Indoor Sketching At Its Best

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Larry Marshall

Today was a new sketching experience for me. Most of my sketching has been directed at buildings; mostly on the streets of Quebec City. But as I’ve reported, winter has driven me into museums and so I’ve been boring you with sketches of Samurai helmets and Nigerian masks.

My sketching buddies, who are all better sketchers than I am, are similarly afflicted with the ‘It’s Too Cold To Be Outdoors Sketching Blues’ and Celine decided to do something about it. She invited Pierre, Yvan, and myself to her house for a sketching session in her studio.

Her studio is a wonderful place, with lots of spot lights, tables and shelves full of “stuff” to sketch. It was hard for me to turn my back on her great art library, but we were there to sketch so we did.

Pierre pointed at a bowl of artificial fruit and said, “I want to sketch that” and just as though following orders from Capt. Picard on Star Trek, we followed his orders and ‘made it so.’

Celine set up a spot light over the fruit and we sat in a circle around the fruit bowl, and sketched…and sketched. It took me forever as I’d never done a still life of any kind. Does a building count as a still life?

I’m still getting used to using watercolor pencils and this sketch taught me a few things, including some “gonna have to figure out how to…” sorts of things. One thing I found interesting is that they didn’t seem to work as well in my S&B Beta sketchbook as they do in my S&B Epsilon sketchbook. I guess the smoother paper of the Epsilon keeps the pigment higher on the paper, making it easier to wash them out evenly. With regular watercolors I really prefer the Beta paper as it’s so much thicker.

Here’s my completed sketch, done in a Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook (6×8), using a Pilot Prera and Noodler’s Lexington Gray ink. Don’t tell the urban sketchers I did this one. They might drum me out of the corps, though it was done ‘on location’ so I guess it qualifies. I’m still reading the fine print on such things.

Sketching fruit works up an appetite and Celine and Pierre had prepared a feast for us. My usual sketching lunch is a granola bar and an apple so I was completely unprepared for a heavenly soup, fine cheeses, crackers, and fruit. This was followed by dessert and a yummy oolong tea. Let it be written that Larry ate too much.

And then it was back to sketching. Well, I indicated some reluctance as I was once again buried up to my nose in Celine’s art library. So many books…so little time. Eventually I found myself sketching a small ceramic statue of a blue jay. It’s the first bird I’ve ever sketched. It’s also the first bird that’s ever stood still long enough for my slow sketching pace to capture it. Thanks, bird. Here it is, done in the same sketchbook, same pen, same ink, same limited abilities.

We finished up with discussions of sketching and Yvan, as usual, provided some great insights. His skill is enormous, and exceeded only by his patience for my silly questions. I write this as the end to a perfect day. Thanks again, Celine.

Quick Sketching: Trying Out The Platinum Carbon Pen

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Larry Marshall

I just bought a Platinum Carbon Pen from Jet Pens. I’m a fan of Platinum Carbon Black ink and this pen is supposed to have a feed sized specifically for this pigmented ink. Most people say that it has a very fine nib. Giving away the punch line, I think both of these things are true.

The pen comes from Jet Pens looking like this. I carry my pens everywhere and this one is just way too long. It’s designed to look and feel like a dip pen.And so I “fixed” mine. I cut it off long enough to allow the ink cartridge but short enough that I could post the cap while it was in use. For anyone wanting to follow this approach, that’s 6cm from the gold ring around the pen body.

Once cut, I mixed up some epoxy and dabbed the pen up and down in the puddle of epoxy, filling the hole in the end of the pen. Once dry I simply sanded everything smooth and the result looks like this:

Cut down like this, it makes a very comfortable sketching pen. When capped it’s nearly as short as a Kaweco Classic Sport and when posted it’s nearly the length of my Pilot Prera. The balance works out well also.

The pen really shines, though, because of its fine line, which is actually finer than my Pilot Prera (F), which is already finer than a Lamy (XF). The Platinum Carbon lays down a line nearly as fine as a Gillot 303, if you’re familiar with dip pen nibs. Hatching is a dream with this pen.

The Platinum Carbon Black ink cartridge that comes with it is nothing short of spectacular. This ink is the definition of a true black and it’s absolutely waterproof. You can buy this ink in cartridges or in a bottle. I’ve always been a fan of Platinum cartridges because they have a small metal ball that keeps the ink mixed and so I just fill them from a bottle using a pen syringe.

So I sat down and took the pen for a test drive. I did some tonal hatching practice and several small sketches, just to get used to the feel of it. I’ve included a few of those sketches here, all done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6).

I like this pen a lot. It’s a great compliment to my Pilot Prera and Metropolitan pens and may become my ‘go to’ pen for quick sketching due to its super-fine nib.

I’ve Become A Samurai Sketcher

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Larry Marshall

Winter has turned me into a Samurai sketcher. By that I mean I’m spending more time sketching the Samurai exhibit at our Musee de la Civilisation than anything else. I need to spend time in the Nigeria exhibit too as it has a lot of great masks and statues worthy of a sketcher’s eye, but the Samurai display is only here until Feb 17 so I’m trying to get as much done there as possible, which isn’t a lot as slow as I sketch (grin).

Yesterday I went with Celine, Pierre and Yvan to the museum. We had a great time. I sketched a couple more Samurai helmets, bringing my total to five. There’s only another 40 or so to go 🙂

Both were done in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon (5.5×8.5) with a Pilot Prera, Lex Gray ink, and my Faber-Castell watercolor pencils. The more I use these watercolor pencils the more I like them.

Sketchcrawl Through A Car Museum

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Larry Marshall

It’s rare that I’ll re-post something I see on someone else’s blog but this video is too good not to pass it foreward. Lapin, an illustrator with a great blog, recently posted this video of their sketchcrawl through the Caramulo Car Museum that gave the sketchers extraordinary access. The video was professionally done by Patricia Pedrosa and any sketcher will appreciate it.

Be sure to read all of the subtitles as there are some great insights there. I’ve watched it three times 🙂

Samurai – The Continuing Saga Of The Urban Sketcher

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Larry Marshall

The last few days have been stormy here. High winds, snow, and general ugliness. No big deal except that I haven’t been able to follow my normal walking regime. With mild desperation to right that wrong, I trudged off today, or rather I was slipping and sliding down the sidewalks. I was jumping mounds of snow, walking on water…well, really just in it. After an hour of this joyous adventure I found myself at the Musee de la Civilisations, my winter haunt.

I sketched only one Samurai helmet today, though. This one was a bit more challenging, with all its fire ornamentation and besides, I had another hour of slipping and sliding to get home. It was fun anyways and while I’m beat from the walk, it was a very satisfying day. I think, though, that I’m going to sit and sketch for a while.

The sketch was done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha (5.5×8.5), which is becoming my museum sketchbook. I used a Pilot Prera and Lex Gray. The color comes from Faber-Castell “Albrecht Durer” watercolor pencils, mushed around with a waterbrush. This is an approach that fits the museum world and works for me, though I’m still learning how and what to do with them.