like last Friday.
The music program was presented by a group called BottledSnail Productions, who all work in the legal profession.
I have sketched these concerts in the past and they are always a challenge. There is always a variety of musicians and it is visually overwhelming. There were seven performances in the concert, which went for over 1 hour 15 minutes. This means that the performers are not “on stage” for long.
You will see below that I did some quick sketches as well as one major sketch. I had a different approach this time. Firstly I sketched in watercolour pencil and not ink pen. I usually use my Lamy Safari Joy Ink pen to sketch the people at events and then add watercolour pencil.
My second change was to block out the main features before the concert began. I work in this library, so I had the opportunity to walk around the room on the day before and look at the different viewpoints, trying to imagine chairs in place and guessing where the musicians may stand. Below is a view I rejected – too much floor space from an angle that may not have guaranteed a good view of the performers. I sketched out the major features on the page, so those lines were in place before the concert began, and I could start with the audience as they took their seats.
Below is the main sketch halfway through. I had to decide what areas to colour or add detail to. I had the choice of:
the audience
the musicians
the surroundings – there is much more I could have included, more portraits, a large gasolier in the center
a combination – the decision I made
I moved from one side of the room to the other, quickly sketching some other musicians before moving back into ‘my space”. I was standing up against a bookshelf, leaning on a reading shelf. I am quite comfortable with the style of these quick sketches as these are what I usually do. The background takes a lot of time, however as I had the basics in place, I did not have to spend so much time on that.
There were four pianists. I captured two up close and one in the main sketch.
Beautiful music, beautiful surroundings, and I got to sketch it! A wonderful way to spend a lunch hour!
I have spent a lot of time drawing this building and its book. Some of those are available on greeting cards on my ETSY website!
I was asked by Marie (on Instagram) if could film my drawing autumn leaves.
Below are two videos, slowed down to as much as I know how to.
I am still learning about filming and editing. I am also very ‘aware’ that I am recording and conscious about how I draw. The result is that is probably not what I would do without being under this pressure I put on myself.
However, the technique and process are the same.
One day, I would love to record and give commentary along the way. This time I was mentally making notes along the way of things I wanted to tell you.
First step, collecting the wonderful autumn leaves yesterday along the street in my suburb in Melbourne. I choose them for their colour and size, so they would look good on the page. The leaves had already dried and changed overnight. By tomorrow they will probably all be crinkly and crisp. Still fun to sketch but the vibrancy will have gone from some of them.
I choose which of my collection to sketch and got out my pencils to have within reach. Sharpened pencils, clean water and I was right to go.
photo of my table top before I started
I love to draw and the first joy is to sketch them out on the page in a colour of the leaf. I don’t do an initial sketch with a HB pencil, just dive straight in. This colour becomes part of the leaf colour. With so many colours on these leaves, I could have chosen from a few colours.
I then add colour to some major areas of the leaf. With watercolour pencils (like watercolours ) you can’t put light colours on top of dark colours. If there are any areas that are going to be yellow, orange, or light green (in this case) they are put in early. The big blocks of darker colours are added.
You can see how I use the pigment on the page as a very small palette, dragging the colour across an area with the paintbrush, so that they fade to light tones.
That is one of the things that I teach in my Watercolour Pencil classes – discovering the range of colour and tones you can get from the one pencil.
The other thing to note is how the colour of a pencil can change once water is added. Sometimes, but not always, it can become very intense.
These are two great reasons to practice and play with your pencils. Have fun, explore and scribble on the page!
I move between the two leaves as this allows one to dry while I work (is that the right word? It is not work at all) on the other. Once an area is dry, I can add more layers. It will either be more of the same colour to make it darker, or another colour. For example, the Grass Green. As I add more to make some areas bright. I also added Pine Green ( a darker colour) to add specific detail or darker areas.
Here is the list of FaberCastell watercolour pencils that I used in the first video.
Magenta
Caput Mortuum
Deep Red
Orange Glaze
Naples Yellow (this is not in my everyday sketchkit, but was out on the table, so I used it)
Light Chrome Yellow
Grass green
Pine Green
Burnt Umber
I made a second video adding the extra leaves to the page. This was with a few different colours.
The shadows were added at the end. They are Payne’s Grey.
The size of my Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook (13cm x 19cm) allows me to play work on small areas of a page. You may also notice how I like to use the sharpened pencil to add finer details.
The finished page
The colour of these leaves did change as I sketched them and by the end of the day, they had changed shape and colour as they dried out. But that is the joy of sketching leaves, Each one is different and the colours are different on each one. There is no right and wrong.
I encourage you to have a play with your watercolour pencils and let me know if you have any questions.
I have scanned the sketchbook that I completed (and the second one started) in Auckland.
I decided to go ahead and scan all the pages, even though I would like to spend more time on some of the pages, adding some further details and finishing them. But I am not sure if that will ever happen.
It was hard to select which sketches to include in this blog. It will be enough to give you an insight.
my arrival and departure
Some urban Sketching moments
my own personal time and slower drawings in Auckland.
Melbourne to Auckland
in Auckland
Auckland Museum
Auckland life
Auckland Zoo
Auckland to Melbourne
All sketches will be added to Flickr, a photosharing website. All of my sketches go onto Flickr. It (and on my computer) is the place where I locate my own sketches. They all have tags and can be searched for. I also put various themes, holidays and projects in Albums.
