Opportunistic Sketching In Ottawa

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Larry Marshall

I was in Ottawa to pick up my daughter, who was coming home for the summer. My wife and I decided it would be a good idea to spend a few days there and, I decided it would be a good idea to also drive to Toronto to see a Blue Jays game, though in my defense, it was my daughter’s idea.

And so it was that I found myself as a tourist, with my family, as we wandered the city, mostly just eating, drinking and relaxing. Many have discussed the difficulties of sketching while on excursions with ~~non-believers~~, err… non-sketchers and I’m no exception to this struggle. Still, if one takes advantage of opportunities and is happy with quick-sketching, sketching can become part of the experience. Here are a few of the small sketches I did while in Ottawa.

We were walking along the Rideau Canal, enjoying the sunshinek and using phrases like “it’s hot today” for the first time in months. We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. My wife and I decided to give our daughter a rest (that’s our story and we’re sticking to it) so we sat down on a bench. I got out my sketchbook (3×5) and did this quick sketch of a couple girls talking on the other side of the canal.

Once my daughter was well-rested we moved on. We walked and walked and walked. If you lined up all of our steps in a straight line it would be a very long straight line. But it was fun even for an old man like myself.

We sat on the grass in front of Parliament, along with a bunch of other like-minded (tired from walking no doubt) folks and, as a group, worked on our sunburns. After that was accomplished we went across the street to the information center. I’ve found I can get a lot of sketching done while women are in the bathroom and so I started quick-sketching people walking across the street. Parliament should be in the background somewhere but there’s only so much bathroom time available and I was pushing it. Color was added later that evening.

At one point we were in a park not far from the US embassy and the art museum. I don’t know its name and you probably don’t care anyway. We were drinking bubble tea. Lots of other folks were enjoying the day and I decided to quickly sketch a few of them. Here’s one of those sketches, again done in the 3×5 sketchbook.

We went walking again when we returned from Toronto. There are numerous places where you can look over the Ottawa River and I decided that I needed to do a small cityscape. I typically fail at this because I try to put too much detail in too small a space, so I was determined to keep this one spartan, quick, and clean. I hope I succeeded. I did this one in a Moleskine watercolor book; the brown came from a waterbrush filled with dilute Noodler’s #41 brown ink.

Last and probably least I’ll share with you a sketch I did of my new favorite hyper-sweet drink. It’s called bubble tea and is composed of tea, a bit of milk and sugar, a choice of flavoring, and a bunch of huge tapioca balls, called “babba” that are soaked in something that makes them black. They give you a big diameter straw so you can suck these things up along with the drink. Great opportunity to play with your food.

Spring Has Sprung – Almost

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Larry Marshall

It’s been rainy and windy for the past couple days but it was sunny today, though we still had 30 km/h winds. It had reached 5C as I headed out for a walk, but the wind made it feel much colder. As I walked I talked to the trees, asking them why they hadn’t started to bud since it was already mid-April. They just shook their heads in the wind and said, “Are you kidding me?”

But I was determined to do some walking and, the optimist in me thought about sketching. I walked for over an hour and was on my way home when I saw a possibility. I tucked myself into the entrance of a building and out of the wind. I was still in the sun though giving me the best shot at not freezing to death. I started sketching a church steeple that’s associated with the hospital near my house. I worked as quickly as I could and this is the result. Hope you like it. Hope it gets warmer sometime soon.

Stillman & Birn Gamma (10x7), Pilot Falcon, De Atramentis Document Black

Stillman & Birn Gamma (10×7), Pilot Falcon, De Atramentis Document Black

A Caffeine Dose At Dose

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Larry Marshall

I’ve started going to a tiny coffee shop that’s in the high-rise district of Quebec City. The shop is called Dose, for reasons known only to them. The view is horrible for sketching but they have the best Café americano in the city.

Being an opportunistic sketcher, I thought I’d pull a Liz Steel and draw my cup. “Spring is slowly coming to Quebec City and I hope to be on the streets sketching in a week or so, ” he said optimistically.

