Alissa Duke

About the ArtistI grew up in Toowoomba, Queensland and spent most of my adult life in Brisbane, and then Sydney and now I live in Melbourne. I have been drawing since high school, but became more serious in late 2008 when I started to draw every day and journal in a Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook.

I have come to the realisation that drawing is now a part of me and my life. I draw daily, documenting everyday events and objects and travels in my life. I will sketch for five minutes at a bus stop, or for half an hour while having coffee, or complete a drawing over a few nights at home. I have drawn in hospital, and on overseas holidays. I carry my sketchbook, pencils and pen with me everywhere as there is always something to draw! My art captures the character of the object I draw, connecting it with the viewer. I also am part of a global the Urban Sketchers movement, and I continue to document my world as a sketchbook journal artist.

Alissa Duke’s designs can be licensed for:• Ceramics: dinnerware and giftware• Textiles: tea towels, table cloths, bed linen, cushions, fashion • Homewares: coaster and placemat sets, trays and melamine products• Wallpaper• Stationery items: cards, calendars, notebooks

Artworks& designs

licensing concepts: feathers

licensing concepts: hot cross buns

licensing concepts: sweets

children

licensing concepts: food

I use watercolour pencils to draw subjects from the natural world, such as feathers, eggs, leaves and insects. I also draw objects from everyday life including food, coffee cups, books or toys. The subjects are personal and individual and often nostalgic and with a character of their own.

I enjoy closely observing an object as I draw it and then allowing people to experience that same enjoyment as they observe my drawing. I have been using watercolour pencils since 2008 and I have become familiar with their characteristics. Watercolour pencils allow me to blend and layer and to provide rough texture or fine detail to bring out the character of the object I am drawing.

Artist Statement

2014Artwork featured on Law Library of Victoria Christmas card

Group Exhibition: Urban Sketching in Boroondara, Hawthorn Town Hall Gallery, Melbourne

Group Exhibition: Linden Postcard Show, Linden Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne

Artwork used on business card and blog header of www.globetrotterpostcards.com/

2013Artwork used on The Tea Cosy menu www.theteacosy.com.au/menu

Group Exhibition: The Sketchbook Project (touring exhibition), Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne

Projects

2011 Book: Artist’s Journal Workshop: Creating your Life in Words and Pictures’ (by Cathy Johnson, North Light Books, Ohio, 2011). I was one of the 27 artists featured in the book

Magazine: Watercolor Artist, April 2011. Get to the Point, by Cathy Johnson, p 14-17. I was featured in an article on creating feathering and fur with watercolour pencils

Group Exhibition: Autumn of the Arts, Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney. Assisted with organisation and sketching sessions for the public for Sketchabout in the Gardens event. One of four artists invited to exhibit.

2009 - 2013Group Exhibitions 2009 - 2013: The Sketchbook Project, Art House Coop, Brooklyn, New York

2009 - 2014Group Exhibitions 2009 - 2014: Pyrmont Art Prize, Pyrmont, Sydney

www.alissaduke.comwww.flickr.com/photos/alissaduke/

mobile: +61 (0) 418 792 362alissa.duke@tpg.com.au

Alissa Duke