Sketching Rocks In St. Vallier

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Louise and Fernande

I’m a lucky guy to have friends like these. Plans for this sketching session in St. Vallier came from discussions between Claudette and Louise, who are best buddies. Louise hosted the event as she lives in St. Vallier, a beautiful village about half an hour from Quebec City. Plans were made. The weather checked. It was on the calendar.

When the day came we faced a very cool morning with very windy conditions. Undaunted, we piled into Claudette’s car and headed to St. Vallier, which is on the south coast of The St. Lawrence River as it opens up into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It’s always windy there so we were concerned that it might be too cold to sketch.

Claudette

Yvan

It was windy when we arrived, but sunny. As we walked to the rocky areas we were all bundled up as though we were invading the North Pole but the sun was out, our pens warmed up, and we were ready to draw rocks.

We found some parts of the coastline where we could be sheltered from the wind and it was quite pleasant. We sketched and chatted all morning and then climbed the hill back to Louise’s house for lunch. Homemade cream of mushroom soup, wine and sandwiches was an unexpected treat, served in a gorgeous solarium that doubles as Louise’s studio. Then, having eaten more than I should have, Louise brought out a strawberry upside-down cake. When we were finished I needed a siesta. Louise has agreed to adopt me.

Rocks at St. Vallier (Stillman & BIrn Alpha 9x6, Uniball UM-151,.38 pen

Rocks at St. Vallier
(Stillman & BIrn Alpha 9×6, Uniball UM-151,.38 pen

But there is no rest for the sketcher. We headed back down the hill for a shorter, but fun sketching session. It had warmed up so, out of the wind, I could actually unzip one of the two jackets I was wearing. I did one drawing during this session but didn’t get a chance to add color. I’ll do that and post it later. Thanks to all, and especially Louise for her hospitality. Life is sweet.

Louise, our host. She was sitting next to a storm wall, drawing trees that rose above it. (Stillman & BIrn Alpha 9x6, Uniball UM-151, .38 pen

Louise, our host. She was sitting next to a storm wall, drawing trees that rose above it. (Stillman & BIrn Alpha 9×6, Uniball UM-151, .38 pen

Book Review: An Excuse To Draw

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Tommy Kane is a well-known urban sketcher who is not only an excellent pen driver but also a funny guy who happens to be a friend of Danny Gregory, the guy whose books got me into sketching. I don’t put much stock in the degrees of separation thing but I have to confess that I feel somehow connected to both of these guys even though I’ve never met either of them.

So when An Excuse to Draw by Tommy Kane was released I went to buy it. To be honest, I saw it as just another in what has become a flood of ‘sketchbooks’ being released by urban sketchers around the world. I’d love to own them all but I just can’t afford it; there are too many of them. And when I found the price tag on Tommy’s book was $32 (from the Book Depository), the high price put me off, even if it was Tommy Kane.

Lucky for me, though, I reconsidered. I succumbed in a moment of weakness and I’m glad I did. Yes, it’s “just another sketchbook” but once you have it in hand you realize that it’s not your average sketchbook book.

Kane’s publisher took the high road on this 216 page book. This is a beautifully bound hardcover. Definitely a book you want in your living room. The paper stock is heavier than typical and every page is full-color. Many of the sketches are full-page so it’s possible to see all the detail that is the cornerstone of Tommy Kane sketches.

The sketches themselves, well they speak for themselves. The book covers eight years of Tommy’s sketching life and represent his traveling ways and the sketches are organized by country. This is one sketchbook that I know will improve my own sketching. If sketching is your thing, you’ll love An Excuse to Draw. The back cover says “to be continued” and I won’t hesitate if Tommy produces another of these gems.

T-shirt Sketching

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Larry Marshall

I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. Everyday is t-shirt day in Phoenix. But I now live in Quebec City and May 26th was the first day this year that I could go walking in jeans and a t-shirt, my typical street-sketcher garb.

It was glorious and as I headed out for a long walk and sketching session I had high hopes that I’d get a lot of sketching done. That didn’t happen. Some sort of Forrest Gump think happened and I just kept walking…and walking…and walking. It was so much fun that the thought of sitting down to sketch never occurred to me. I covered 7.5 kilometers on my walk and enjoyed every step.