Stillman & Birn Beta (6x8), Pilot Falcon SEF, De Atramentis Document Black

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×8), Pilot Falcon SEF, De Atramentis Document Black

Sitting Tall While Drawing Baby Buddah

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Larry Marshall

I love my Walking Stool. I’ve been using it for two years and it still looks like new, in spite of use nearly every day. They’re more expensive than most tripod stools but so much more comfortable and I need my butt to be comfortable when I draw. Mine is the 18″ tall seat and I had the opportunity to try out the 22″ seat and wanted to see if I preferred it.

The first problem I had to over come was what to sketch and where. It’s still too cold to sketch outside so I set up a statue on my kitchen table and, sitting in the middle of the room, started sketching. The first thing I noticed was that my drawing support was gone. The taller stool unbent my legs to a point where I no longer had a lap upon which to rest my sketchbook. Bummer…I like my lap. I need that support. Or do I?

A problem I have as a sketcher is bending over too much to sketch. This causes two problems. The first is that it hurts my back to be bent over for extended period. I’m old and back pain makes me grumpy. The other thing is that I have to move my head a lot more from a bent over drawing position to an upright viewing position, in an extreme form of the typical bobbing-head sketcher behavior.

The taller stool forced me to figure out how to hold my sketchbook against my body. Lots of people do it. I struggle with this but I really should learn how. I’ve been drawing for three years and should have figured it out by now.

In the end, this taller stool weighs a bit more than my shorter one, is a bit harder to carry, and the only thing I “gain” is being forced to learn to sketch like a big person. I guess I’ll stick with my 18″ version (I’m 6-feet tall by the way).

Here’s the sketch I did during this experiment. I used my Pilot Falcon and De Atramentis Document Black ink. Watercolors are Daniel Smith. Sketchbook is a Stillman & Birn Beta (6×8). Hope you like it.

A Quick Trip To Ottawa

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Larry Marshall

My daughter was coming home from Ottawa during her Easter break from school. In a brilliant bit of planning we decided to go get her rather than have her take the train to get home. In this way we could spend a day and a half in Ottawa, visit museums, and I could sketch.

The plan was perfect. We got up early Thursday morning and drove to Ottawa. Skipping the details of the day, our plan was to visit the Natural History museum starting at 5PM because on Thursday nights the Ottawa museums are free. And so, with sketching gear on my hip, we headed inside.

To be honest, I was overwhelmed, both by the five floors of great stuff to sketch and by the fact that I was with wife and daughter and we wanted to see as much of the museum as possible. I managed one tiny quick-sketch of a sandhill crane while we were resting our feet. But we had lots of fun and besides, I’d be at the art museum all day tomorrow. Plenty of time for sketching.

And so it was that the next morning we headed to the art museum, arriving at opening time. This is where the flaw in my plan became evident. It was Good Friday. All the museums were closed. In fact, most of Ottawa was closed.

But it was a nice day. It was sunny, 8C and no wind. Given Quebec City’s winter, this was nothing short of a miracle so we sat down in front of the art museum. My family said, “Why don’t you sketch?” I felt guilty about leaving them doing nothing while I sketched but they talked me into it.

Sketching quicker than I normally draw, I drew the top of the Parliament library that was peaking up above the trees. When I finished I realized that I HAD SKETCHED OUTDOORS. Finally!!! It was April 3rd…a day to remember.

It only took 20 minutes or so but did I mention that I got to SKETCH OUTDOORS? Does this mean spring has finally come to my world? Well, not really. We drove back to Quebec City yesterday and woke this morning to look outside at the snow that was falling. Instead of sketching, I wandered aimlessly behind a snowblower. Will it ever end?

Stillman & Birn Gamma (10x7), Namiki Falcon, De Atramentis Document Black

Stillman & Birn Gamma (10×7), Namiki Falcon, De Atramentis Document Black