Tag Archives: Lexington Gray

Sketching Pirates and Assasins

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For some, drawing people is seen as the pinnacle of art.  Not for me.  I like doing portraits, as long as they’re portraits of buildings.  I like clothes on people and find capturing all the folds and pleats to be a near impossible task given my limited drawing abilities.  But, it’s winter, and there are more people inside buildings than buildings inside buildings and if I’m going to have to draw from photos, why not something I don’t normally draw?

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10x7), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

And so it is…winter, and I’ve decided to draw a few more people than normal.  I decided to draw this pirate from a book.  He was fun and ample proof that I still have much to learn about pen and ink, particularly shading with ink.

I went to the Musée de la Civilisation on Friday and met up with Yvan and Claudette.  I decided to draw “Connor”, the protagonist in the 3rd Assassin’s Creed video game.  The museum has a life-size statue of him at the entrance to a video game history exhibit.  As he has a great costume, I may have to sketch him at least once more.  I might even do him in color as his tunic is tan but his coat is Revolutionary War blue, and he’s got leather chaps and a red belt with gold trim.  Video game designers have good tastes in clothes, if nothing else.

Stillman & Birn Zeta (6x9), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

Stillman & Birn Zeta (6×9), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

A Bit Of Christmas Sketching

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It seems that some sketchers become very active during holidays and get togethers.  I seem to be just the opposite and when a holiday rolls around, I find it hard to find either time or inclination to sketch.

That’s not to say I don’t sketch at all.  During the two days around the Christmas holiday, I did four sketches but for me, that’s a lull.  I thought I’d share a couple of them with you.  They’re nothing special but they reflect the laid back way my family celebrates.

Books are a big part of our gift-giving as we all love them.  The result of this, of course, is that we spend time on Christmas day listening to music and reading.  Within the limits of my very limited sketching ability this is what my daughter looks like when she’s curled up at the end of the sofa, big comforter wrapped around her and her face in a book.  I don’t think her nose is really that long (grin).

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4x6), Pilot Prera

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6), Pilot Prera

Christmas movies are a tradition too.  We watch them, ad nauseum, throughout the holiday season.  There’s Elf, Santa Clause, Santa Clause 2, Santa Clause 3, Miracle on 34th St (the old and the new), It’s a Wonderful Life, Heloise at Christmas… well you get the picture.   Here’s another picture.  It’s a sketch I did during one of those movies.  The real thing rests on top of our Christmas tree.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4x6), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

 In conclusion, I don’t think there could be a more laid-back Christmas than ours but we enjoy each other’s company and not having to go anywhere.  And, between all the eating of too much of too many things, I did a bit of sketching.  I hope you enjoyed your holiday as much as we did ours.

 

 

 

 

A Visit to Bugel – The Bagel Maker

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In my continuing quest to eat my way through Quebec City, sketching as I go, Claudette and I visited Bugel – Fabrique de Bagels, a small place that makes some of the best best bagels I’ve ever tasted.  Situated at 164 rue Cremazie, it is hidden from the main traffic corridors but the locals know it well.  Besides, there are a great used bookstore across the street that has a lot of art books I can’t afford, but looking is free.

It was a nice way to spend the morning, though we had to cut it a bit shorter than our normal sessions as had things to do before Christmas eve.  Claudette managed to sketch a bunch of the patrons, many of whom were running in to pick up orders and each time someone came through the door, we’d get a blast of Quebec air, which kept us quite alert.  This is the time of year where I conclude that I will be permanently ‘cold’ until sometime in June.

Here’s my sketch.  The funny thing on the side is the stained glass address that rests above the door.  You might be able to make out the 164 (backwards) but it was really a failed attempt on my part.  Too much of an afterthrought.  Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4x6), Pilot Prera, Kuretake brush pen

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6), Pilot Prera, Kuretake brush pen

 

Sketching The Past

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Winter sketching, as I’m mentioned before, is confined my sketching to indoor venues.  That’s ok because there are museums, coffee shops, and librarys to provide sketching opportunities.  But what’s a guy supposed to do when he’s sitting at home and wants to draw?

Photos?  I’m not very good at drawing from photos as I don’t feel I can ‘see’ the same as when I’m actually on location.  It’s also not as much fun for me.  But that’s the choice that Mother Nature gives me so what the heck…photos it is.

What photos, though?  I’ve taken a lot of photos of Quebec City with the thought of using them as sketching material but it’s occurred to me that there may be better alternatives.  Why not sketch stuff I can’t see any more?  Dirigibles, Victorian hats, inkwells, carrier pigeons or steamships?  Or trains….that’s it…trains.

Our society decided we’d subsidize the trucking industry in the 50s and 60s by building a highway system which allowed that industry to outcompete the railroads, that had to maintain their own ‘roads.’   So, now we’ve got LOTS of trucks to draw, lots of trucks burning fuel, and the warehouses of our world have become 18-wheel diesel-powered boxes clogging up our highways.  Oh and we have far fewer trains.  So yeah, I could draw trains.

And what better place to start than with the lowly caboose.  As a kid, train watching was a big deal.  We’d wave at the engineer as the engine went by, hoping he’d blow the whistle for us.  Then we’d wait…and wait and finally, after a bunch of boxcars, tankcars, and hopper cars, here it would come…the CABOOSE…the crummy, the brain box, the dog house…whatever you called it – it was RED!  They were mostly eliminated from trains in the 1980s, replaced by “EOTs” (End Of Train device) which are boring boxes of electronics and a red light that get hung on the end of the train.  Kids don’t watch trains any more and I don’t blame them.  My daughter didn’t even know what a caboose was when I showed her my sketch.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9x6) sketchbook, Pilot Prera, Lex Gray ink.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6) sketchbook, Pilot Prera, Lex Gray ink.

I sketched this one from a black and white photo in a book I own.  It was fun.  My daughter learned what a caboose was.  Maybe I’ll draw some other things she has never seen.

While Walking Through The Park One Day….

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Yvan and I planned a sketching session on St. Denis street and we were to meet there.  This street has many majestic residences and a large grassy area in front of them so it’s an ideal place to sketch.

As I arrived I realized that I’d forgotten my WalkStool.  This is a big problem as my knees and me don’t much like sitting on the ground, for fear that we’ll never be able to get back up.

And so the search began for a sitting place with something in front of me to sketch.  It’s not really rocket science but I wandered around for a while before finding such a combination.  I ended up in the Parc des Governeurs, a small park between the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City’s tourist landmark and the American consulate.

2013-07-20GovernorsPark

Both of these buildings are great sketching subjects but I chose this more humble structure that sits in the park.  Yvan suggested that it was once a toilet but these days it looks to be used by maintenance people.  In any case, it had a bench, in the shade, and so I sketched it in my Stillman & Birn Zeta (5×8) with a Pilot Prera and Platinum Carbon Black ink.  I used Lexington Gray for the stairs in the background.  I’m enjoying the contrast between these two inks.  As always, I used Winsor & Newton watercolors like crayons to add some color.