On Saturday I held the first of three Travel Sketching walks in conjunction with Melbourne Library Service at my local library. My previous  Travel Sketching with Melbourne Library Service  was in June last year. The three walks are all booked out. 

After a short introduction inside to watercolour pencils and the idea of travel sketching, we headed out – drawing trees, cars, houses, fences, signs and whatever else attracted each person. They only had 15 minutes at each of the three locations, so it was all about getting marks and an impression down on paper.

Rain was predicted all day on the Bureau of Meteorology website and threatened in the skies throughout the day. There was only one short downpour, which occurred the moment we walked out of the Library door ! So we sketched under the shelter of the building for 15 minutes before moving on .

This short time of rain was a great time to talk about travel sketching and about being flexible, and going with the moment. Great plans go astray but create other opportunities. The fact that we have to sketch under cover and that people got big splotches of rain on their page is part of the story of the page and of their day.  

 

We headed back to  East Melbourne Library for biscuits, coffee and to chat, share and look through some other examples of sketchbooks (my own and published books) that I had brought in.  The sketchers had lots of questions and it was exciting for me to be able to share my experience with them. Some questions were about the techniques of using watercolour  pencils, and other were about the practicalities of travel sketching. 

Below are some books that I had on display (as well as my own travel sketchbooks). 

They are not’ how to draw’ books, but rather show different people’s sketches and styles. I’ve put links if you are interested, I will often borrow a book from my local library before deciding to purchase it.

An Illustrated LIfe by Danny Gregory

Reportage and Documentary Drawing by Veronica Lawlor

London You’re Beautiful by David Gentleman 

Taking a Line for a Walk by Christopher Lambert

Drawing Paris by David George Holm

Manchester Sketchbook by Manchester Sketchers

An Eye on the Hebrides by Marie Hedderwick 

A great book to start drawing is Danny Gregory’s book  Creative License .   It will open your eyes to creativity and drawing. I return to it regularly to refocus and relearn.

 

Any questions about travel sketching or watercolour pencils ? Just ask !

 

 

 I cannot walk past a Book Fair or second hand book shop without going in. It is not as though I need any more books in my shelves. I am also a member of two wonderful libraries: my local public library through Melbourne Library Service and Melbourne Athenaeum Library (Victoria’s oldest subscription library, operating since 1839). 

 
This weekend my local church was having a Book Fair. I had a wonderful time browsing the wide variety of books and walked away with an armful for $30. I had eight non-fiction and four fiction books.
I then sat out on the nature strip under a tree and sketched the church.

Later that day I drew my stack of books. This time I remembered to take a few photos along the way. This drawing was done in one evening in my daily sketchbook, so it is not as detailed or realistic as it would have been if I had worked on it over a few days.

 
I love books. I work in a magnificent library and am surrounded by them. I have done detailed drawings of them which are available for purchase on my ETSY online store.

  But this drawing was all about drawing the books I bought that day . It is a record in my sketchbook. Below are a series of sketches of today’s as a work in progress.

 

Now that I have bought them and sketched them, I just have to read them !

 

Update Sunday pm. I went back today and bought another 20 books ! I saw about a dozen local friends and each one recommended books they found in boxes. It created lots of discussion. I was there two hours.

I don’t think I will be drawing them. I might actually just read this afternoon…

I am taking a break from my blog this week. Please enjoy these chocolates…

I am working on two commissions, but I can’t reveal the details.

One is drawing of a house and the other is a project that involves three drawings.

They are both exciting and keeping me challenged.

Have a great week. 

A relaxing weekend in the countryside outside of Melbourne with friends.

I wanted to try and capture part of my experience there.

 

Wonderful food fresh from the garden or produced locally. 

The property has wombats, koalas and echidnas – which we did not see…

and cows.. which we did see.

There were lots of birds coming up to the bird feeder and close to the house in the early morning and evening. King Parrots. Rosellas, Kookaburras, Blue wrens, Thorn Bills, Wood Ducks… the list goes on…

 

And part of the weekend was the traffic jam on the highway when I left work on Friday. However that was quickly forgotten once I arrived and was greeted by my friends.