Monday, July 6, 2009

Meet the Correspondents - Alissa Duke

I live in Sydney, Australia in the inner city, within walking distance of the city, but there is plenty of nature nearby. I am also within walking distance of Sydney Harbour and belong to a local Landcare Group, working on regenerating some local areas of land with native plans. Sydney is also surrounded by National Parks, so I have plenty of source material.




I am a Librarian and I work as a Researcher, and I am not sure how that reflects on my drawing – investigative perhaps? I get so much enjoyment and relaxation from drawing. I am still on the journey of finding my personal drawing/ painting style and am tentatively exploring new mediums and methods.

I have been drawing since high school in graphite pencil, later adding coloured pencil. In the past year I have been introduced to watercolour pencils and waterbrush pens and they have opened up a whole new world to me. I am just finishing Cathy Johnsons watercolour pencil magic class and really enjoyed drawing the native birds and animals. A few of the drawings were immensely enjoyable to do, such as the magpie and wombats. I also enjoyed drawing the weeds and plants , but I was not so comfortable with the landscapes.






I have a flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/31752495@N03/. . I draw in a Moleskine and use it for drawings of travel sketches, food, Everyday Matters and sketchcrawls. Since I bought a scanner and changed to broadband I have had the opportunity to share my work online. I have been inspired and motivated by other people. I am now drawing a few times a week and becoming a lot more confident. I would like to explore drawing nature a lot more and am honoured to be asked to be part of this group. Looking through the work of the correspondents is inspiring and slightly overwhelming . I look forward to showing you the nature of Australia as seen through my pencils.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Alissa! Welcome! Great to have you part of the team and even better to have someone that I sketch with!
    I love these two sketches so much!!!

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  2. Great sketches, esp of the wombat - you made him furry and cute and yet very substantial (not to be cuddled!). Well done.

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  3. So glad to have you with us, Alissa! I'll enjoy seeing your work on a more regular basis, it's been fun having you in the WC pencil class! I knew when I saw that wombat I couldn't wait to ask you to join us here...

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  4. Welcome aboard Alissa. Your work is superb and a real joy to look at. I sure hope this Cathy Johnson person that trained you is a good artist......ahahahaha. Just joking....You couldn't have had a better mentor/teacher. Good luck on your long future in art. Ricky Holtman

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  5. So nice to meet you "in person"! Your drawings are wonderful!

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  6. Hi Alissa! Nice to meet you. I'm so glad you are part of the group. Your work is wonderful. I was telling my hubby about your wombat drawings yesterday and how amazing they are.

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  7. Thank you all. I think I have set myself a high standard with that wombat !I will try and maintain it.

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