I Think It’s My Birthday

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Larry Marshall

I think it’s my birthday but I’m not really sure. Sometime in mid-September of 2011 I made my first attempt at sketching, having read Danny Gregory’s Everyday Matters. So some time in mid-September 0f 2014 I became a 3-year old sketcher. Yippee, for me.

The sad thing is that I can’t say exactly what day I did the original deed. When I started sketching I was doing it on any old paper using a fountain pens. I drew a gazillion cubes in all orientations, somehow knowing this was good practice in drawing three dimensional objects. I tried to draw everything in sight…in sight of my office that is as I was afraid to go out on the street to sketch.

Unfortunately, all of those sketches were thrown away because I didn’t know any better. Then, one day, someone in an internet group suggested that I upload one of my sketches. I did and the participants became aware that I was throwing them away. I was told that I should keep everythiung because I would, one day, want to look back on them. Guess what day it is?

I remember that my first attempt at street sketching took place in a mall, with a tiny sketchbook held close to my chest. I drew a clothing store mannikin, figuring she wouldn’t mind and wouldn’t walk away. I was scared to death I would get “caught” in the act. I drew quickly and poorly and left the second I was finished. I guess I figured stealth sketching was a viable approach.

First Building Sketch

Here’s the first building sketch I ever did. It was done from a photo of this small restaurant. I remember being proud of it at the time, mostly because the many sketches that preceded it that were much worse (grin). Interestingly, this was the same subject that launched me as a street sketcher – the first sketch where I perched on a tripod stool and drew. Here’s that one, done in March of 2012.

First street sketch (Mar 2012)

Since then I’ve done hundreds of sketches on the street as street sketching has become a way of life for me. Here’s a snapshot of the sketchbooks I’ve filled so far. The black ones are all Stillman & Birn. The rest are of lesser quality.

Sketchbooks from my first three years as a sketcher

Internet groups and friends continue to fuel my learning curve climb and I’m enjoying the journey. Thanks to all who are helping me with that process.

So, I’m three, going on four. That sounds pretty good to an old man. I’ll end with a more recent sketch in an attempt to recoup a bit of sketcher dignity (grin).

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10x7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Can’t a City Horse Get A Drink Around Here?

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Larry Marshall

It seems that with all of the issues that face us these days that New York’s Mayor de Blasio could pick something more pressing than elimination of horses from Central Park. Then again, that is consistent with a lot of the weirdness we see from our politicians these days.

But indeed, this anti-equine maybe claims he wants to replace the horse carriages of Central Park with electric cars. Progress? Throwing tourist dollars down the drain? Eliminating one of the few ways for city kids to see animals? Are horses just too much nature for New Yorkers, or just for Mayor de Blasio?

I bring this up because here in Quebec City we have horse-drawn carriages. Tourists pay way too much money to be transported around the old city and parts of the Plains of Abraham, behind one of the many beautiful horses who work for… well, I’m not sure who signs their checks.

But the horse union, long ago, must have lobbied long and hard for proper facilities. Behind each horse is a ‘waste capture device’ which prevents horses from being embarrassed by things they might drop along the way. And when the tourists are paying large fees, horses have a ready supply of oats to snack on.

But horses are no fools. They also got the city to install several horse-sized drinking fountains around the city. They didn’t settle for plain old metal or concrete troughs either. No…they wanted something with class, fountains with running water. None of that stagnant stuff for them.

And so, thanks to horses, we’re blessed with several beautiful drinking fountains, big enough for horses. I realized, after walking by them a gazillion times, that I’d never drawn one. I have rectified that omission and present the results here.

Moleskine watercolor sketchbook (5×3), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

To Pick Apples Or Sketch – That Was The Question

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Larry Marshall

We apple picking in St. Nicolas on Sunday. It’s a great place on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. Very agricultural, very beautiful. As I always do, I took my sketching stuff with me but didn’t figure I’d get a chance to use it. We were foraging.

Apple picking is pretty light duty. We had a large bag and wandered around pulling the red orbs off the tree. Made me wish that money really did grow on trees as that would really be fun.

We’d filled a bag of McIntosh apples and had started on a new bag, to be filled with Lobos, when I saw this old, three-legged ladder. I couldn’t resist and handed the bag to my wife, saying “I’ll do it quickly.” She continued picking and I sat down, pulling out a small sketchbook of brown paper and my TWSBI Mini.

I became a kid magnet and a bunch of kids surrounded me to watch. It was fun. They were all very young (less than 10) and very shy but curious of this big person doing what they do all the time. None of them were art critics. Wanting to put on a show, I guess, I sort of cut short my actual sketching and got out some watercolor pencils. I showed them around and then added a bit of color to the sketch. In the end, I had an incomplete sketch but a fond memory. Location sketching at its best.

TWSBI Mini, Platinum Carbon Black, watercolor pencils

Sketching Landscapes At The Quebec Aquarium

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Larry Marshall

The grounds of the Quebec Aquarium are great for a sketcher. Whoever designed them had esthetics in mind as well as the ability to accommodate families with kids running all over the place. And so it’s a fun place to do small landscape sketches. With winter looming in front of us, I’ve spent most of my aquarium time doing those kinds of sketches.

Monologue sketchbook (4×5), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon ink

Claudette and I were at the aquarium this week (last week?). While waiting for it to open I quickly sketched a grouping of large rocks that sit near the entrance. I’m still trying to get a handle on drawing rocks.

Monologue sketchbook (4×5), Hero 578, Platinum Carbon Black

Later I made this little sketch out the window of the cafeteria. I was drawing trees but more, I was playing with my Hero 578 “fude” pen. I still haven’t tapped the expressiveness of this pen and should use it a lot more.

But I spent most of my time drawing this scene. It took me the best part of two hours to complete it. This included a chat with the security guard, another with a grounds-keeper and a couple visitors stopped to comment. The weather was ideal, as were the social interactions.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Sketching Down A Different Road

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Fabriano Artistico paper, Hero 578 w/Platinum Carbon Black

My urban sketching has become pretty well-defined. My ‘style’ is sort of cartoony with a heavy emphasis on linework as that’s what I like to do. Color is thrown in as an afterthought.

But if I’m ever going to improved with color I’ve got to experiment and so here’s a couple baby steps down that road. In both cases I’ve retained my penchant for fountain pen line work but I started by doing a wet-in-wet background. Much to learn here but I had fun which is, afterall, the whole point of my sketching. Hope you like these little guys, done from my imagination.

Fabriano Artistico paper, Hero 578 w/Platinum Carbon Black