The days are becoming cool and raining and between that and days when my hands won’t let me draw that coincide with the good days, I’m not getting a lot of opportunity to sketch on location. But Yvan and I did get out and into the alleyways of old Quebec to do a bit of sketching. This, and the smile on my face, was the result.
The Artistes dans les Parcs leader, Denise Bujold arranged for us to spend a Thursday sketching at a winery on the Ile d’Orleans, not far from Quebec City. She surprised us by using her superpowers to give us ideal weather as well. There were sixteen of us scattered around the winery, drawing, painting or enjoying each other’s company. It was quite a day.
I decided to draw this scene, not part of the winery but across a field from it. I was disappointed that I didn’t get more depth into this sketch.
We all took a break for lunch, sitting at some picnic benches available for visitors to the winery. The sun was so inviting that I wanted to lay down in the grass and fall asleep. Ah…to be a kid again where that wouldn’t be seen as rude (grin).
Rejean had done a small vignette of a cluster of grapes and I decided I needed to do one too. I have a tough time walking down hills right now but I found I could walk along a road that wound its way around some buildings and served as a way for tractors to get to the lower level. Eventually I got to the head of one of the fields and found a cluster of grapes near an end post, creating an ideal subject. I was pretty happy with the result and the entire day.
Denise Bujold is doing an amazing job of organizing events for us to attend. While most art groups are held together by the love of a particular medium or way of working, this one is held together with smiles. It seems everyone is working in a different medium, some carry easels, others tripod stools. But everyone shows up with smiles on their faces and that’s all we need.
This week we assembled at Domain Cataraqui, which at one time was a huge estate. I guess it’s still a huge estate but now it serves several purposes, most central of which is a cooking school. For a sketcher, there is a large cluster of unique architecture and gardens that are all surrounded by forest. Oh…and it’s quiet, one of my favorite things.
Yvan and I arrived a bit early and we chose an area to start sketching. I decided to do a larger sketch of a view of the building complex and because I’m slower than molasses as a sketcher, it took me until lunch to complete it.
Everyone else had set up and were painting on the other end of the estate so I headed up there to take part in the smiles, some chit-chat, and maybe some lunch. It was a gorgeous day and sitting in front of a multi-million dollar mansion just felt right.
When faced with opportunity, a sketcher shouldn’t hesitate and Yvan and I are no exceptions. Miriam invited us to sketch at her place on Ile d’Orleans and we jumped at the chance. The location is beautiful and Miriam is there to sketch with us. What’s not to like?
The day was delightful, though my hands seemed to have a mind of their own. These days, straight lines are becoming hard to make. But we had a lot of fun sketching together and enjoying the day. Here are a couple of my sketches from the day.
When I can, I’ve been joining the Artistes dans les Parcs, a painting group. Denise Bujold has created this series of friendly gatherings in Quebec City parks where people show up and create art. Yvan and I are the odd fellows of the group because most set up easels and paint in oils, acrylics, and watercolors while we scribble away in our sketchbooks. It’s a fun group, though, and they accept our ‘odd’ ways.
We met at the Parc des Moulins on Saturday and spent the morning drawing/painting. This place used to be the Quebec City zoo until a political battle over funding caused the whole thing to go belly up. Now, part of it is a park and it gets its name because of a windmill (moulin) that lives in the park. On this day, we all clustered around a picnic bench, and I chose this scene to draw.
