Family history project Alissa Duke

A few years ago I began a family history project to document some of the objects that some members of my family have, by drawing them from photographs or life. I was honoured  to have this project and drawings included in  Artists Journal Workshop .

I have not spent a lot of time on this project recently, as family history research takes time (and I work full time as a researcher during the day). Last weekend I spent time drawing an envelope that I have. This is an empty envelope addressed to my Great Uncle at an address that he lived at for a short time when first moving from England to Brisbane, Australia in 1928. Even though it is empty, the addressed envelope tells the small part of a larger story, following the addresses they lived in before buying their house in 1943.

I feel a connection to anything when I sit down or stand up to draw it for a short or long time , as I  study its detail and really look at it. So, drawing objects from my own family history has an extra layer of richness for
me.

I had been doing some family history research (both documentary and oral) and hope to document some of these articles with the stories surrounding them and the person that owned them.Click to see my  Family History project drawings The drawings are all scattered through my Moleskine sketchbooks, and usually left as stand alone drawings at the moment. I am not sure that I would have drawn the objects the same if they were in a special book for family history. One day... I shall scan and put these all together into a book. The research is a lifelong project.

I draw with watercolour pencils in a Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook everyday ! Some pages I call sketching and others I call drawings - this is one is a drawing. I love the way the watercolour pencils can create texture as well as fine details. I enjoy trying to achieve the right colour (although my scans do not show this)

last journal pages

last journal pages, a photo by vickylw on Flickr.

Lots of people know I begin each of my artist's journals with some kind of illustration of my palette. Lately, I have used the last page as a place to collect memorable quotes or thoughts. These are usually gathered over a period of time, so they are generally scattered in a hap-hazard fashion.

I've also seen a journal artist using the last page or two as a calendar, drawing in the calendar themselves with a splash of color or tiny motifs. Maybe I might try that in the future, if the journal has lots of pages.

Winter Robins

I love seeing these guys in the winter!

Still around, late January...and look at the jonquils!

Fast, or Slow?

I was at our old cabin for the afternoon, and decided to take my time with an ink sketch of the wood stove as it tried to warm the space...

(Yep, this one again!) And of course, I sketched FAST so my breakfast didn't get cold!

Do you feel comfortable taking however much time you need, or have?  In the sketch at top, I had all afternoon, with nothing pressing, so I decided to put my new/old Esterbrook 9128 through its paces.  It was running out of ink, so I got some very fine lines...which I restated when I refilled it.  It was a contemplative exercise and I very much enjoyed it.  Very peaceful!

I chose not to add color to that one--it stands on its own.

Breakfast was a whole other matter!  I didn't want it to get cold, so just did a very simple outline, with that same pen.  THEN I ate, then added color from memory!  I think the color defines and explains the shapes, pulling everything together, don't you?

I teach quick-sketching techniques in my mini-classes (Quick Sketching 1 and 2, and Quick Sketching in Color), and do truly enjoy that discipline for any number of reasons...but there are times when I just want to take as long as it takes.

I took my time here...

And hurried to capture the action here...

What do YOU enjoy most?

Celebrating the Small Stuff...

...like bangers and eggs!  I had to work fast before it got cold, so added the color from memory.

Our trip to the city the other day included a stop by Sheehan's Irish Imports for real Irish sausage, known as bangers.  They're delicious!

Journal Page Tutorial

Last week, we had some unusually warm weather in the lowcountry of South Carolina.  We took advantage by taking our bikes to Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. Our first stop was Nini Chapin Pond. It's roughly two miles from the parking area. There was not much bird activity, but we found some shade and it was a good time to eat our lunch.

This was the view we looked upon.  There was a small group of Buffleheads feeding in the water.  I loved how their dives caused the olive green water to shimmer with the blue of the sky.

Viewing the scene for a few minutes is a great way to narrow down what really catches my eye, helping me to decide  what to record in the journal.

The next page in my Stillman and Birn journal, that I've devoted to water scenes, was the right side of a spread.  I didn't want to fill the entire page with a sketch so decided upon a smaller vertical image.

Click to enlarge

The first thing I did was to secure a piece of foam core to the right side of the back of the journal.  This made a great surface to hold the palette and less of a balancing act for me.

Next, I drew the vertical shape that would hold the watercolor sketch. Then added pertinent information for the day: date, time, temperature, where we were, and around the edge of the box, I started adding notes about any wildlife that crossed our path.

To me, the lightest color in the scene was the blue of the sky and water.
I knew that if I let most of the paper show through on the lower right corner, I'd stand half a chance at keeping the true color to the foreground grasses.

click to enlarge

Hopefully you can see the first layer of blue!

 Now you can see the first layers of green water and the brown of the far shore's bank.  While painting, the Buffleheads were diving away, always changing what the water looked like.

When painting plein air, light and water are ever changing.  Once I've laid down the initial frame work of colors, I take a good look at the direction of the shadows. I will have to paint from memory in order to make the painting read true. 

All that was left to do was to add notes of any other wildlife that we saw after heading over to the other side of the pond.











Final page, scanned.....

Referencing all those journals - the lazy way

An 8 1/2 x 11 page of thumbnails from one of my journals

I recently had reason to refer to something in an old journal, and it took me only 3 minutes to find it.  Knowing you journallers as I do, you, too have many, many volumes to keep track of.  I know there are people who have the discipline to number pages and create indexes but that's not me, and that's not how I recall information.....I recall events by the pictures I drew of them.  So, upon completing each journal, I photograph the cover and all the pages and print a contact sheet with thumbnails of every page.  I label the pages and pop them into a binder, divided by category (regular journal, garden journal, travel, etc.)  I can flip through those pages and find what I want very quickly!