Drawing From Photos

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Larry Marshall

A lot of people draw from photos. In fact, a lot of people think the very idea of drawing on location to be too scary to consider. Some say that drawing from photos is easier than drawing from life because the camera has reduced the image to two dimensions.

So what’s wrong with me? I love sketching on the street, drawing from life, and interacting with those very people that scare others. I sort of understand this part because mostly it’s a fear of the unknown that causes others to avoid this form of sketching. But what about photos? Why do I find it soooooooo hard to draw from photos.

Not only does drawing photos seem hard for me, it’s also not very much fun. Instead of drawing and enjoying the process, I feel as though I’m just copying someone else’s vision of the universe, even if I took the photo. I almost feel numb while doing it, as opposed to the fully-engaged feeling I have when sketching from life.

So I repeat, what’s wrong with me and how do I fix it? I spend five months of the year where it’s hard (impossible?) to work outdoors. Drawing from photographs would go a long way towards making the long dark winters of Quebec more bearable. Is there a pill I can take?

Anyway, I felt the need to draw a building and it’s too cold to do so on location. I turned to photos, in this case a photo I took this summer of Le Petit Hotel, one of the cutest little hotels in Quebec City. Done on Stillman & Birn Beta paper with a Namiki Falcon and DeAtramentis Document Black ink. Then I added some dabs of Daniel Smith watercolors. I didn’t do it justice.

It’s Winter – Gone Fishing

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Larry Marshall

I knew it couldn’t last. I was forever hopeful but our balmy low 40s (F) December has come to an end with freezing rain. Oh well, I’m way behind in my blogging anyway.

Last week I met the gang at the museum but I decided to give the Egypt exhibit a break from me and sat down instead in front of a fishing exhibit. Seems there was a prominent Canadian ethnologist by the name of Richard Gauthier who a day job in the field, but his hobby was fishing and the study of fishing practices in Canada. To that end he amassed a large collection of old fishing equipment. We’ve been blessed with a small exhibit of some of these fishing artifacts and they’re great sketching subjects.

I started with Richard’s hat. I have much to learn about the use of watercolor pencils to achieve tonal gradation but here’s my rendition of his hat.

Stillman & Birn Delta (5.5x8.5), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Stillman & Birn Delta (5.5×8.5), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

When I finished with the hat I got up and wandered around the museum. Half of it has been closed due to a fire that took place in early summer (construction guys seem prone to burn things down as they try to build them up) and I wanted to have a look at what it looked like now that that wing of the building was open again.

I spent so much time doing my walkabout that by the time I got back the other sketchers were nearly finished for the day. I did this quick sketch of a fishing scale as they finished up. You know what they say, “A bad day fishing is better than most other days.” I think that applies to sketching as well.

Stillman & Birn Delta (5.5×8.5), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Another Sketch From Egypt

Posted on December 9, 2015 by Larry Marshall

This time of year is always tough for me on the sketching front. Besides it being a busy time of year, I always get lethargic while getting used to living in the dark (we’ve only got about 9 hours of daylight these days). To top it off, this year I’ve had the flu and now seem to be have some intestinal thing. This has been very disappointing because our weather has been very atypical (ie low 40s F) and I should be out walking/sketching.

Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is that while I continue to draw (scribble?) at home, I haven’t gotten out sketching much. Here’s a sketch I did the last time I was at the museum. The model for it is a leg from a ‘bier’, the low table upon which a sarcophagus was placed.

This guy is Bes, a dwarf god. He must be popular as there are several versions of him in the museum’s Egyptian exhibit. He was hard to draw because it’s so darn dark in the exhibit that it’s hard to see the shapes. On several occasions I had to swing my booklight around and shine it on him so I could see the statue.

Stillman & Birn Beta, Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

The Collectif Visits The Conservatory

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Every year Collectif president Lucienk Provost organizes and event at the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec, where we listen to musicians practice for upcoming recitals and we get to draw them. I really enjoy the event though I sometimes find myself with eyes closed, just listening to the music.

This year I was very much in quick-sketch mode and I did a pile of people sketches, none of which took more than a couple minutes and most of them were pretty messy. It didn’t matter; it was fun. Here are a few of them that I added a bit of color to and scanned.

At some point I decided this was an opportunity to draw shoes. I struggle with shoes when I’m quick-sketching and so I felt studying them a bit more than I have would help. Here’s a page of shoes that I drew that day.

A Morning At The Museum

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Larry Marshall

I realized that I never posted sketches from my last trip to the museum. My only excuse was that I was still dealing with the flu and wasn’t much in a blog-writing mood. But as I looked at them I realized they told a story of the day in a way that only sketches can.

When I arrived at the museum I was feeling ok. Not great but not good enough that I hadn’t cancelled the trip. There were five of us and we all headed to the Egypt exhibition. I realized two things. I’d forgotten my stool and I’d forgotten my light.

The exhibit is pretty dark so it was hard to find a subject where I could get enough light on the paper to see what I was doing. I found this little statue (about 40cm high) and if I stood close enough to its glass case, the spotlight that was on it illuminated my paper, sort of, and so I drew. I remember noting how hard it was to draw something when you stand that close to it. I used a watercolor pencil to add the color.

By the time I finished this sketch, though, I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. I went sat down and stared into the dark for a while, interrupted only by a couple short conversations with students about the drawing above. Mostly I was waiting for the others to finish as I just wasn’t up to standing and sketching.

Eventually I got up and walked to where Claudette was sketching and sat down to watch her. She was mostly in the dark but I decided to do a quick-sketch of her. Mostly I was making it up as it really was hard to see her. In fact, I completely missed the fact that she had a sweater laid over her shoulders. We need more light in our museum exhibits (grin).

When the others were done we headed to the museum cafe for coffee and to share sketches and to talk sketching. This must have revitalized me a bit as while we typically leave after coffee, I decided to stop and do a quick sketch of a fishing creel that’s part of a small historic fishing exhibition going on right now. I guess I felt guilty that I hadn’t accomplished more.

I remember thinking how stupid itwas to be drawing in a museum while feeling the way I do. I also remember thinking that the dedication to drawing that drew me to the museum was why I can’t understand people who say they don’t have time to draw.