my medical journalling : Alissa Duke

I carry my Moleskine sketchbook, watercolour pencils and Safari Lamy Joy ink pen with me everyday. I try and draw everyday – foods, places, events, sometimes people (must practice more), sketching my life around me, as well as various online drawing challenges, filling 20 sketchbooks in the last 3 years.

Part of my “everyday” in 2011 involved what I can now refer to as my little medical adventure. I know that I am very fortunate as I can look back now as it is over, and I am well (apart from now having to take lots of tablets and slightly changing a few things in life and a new short haircut). In March 2011 I was diagnosed with a large benign brain tumour that required immediate removal and I spent about two and a half months in hospital in the ICU and Neurology wards after the initial surgery and subsequent operations due to major brain infections.

Enough medical stuff, this is about the drawing. Journaling in my sketchbook was part of that experience and I am sharing my drawing experience during that time on this blog.

I was asking for my pencils about six days after the initial surgery and had been mentally composing pages and deciding what would be good to draw before that ! This was a huge relief to me, my friends and family as this was a sign that I was ‘me’ again. The whole lead up to surgery had all happened so quickly that I did not have time to worry too much about anything specific, but I had a fear that I would lose my ability to draw, or just as bad, the motivation to draw. I know that there were much worse things than this that could have happened, but my mind had not yet gone in that direction.

I sketched over 85 pages during the time in hospital and the majority are up on my flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/alissaduke/sets/72157626495626536/

There were stops and starts along the way as my recovery got better and then had a few major set-backs. Looking back, I wish that I had drawn more hospital equipment (there was so much of it around me) , made more notes and comments and shared my sketches more with the hospital staff. I had a habit of putting my pencils and sketchbook away when they turned up (which was often !!) I am still shy at times about showing my work to people. The ICU staff were delighted at the Thank You card I sent them with a drawing of “wiggling my toes” (a bit a mantra in hospital departments)

There was certainly never “nothing to do or draw” in hospital and I was fortunate enough to have the strength to draw and mobility to prop myself up in bed and use of my hands. I know everyone is not this fortunate. My sketchbooks and drawings did distract me from the many scary and unknowns of hospital (this was my first encounter with hospitals, at the age of 43) . But I did not draw to distract myself. Drawing did provide me with a sense of contented familiarity – something from the ‘outside world’ of my normal life. I also think that it allowed me to maintain my personality and individuality at a time when everything is taken away from you. Basically, it was a joy just to be able to draw anything. And so I did !! I never thought of whether a drawing was good or bad, (although I was pleased when my attention to details/colours to objects gradually returned).

However drawing did provide a sense of detachment in a foreign environment and it was very surreal to draw tubes, lines coming out of my arm etc. But I also drew my food, toothbrush, room, objects and medicines,. I am actually surprised I did not draw much food at all, considering how much I normally draw it in my sketchbook. I think that I was so eager to eat the food in hospital as meal times became important in the daily routine. The lovely gifts from friends and family did provide a delightful change of subjects. I am also amazed that my lovely supportive sketching friends Liz (Borromini Bear) , Wendy (QuirkyArtist) and Annie and I did not sketch when they visited, but we chatted instead



Looking back now I am so pleased that I sketched during that time and during my recovery back home. When I want I can look back through my sketchbook and remember some of the little things that would normally be forgotten. I have only just seen photos of myself during that time and very recently drew from a few of those to capture what I looked like at the time. That was not easy to do and I probably should have waited a bit longer. But my pencils and my sketchbooks provided me with a great source of happiness in a not-so-great time in life. I hope this has provided you with some insight into my medical journalling experience.

Interview #7--meet Alissa Duke!!

Alissa Duke is keeping busy these days--she's one of the artist-journalers in the upcoming book that originally gave birth to this blog, of course, and she was in Watercolor Artist Magazine this month (in the April issue, you know how magazines are).  She's one of the correspondents on the Sketching in Nature blog, and is also involved in the Sketchabout at the Royal Botanic Gardens, as we mentioned in THIS post!  We figured this was the perfect time to do the interview with her...

