Tag Archives: Location Sketching

Sketching An Inuit Art Piece

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Quebec has a rich Native American community, from the Shawnee who helped Pre-Canadians fight Americans during the war of 1812 to the Inuit (Americans might still call them Eskimos) who manage to live in the very cold northern parts of Quebec.

2014-01-10InuitTree_72Our Musée de la Civilisation has a large permanent exhibit dedicated to Native American history and art.  This is a beautiful piece of wood and soapstone carving.  It’s about two feet tall and the soapstone face has a long tail on it that allows it to sit in the hollow of the tree trunk.  It’s quite stunning and I didn’t do it justice.

Done in a Stillman & Birn Zeta (6×9) with a Pilot 78G, followed with Albrecht-Durer watercolor pencils and a waterbrush.

 

Sketching Quebec’s Past

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Our Musée de la Civilisation has a permanent exhibit of Quebec artifacts.  They are organized roughly along the lines of Quebec’s history, starting with the results of archeological digs and then progessing through 400 years of its history.  Celine Dion is somewhere near the end of the exhibit.

I thought it might be fun to sketch a few of these antiquités and this is the result.  Done in a Stillman & Birn Zeta (6×9) using a Pilot Prera (Platinum Carbon Black) and a Wahl-Eversharp flex nib pen (Noodler’s Lexington Gray).

2014-01-10TempsQuebeqois

Sketching Haiti Skull Art

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There is an exhibit at our Musée de la Civilisation right now called Haiti In Extremis, at least that’s what it says on the wall as you enter.  I think it may be Latin for “weird stuff from Haiti” but I’m not very good with Latin.  Anyways, this is an exhibit of art that has a heavy emphasis on scaring bad spirits away from the places that display it, so much of it is designed to be scary.  Another component of the art is that the sculptures are composed of old car parts and other assorted junk.  I’ll be honest.  It doesn’t appeal to me.

But I was sketching at the Musée last Sunday with Yvan, Claudette, Pierre and Celine.  We had a ball and several of us sketched what amounted to a human skull, perched on the base from some sort of rack.  The skull was draped with a shawl and fake hair added to one side.  This ‘unit’ was stuck on top of a television set.  Don’t ask me why or what as I might not say the right thing.

But as with all sketching, it was an interesting challenge and lots of fun.  Here’s my depiction of the piece, though I omitted the television set.  Done in a Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook (6×9) using an Wahl-Eversharp gold nib pen (love the flex in this pen) and Noodler’s Black, which smeared a bit when I added color (watercolor pencils/waterbrush).

2014-01-05Haiti_72

 

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 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