Waiting for Spring

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I feel like one of the guys in Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot. Every day they show up to meet with Godot. Every day he doesn’t come. He never does. I’m beginning to think spring in Quebec is like Godot as while it’s officially been spring for a month, we’ve yet to see anything resembling spring.

I thought I’d share a few sketches I’ve done while waiting for a decent sketching day. First, here are the last two sketches I did of the Nigeria exhibit at the Musee de la Civilisation. Both were done in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon (5.5×8.5) sketchbook.

Lexington Gray in TWSBI mini. Watercolor pencils.

Lexington Gray in Noodler’s Creaper. Waterbrush with a few drops of Noodler’s Polar Brown in it.

This next sketch was my attempt to defy the elements. I went out one morning because it was all the way up to 4C and it wasn’t windy. As I sketched it got windy. Then it started raining lightly. I was driven from the street by hail and thought I was going to freeze to death (grin). Done in a Stillman & Birn Zeta (5.5×8.5) sketchbook with a TWSBI mini filled with Noodler’s Lexington Gray.

Lastly, I took my new Wahl-Eversharp Symphony 913 pen for a test drive. This is an old 14k gold flex nib pen and while it’s old technology, the nib is wonderful. I was playing with ‘quick-sketching’ some buildings. That term is relative and as I’m a slow sketcher, what I mean by this is that I only spent about 20 minutes doing this sketch on S&B Epsilon paper. Watercolors applied in my typical, inept fashion. I’ve got to devote some time to learning watercolors.

The Future Of Sketching Is Good In Quebec City

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Every year, Le Soleil, the premier newspaper in Quebec, conducts a writing and drawing contest for young, creative citizens. The Musee de la Civilisation just set up a display of the art entries and it is truly inspiring. As I looked at all the great drawings I couldn’t help but think of a quote from Danny Gregory’s The Creative License:

When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked one day what I did at work. I told her that I worked at the college – that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, “You mean they forget?” – Howard Ikewoko

Kids do know how to draw. And we adults do seem to forget, both how to do it and how much fun it can be. We in Quebec City are lucky that Le Soleil puts so much effort and resources behind fostering creative activity from our youth. Thanks, Le Soleil.

Here’s a few photos to give you some idea of the variety and quality of these drawings. These kids are good.

White-Face, Nigeria Style

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Some of the Nigerian masks are coated with a kaolin clay, making them very white. In places the clay has worn off and so some of the wood shows through, giving the masks an interesting texture/coloring. I was only semi-successful in capturing that look in this mask.

Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook, Pilot Prera and Lamy Safari, both filled with Noodler’s Lexington Gray. Brown and black watercolor pencils provided some color but I really needed a cream pencil for this one.

Make Friends With Museum Staff

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I got out of French school on Wednesday and rushed downtown to meet with Claudette at the museum. We sketched for a couple hours and then went out to the lobby area where we sat in big comfy chairs and Claudette told me of plans for a trip she’s taking in May.

As we talked, one of the security guards came over, a well-suited man in tow. It turned out, this guy was responsible for the organization and implementation of the Nigeria exhibit, bringing it here from France. The security guard had told him of our sketching and she wanted us to show them to him. Which we did. It was pretty special. I’m not sure the best part was meeting the guy or that the security guard thought enough of us to go out of her way to introduce us. Have I mentioned how great our Musee de la Civilisation and its staff are and how well they treat who sketch there?

Here’s the sketch I did that day. It’s truly an amazing piece and I didn’t do it justice. What’s truly amazing is its size. You see the ‘head’ at the bottom? It’s big enough that a guy puts his head inside it. The front has been broken off but you can get an idea how large the piece is from comparison to a man’s head. The figure must stick up on top of the wearer’s head by three feet. I don’t know how they wear these huge things. This piece is also unique within the exhibit for its reddish-brown color – much more red than anything else.

Done in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon (5.5×8.5) sketchbook with a Pilot Prera and Noodler’s Lexington Gray. Color comes from a couple brown, a red and a black watercolor pencil.

Easter Weekend Sketching – Great Fun!

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I started French classes last week and it sucked the life, or at least the time out of my sketching week. So I hit the four-day weekend called Easter with wild abandon, sketchbook in hand.

I’ve already reported on my Friday adventure with Yvan and Claudette but on Saturday I met Yvan at the museum and we sketched and talked about sketching. Yvan has incredible patience and I have an endless stream of questions.

Then we headed downtown to see Terry Bouton, sitting in her window again. This time she was doing quick oil paintings, on mylar, while people posed for her.

From there we went to the library and did some quick-sketching of people sitting outside, while we sat in comfy chairs looking out at them. Life is sweet.

Sunday was a repeat performance. Yvan and I had a great time sketching at the museum but as it was supposed to be warm in the afternoon, I had my eye on the door.

By the time we left, though, I was hungry…very hungry and I don’t think about much besides food when I’m hungry 🙂

We wandered around the old port area, assessing the situation there. The ice is gone from the St. Lawrence but the personal boat harbor is still iced over. We successfully added to our list of ‘gotta sketch…’ subjects. By the time we got to the Farmer’s Market we decided we had to sketch something and, jointly, chose to sketch of one of the hotels (it has great tower in the middle of it) and the convent that’s behind it.

It was only as we were setting up that I realized that I didn’t have a large sketchbook besides my museum book. I could have sketched in that but it’s only got a couple more pages left in it and I’d decided it would end up woth 100% museum sketches. So, with my S&B Alpha (4×6), I decided to do a ‘baby sketch’ of the tower alone.

Then we headed down to see Terry again as Sunday was sculpture day. People were posing while she sculpted clay masks of their likeness. Pretty cool.

With Starbucks next door, I decided that I needed a scone and cup of coffee. Yvan obliged and followed me in. He sat at a window counter and started sketching people who were walking by and standing at the intersection. Two hours later and whole lot of ‘how do you …’ and ‘that’s amazing…’ from me, and explanations from him and it was time to head home. Can it get better than this?

I think I’ll save my Monday exploits for the next post as this one has gotten rather long. [Sigh]… tomorrow it’s back to French class.