Soooo...in her own words, here's Alissa!

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I was born in New Zealand but lived all of my life in Australia. I grew up in large regional city called Toowoomba and then spent most of my adult life in Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. 


Looking back, our household was a creative one with lots of craftwork and I also entered the local paper drawing competitions, often winning a $2 or $5 money order!  I started drawing when I was at high school and I did art as a subject at school, but was not particularly good at it. My best friend and I would draw after school and on weekends- mainly drawing 1980’s pop stars, copied from magazines. I drew irregularly after I completed school and it was always copying from pictures. Only in the last eight years I have been drawing from real objects and scenes.  

I moved to Sydney six years ago for work (I am a Librarian/Researcher) and am still enjoying exploring my ‘new’ city.

How did you get started journaling?

I have been drawing on and off since I was a teenager. In late 2008 I started to draw when travelling and when participating in Sketchcrawls and I write along side of my drawings. I would make note of the place or object (often food) I was drawing. I also started sketching in Moleskine watercolour sketchbooks.   

Currently on my sketch page I sometimes write a small commentary about the place and event I am drawing. Often it is just capturing my own reaction at the time.

There are often people about, but Alissa manages to concentrate on her drawing...

Do you feel comfortable working in public? 

Yes, I do now, although it has taken some time and I still stand or sit out of the way. I am not yet comfortable with looking at people and drawing them, so I usually draw them from the back or the side.

How often do you meet up with other artists to sketch?  How did that come about?

I draw with others Sydney sketchers regularly, and sometimes it seems to be every weekend ! I met my fellow sketchers Liz, Wendy and Annie in 2008 at International Sketchcrawls . Liz and I were the only ones there at a Sketchcrawl in June 2008 and spent most of the day chatting as well as drawing.

I have more recently become one of the two Assistant Organisers with the Sydney Sketch Club, which is a Meet Up group. We sketch around Sydney at various places, with anywhere from 2 to 18 people turning up. 

from the Royal Botanic Gardens

*NOTE: Alissa's recently gotten involved in a wonderful new project at the Royal Botanic Gardens
as we mentioned up top--read her account at the link!

You’ve done a lot of birds and animals…do you enjoy them most. Or what’s your favorite subject?

When I look through my drawings from the past two years (in thirteen Moleskine watercolour sketchbooks, which sit in my bookshelf) there does not seem to be a particular subject that features. Perhaps I do more objects, rather than larger scenes, although as a member of Urban Sketchers, I hope to become more practiced at drawing places as well. However, I do enjoy drawing birds and animals. They have such character!  I seem to go through stages and themes with my subjects:   animals, places, family history, objects around the apartment:  too many things to draw and not enough time !!!

This magpie looks like he could hop right off the page!

I can become enthusiastic about any subject if it is part of a project or theme. That’s why I love the EDM group, Illustration Friday.. Sketchbook Project, EveryDay In May etc.  Only recently I realised that I used to previously waste so much time trying to find the “right” object or view or scene, sometimes, often I ended up not drawing anything at all. I have only recently got past that and I think that is why I can now sit down and attempt any subject without much fuss.

Do you do all your sketching on the spot, or finish some back in your studio?

If I am going out sketching, I will do most of my drawing on the spot (writing notes in pencil) At home I will add a little more colour, write my journal commentary in ink and format the page a bit. I don ‘t often take a photo to complete later, although this will depend on the situation. At a dinner with non –sketching friends I might take a photo of dessert so that I can draw a page to record the occasion when I get home. And I do have a shoebox full of ‘source photographs” to use if needed. 

Sometimes I will take a found object home to draw, such as a feather or leaf. Otherwise, I draw at my desk, with the object propped up in front of me.

I had to laugh when you asked if I draw “back in my studio”. I live in a studio apartment, so my beautiful (ergonomically incorrect) silky oak dining room table is my art desk, which constantly has my watercolour pencils, sketchbook spread over it. It is also my computer desk, dining table and “everything else” table. 