I did come across a new sort of streetlamp in Vanier and I did sit down and sketch it. I used a Pilot Prera, Noodler’s Lexington Gray and moved the pointy end around in my Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6) sketchbook. Then I walked some more. It’s been a long time coming but real spring is finally here.

Hero 9296 Fountain Pen: A Review

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Larry Marshall

A couple days ago I promised a review of the Hero 9296, a fountain pen I’ve purchased recently. I bought it for two reasons. First, my buddy Yvan started using one to do his quick sketches and while Yvan’s favorite pen is always the one he just acquired, he’s stuck with this one for a while. The second reason is more important for anyone reading this – it’s CHEAP! I bought it via eBay for $7.00, including the shipping.

Hero 9296 next to the ubiquitous Lamy Safari

I’d like to say that this pen has bumped my Pilot Preras and TWSBI Minis into the closet but that’s not the case. I present it here for two reasons. Did I mention that it’s CHEAP? For the price of a couple lattes you can have a fine-writing (pun-intended) fountain pen. The second reason is that this pen is a very thin, but normal length fountain pen, favored by those with smaller hands. It has a metal body and silver trim. If you like thin pens, this one is worth a look.

Hero 9296 compared to Micron 03 and Sharpie Fine Pen

I bought what Hero calls an “extra-fine” nib and I was surprised to find that though it’s an Asian company, the nib is more like a typical Asian “fine” nib. This is not a knock against it, but the Pilot Penmanship XF produces a finer line. This pen, at least with Noodler’s Lexington Gray is very similar to a Micron 03 in line width. It writes wetter than my Pilot Preras and so Lex Gray looks darker from this pen than from my Preras. I think most would find it quite respectable and usable for most sketching. My Pilot Preras produce a bit finer line than this pen but I think most of that is due to the wetter line from the the Hero 9296.

There are a couple things I don’t like about this pen but they may not bother others. First is the nib/grip. It is very shiny and, if you’re an outside sketcher like I am, this can be a problem on a sunny day. The fact that the pen is hooded combines with the shine to create a pen where it’s hard to tell if/when the nib is oriented properly. Anyone who has used a fountain pen knows that rotating the nib of the pen can greatly affect how or even if it will write. Maybe you get used to it.

The pen comes with a converter, which is normally a plus. In this case the converter is different from more typical Hero converters in that it is 1) thinner, providing less capacity and 2) rather than a threaded plunger, it has a slide plunger that I find clumsy to operate. I’m not sure why but the result is that you can’t get the converter more than 1/2 – 3/4 full, further reducing how much ink the pen holds.

These drawbacks aside, this is a good pen for not much money. I’m going to fill mine with a washable ink (my pens are typically filled with waterproof inks) to give me another tool in the arsenal.

Sketching The Riviere Lairet… Sort Of

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Once upon a time there was the Riviere Lairet. It meandered through what became Limoilu as Quebec City spread north from its origins atop Cap Diamond. Ultimate, Limoilu was swallowed by Quebec City during a large merger but everyone still calls it Limoilu. We’re a stubborn lot.

From the photos I’ve seen one of the basic problems with the Riviere Lairet was that lots of water ran in it in the spring and almost none in the summer. The result was a fairly deep canyon running through what was quickly becoming a very populated area.

Maybe more important, the canyon had a lot of very fast-flowing, dangerous water at one time of year and at other times it became a dumping ground for the less civic-minded members of Limoilu. So it was decided, in the mid-20th Century, to build a huge pipe to convey the spring waters underground from north of Limoilu all the way to the St. Charles River – my river.

These days, the Riviere Lairet name can be found on maps as a long, open pond area in Cartier-Brebeuf Park, with the south end of the pond emptying into the St. Charles River.

But the water that fills this park area still has to get there through the pipe I mentioned. They do everything in their power to hide the pipe’s opening into the park but I thought it would make for a fun sketch. The weather further convinced me as while it was almost warm, it was also windy. After climbing down the hill to this view, I was conveniently out of the wind with only a few ants to bother me.

I used a Uniball Signo UM-151 (.38mm) gel pen for this one. The fine pens in the 101 series are mostly waterproof but anything thicker than .38mm and the gel ink starts to wash into the watercolors, at least on the Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6) paper that I use. Hope you like it.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9x6), Uniball Signo 101 (.38mm)

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Uniball Signo 101 (.38mm)