The International Urban Sketching Symposium is an annual educational event organised by Urban Sketchers (USk), a nonprofit dedicated to fostering the practice of on-location observational sketching. The goal of the Symposium is to celebrate and practice the art of on-location sketching in the host city. Each symposium offers valuable field-sketching instruction and opportunities for participants to meet new friends and learn more skills. Following our spirit of “sharing the world, one drawing at a time,” we aim to bring the Symposium to new cities and countries every year.
This year it was the 11th in Auckland, New Zealand, and there were 500 participants from 31 countries.
Purchasing a Workshop Pass meant you could choose 3 workshops from a choice of 20. There were also Demos and Lectures. Alternatively, you could purchase a Sketchpass. I choose the Workshop Pass and below is an overview of my experience.
I was in Auckland for 10 days and filled more than one sketchbook. I arrived on Sunday and had already met and sketched with local and global sketchers before it even began, The following is about the Symposium Wednesday April 19 to Saturday April 22.
Opening Reception
A meet and greet and big Welcome and introduction to Symposium and what to expect over the next few days. Drinks and nibbles and mingling before heading back to the hotel.
My sketch of the Opening Reception
Workshop 04 Soaring spaces Stephanie Bower
My first Workshop. I have done this Workshop at Manchester Urban Sketching Symposium and still have a lot to learn. Inside St Paul’s, learning about vanishing points, eyeline, measuring. It was great but very challenging. I was pleased with my final sketch, but it took a long time to get there. And then we added colour with watercolour paints (which I borrowed as I use watercolour pencils) – more challenges.
Sketchwalk at Freyburg Square
Thursday pm .Freyberg Square is in central Auckland and all sketchers gathered and spread out over this multilevel square. Sketchers as far as the eye could see! Everyone is happy for a chat if you moved around them. We then gathered together for a group photo – always impressive. You can see in the photo that the sky is grey – but it was not raining.
Workshop 11 People in motion – marathon for a fearless sketcher Marina Grechanik
Friday 21 April
A whole A5 sketchbook of very quick sketches of people in Queen Street, down near the Quay where is a pedestrian zone. I learned some new techniques of adding blocks of colour first, which I will try to incorporate into some of my sketches. The session ended in one larger A4 page combining what we had learned.
Workshop 08 Sketch is just the beginning: design your own sketchbook spread using different elements Jaoquin Dorao
Saturday 22 April
Last day of Urban Drawing Symposium in Auckland. It rains in the morning, so instead of doing the workshop in the park, we do it indoors at Auckland University of Technology.
Elements include a large scene, taking up 60% of the page, a feature (I chose my pencils), a map, something glued in (in this case, it was the USK stamp), lettering and then text. There is one large bit of text and then shorter words to fill in white spaces.
Demo 21 Writing for sketchers: how to enhance your sketch with interesting narrative Gabi Campanario
Friday 21 April 2023 pm
The Demo is a one hour session (not three hours, like the Workshops), However, I learned so much in this hour, AND Gabi founded Urban Sketchers organisation, so it was great to meet him.
It was damp and we were at Symonds Cemetary a historic cemetery and park in central Auckland, in use from 1842, but not in use now. There is a motorway going over it called the Massive Overpass (that is what is called on the sign), which proved us shelter as the rain got a bit heavier.
The Last Sketch walk
Saturday 22 April 2023
The final sketchwalk was in Aotea Square, which is a large paved public area, which was a regular sketching venue. After the photo it rained a bit and people scattered and umbrellas were brought out. I sketched here too.
Closing reception
Saturday 22 April 2023
I WON a set of watercolour paints !Next year is in Buenos Aires
I had an amazing time at Symposium, meeting do many old sketching friends, and putting faces to names I had only seen online. I also met Lots of new sketchers from Australia and around the world.
and I have not even mentioned the Drink & Draw sessions, the Sponsors market. Silent Auction and anything else in the time I was there. I hope this has provided you with an insight into my experience at Symposium. I will write next week’s blog on my other NZ sketches. Let me know if you have any questions.
On Sunday I fly to Auckland New Zealand for ten days. From 19-22 April 2023 I am attending the 11th International Urban Sketching Symposium. What is it?
Hundreds of sketchers from around the world gather together to attend workshops and demos and lectures. We connect with sketchers from around the world and meet old friends and make new ones. Read more about it here.
I have registered to attend the following. Each Workshop is 3 hours and will be a steep learning curve.
Stephanie Bower – Soaring spaces: about sketching what you see when you look UP
Marina Grechanik – People in motion -marathon for a fearless sketcher
Joaquin Dorao – Sketch is just the beginning: design your own sketchbook spread using different elements
I have been to two previous Urban Sketching Symposiums – in Barcelona and Manchester. Both were amazing experiences. I am so excited about attending Auckland. It is also exciting to travel internationally again.
I have started my travel journal already. I am taking my usual sketchkit as well as the special supplies I need for the workshops I am attending. I usually sketch the following It helps me prepare.
a map
my sketchkit. I always list my pencil colours. They generally stay the same from year to year, with a few changes.
My clothes.
My packed bags.Sketched the night before ie now
The second part of Auckland holiday is a bit of family nostalgia. My parents lived in Auckland in the late 1960’s and I was born there. I am revisiting places they lived and visited. I have old slides, postcards, reel-to-reel audio tapes (sent home to family) and Super 8 film.
This is old souvenir kiwi they bought home. I want to see a real kiwi when I am there!
Below are two other sketches of old New Zealand souvenirs I did a while ago.
I will be sketching everyday for 10 days, outside of the workshops. There will be sketchers everywhere! I will post to instagram daily at alissaduke1 and you can follow me there.
