While Walking Through The Park One Day

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The Plains of Abraham, in Quebec City, is a large area where a guy once had a farm.  Then the Brits climbed the cliffs, shot it out with the French and among other things, they built a large fort to protect the area from those big bad Americans that would soon invade.

They never did but the result is that this large, partially wooded, and well-developed park area is now labelled Battlefield Park on the signs but everyone who lives here calls the area the Plains of Abraham.  It’s our oasis – a place to sit under a tree and have a picnic.  It’s a place to walk through a forest, although it’s really a managed clump of trees by forest standards.  Our art museum is in the middle of the Plains.  When the likes of Paul McCartney comes to town, the Plains are where he sings Let It Be.  Oh, and the Plains plays a significant role in my mystery novel, Her Book of Shadows.

It’s also a place where I go when I’m in the mood to sketch some nature, though more often than not I turn to my favorite subjects, man-made objects.  This sketch is something of a mix but I couldn’t resist this small scene.  After I did the sketch I went to the garden to sketch, but all I did was sit and enjoy the sun on my face and the large array of tulips that were blooming.  Life is sweet.

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Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Noodler’s Lex Gray

Halloween door sketching

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A week or so ago I posted a sketch of a fancy door in Quebec City.  A comment from a long-time friend, Pat Roberson, asking for more door sketches has resulted in this one.

A week ago I saw this door but I was on my way to St. Vallier to sketch with friends and so couldn’t sketch it.  It’s not one of the old, classic Quebec City doors, but Pat is such a fan of Halloween, and apparently doors, that I just had to go back and sketch this aperture into the bright orange house with black trim.  Hope you like it, Pat.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9x6), Pilot Prera, Noodler's Lexington Gray

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Noodler’s Lexington Gray

Refillable Fine-Line Sharpie Pen

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Stillman & Birn Alpha (9x6), Sharpie (fine) Pen

 

In a recent blog post, I mentioned that I used a disposable Sharpie pen to do the sketch.  This is a very cheap, but effective drawing tool.  I paid $2.50 for a pack of two of them from the local drug store.  The ink is waterproof and line width is roughly equivalent to a Micron 03, maybe a wee bit finer.

 

DisposableSharpiePenI like the pen but I hate the very notion of disposable pens.  We’re burying out planet in plastic and much of it can be traced to disposable products that replace perfectly good refillable products.  We were talking pens on Facebook and one of the Singapore Urban Sketchers mentioned that there is a refillable version of the Sharpie pen and that it is available from Jet Pens.  A few minutes later I had one winging its way to me.

SharpieRefillableIt does increase the initial cost as this beautiful metal-body pen is $5.00.  But refills are cheap and you’ll be throwing away a lot less plastic and feel good about yourself.  That aside, this is a beautiful way to point a fine, felt pen at paper.

 

 

Quebec City’s Harbor Is Busy Again

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For the last couple weeks, all the pleasure boats that have spent the winter in their cocoons have been carried, one-by-one, down a ramp and plunked into Bassin Louise, the protected harbor for pleasure boats in Quebec City.  There is a lock that allows boats to come and go in spite of the significant tides of the St. Lawrence River and just outside those locks is where all the tugboats are, that serve the larger ship traffic along the St. Lawrence and/or are loaded/unloaded in Quebec City.

I walked down to this area today and there was a spring (pun intended) in my step.  I have to say it…I just have to.  No way I can avoid it.  It’s just got to come out.  IT WAS WARM, WARM, WARM today.  I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt as I skipped along the St. Charles River.  I was a happy sketcher.  Did I mention that it’s finally WARM in Quebec City?

There was only one glitch in the day.  I sat down to draw a small tugboat that I hadn’t seen before.  Most of our tugs are what one might call ‘ocean tugs’  – really big, really powerful tugboats.  This one was much smaller.  It was cute.  When I was a kid I had a book whose main character was L’il Toot.  He was a brightly colored tugboat with big eyes on the front of his cabin. This tugboat reminded me of him.  But when I opened my sketching bag I found that I’d forgotten to stuff my sketchbook into it.  I did have a small Strathmore “Drawing” book, however, so I did this quick sketch of my tugboat as it poked its head above the harbor wall.  Did I mention that it was WARM today?  In spite of the lack of a real sketchbook, this was a great day.

Strathmore 4x6 "Drawing" book, Uniball Signo UM-151 pen

Strathmore 4×6 “Drawing” book, Uniball Signo UM-151 pen

Sketching Rocks In St. Vallier – Part 2

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Yesterday I talked about a day-long sketching session in St. Vallier with my buddies.  I mentioned that I did a sketch in the afternoon but didn’t have time to apply color.  I also promised that I would post it once I did add the color.

Here it is.  This wall of rocks  was piled up to support the hill behind it.  Just behind the fence is the walking trail that we used to walk down onto the beach.  It seemed like a fitting challenge since our goal was to practice drawing rocks.  Hope you like it.  I nearly went cross-eyed trying to do this.

Stillman & Birn Alpha 9x6 sketchbook, Pilot Prera, Noodler's Lexington Gray

Stillman & Birn Alpha 9×6 sketchbook, Pilot Prera, Noodler’s Lexington Gray