This is one of the family history images that will appear in the book.

Tell us a bit about the family history project...

My great aunt died in 2008 and I became aware of some fascinating objects that had belonged to her and my great grandfather's family , including WW1 medals and badges, photographs, letters and other objects. I been previously researching the family tree and began with the idea of trying to visually document possessions in my family. I decided to draw each object and then find out about the history of it and add some commentary to the page. The next stage will then be to add some notes about the person and that time of their life. In this way I hope to show them as a real person and to create a record of a part of my family history that would otherwise be lost

What's your favorite, most satisfying medium, and why? 

Watercolour pencil. I really don't have experience with many other mediums. I have been using watercolour pencil for about two years. They are excellent for sketching while travelling as I can take and use them anywhere. I can either use them as the main medium or just to add a wash to a pen drawing. Previously I have only used graphite pencil and some ink pen.

Watercolor pencil and graphite

I notice you're branching out a bit into ink and watercolor...tell us a bit about that?

I like the looseness that an ink pen can potentially provide me and I would like to be able to use it like a pencil.  It could be that I am influenced by drawing with Liz Steel , who uses ink so confidently on the page.
 

Ink doesn’t suit all suit object or pages. Ink does give a consistency of style over a number of pages of drawings. So the pages where I am journaling more, I will tend to use the ink pen. And you know that I have just discovered the Lamy Safari Joy ink pen with a nib. The nib provides a lot more flexibility of line on the page, which I  couldn’t get using Art Line, Micron., Pitt Pens etc 

This is one of Alissa's recent images with her new pen!

Other thoughts? Whatever else you feel is more important, personally, to YOU...

Drawing and journaling allows me to focus and use the creative and artistic force inside me. I can try to capture a place or time as only I experienced it, through a creative process that I love. It also

makes me look and think more and appreciate things more.

This is one of my favorites from the Sketching in Nature blog, where Alissa's a correspondent.

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Thanks, Alissa!  And I hope you all have enjoyed this interview--there are many more to come, so stay with us...

Interview # 7--up next, Alissa Duke!

Everything's happening at once for Australian artist Alissa Duke! I was privileged to feature her work in the new April issue Watercolor Artist Magazine, in an article on watercolor pencils; she's terrific with fur, feathers, landscapes and more with that sometimes tricky medium. Don't miss it!

She and our own Liz Steel, plus sketching buddies Wendy Shortland, and Annie McMahon have been asked to work with a Sketchabout at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney--they've even been filmed!  There will be more about how this came about in the interview, but for now, read more about the project HERE and HERE.  (Makes me wish I could book a quick trip to Australia, where it IS autumn, right now...)

A correspondent on the Sketching in Nature blog as well as this one, Alissa's a delightful and thoughtful artist...watch for her interview, up next!

New Link to Ink Pens

Our Swedish correspondent Nina Johansson just shared a pair of links on the Everyday Matters list that I think you'll enjoy, InkNouveau.and their store, Goulet Pens.  These look like a great deal of fun to browse, and Nina says she has ordered two pens from them, with very satisfactory results.  You can read her blog post HERE.

Many of us artist-journal keepers keep a constant lookout for the fountain pen that does just what we want it to, WHEN we want it to.  I love the wonderful springiness and flexibility of old (early 20th C.) Waterman pens, but they ARE old, and temperamental.  I've had two of them reconditioned, and they're still a bit moody at times.  They need frequent use and an occasional good cleaning.  The newer Waterman Phileas pens are much less temperamental, but also less flexible.

Many people love Lamy pens; my husband does, and so does Australian correspondent Alissa Duke.  Mine didn't seem to want to work well, so I can't speak to that--maybe Alissa will chime in about her new pen with the Extra Fine nib!  (I gave mine to Joseph and he loves it, so go figure!)


Nina got the Noodlers Flex Nib pen, and I'm willing to bet they're going to get a flood of orders!