Sketching At Domaine Cataraqui

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Larry Marshall

It’s clear that Domaine Cataraqui was once the humble abode of some rich folks. These days, however, there’s a public component to the estate grounds, including a large parking lot, a communal garden and a bunch of picnic tables. The main building now houses a cooking school. Still, there seems to be an active staff maintaining the place.

For our regular sketching group, it’s a wonderful place to go sketching because one can sketch nature or architecture and so we headed there on a nice sunny day to burn some ink.

I found a nice spot under a huge elm that had a good view of the greenhouse attached to the mansion and went to work. For some reason I found it more complex than I thought it would be but I got lost in the sketch and well over an hour had passed before I came out of my haze.

Stillman & Birn Delta (8x10), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & Birn Delta (8×10), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

I spent the next few minutes wandering around, mostly taking a break but I found this large pile of equally large rocks with flowers planted in the crevices. I always find drawing rocks to be lots of fun and these were no exception.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5.5x8.5), Platinum 3776, PLatinum Carbon Black

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5.5×8.5), Platinum 3776, PLatinum Carbon Black

Then it was time for a snack and sketcher talk. Hope you like the sketches as much as I liked doing them.

Sketching At Jardin botanique Roger-Van den Hende

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Larry Marshall

When I want to draw some plants I head to Jardin botanique Roger-Van den Hende. It’s a very large garden that is something of a large library of plants rather than a coordinated esthetic garden. So many textures, so many shapes.

Stillman & Birn Delta (8×10), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Our sketching group met there on Thursday and the weather couldn’t be better. Lots of sun, little wind, and it was warm enough that even I was searching for some shade. I was planning on drawing flowers but didn’t draw a single petal. Funny how fickle the sketching eye is and I went down a different path. We’ve scheduled a sketchcrawl in the garden for July so many I’ll get to the flowers then.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5x8), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5×8), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

The Vikings Showed Up In Quebec

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Larry Marshall

Some 500 years before Columbus, the Vikings were wandering around what is now the east coast of Canada. They came by ship of course and some of their descendents decided to make the trip again. Thirty-six days crossing the Atlantic resulted in them showing up in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

They decided to visit Quebec City and they showed up last Friday. I thought it might be fun to draw the ship so I headed down to the harbor area. Unfortunately, a lot of other people decided they should go to the harbor area too, armed with cameras, bicycles, strollers, and there was a guy with a wagon. There were enough people to make it difficult to stick your cell phone in the air to get a shot of the ship without a dozen heads in the picture. Sitting down to draw the ship caused one to get a great view of a lot of…well, let’s just say the view of the people was lower than those heads. The best I could do was to stand, actually having to move around to get a glimpse of the nose of the boat as I did this quick sketch of the dragon figurehead.

Field Notes, Platinum 3776

Sketching Around Bassin Louise

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Larry Marshall

A popular place in Quebec City is Bassin Louise, the sheltered harbor area where people keep their sailboats and mini-yachts. There’s also a large market complex that is popular with tourists and locals alike. And that’s where our sketching group was on Tuesday morning. We’re finally getting decent sketching weather so we’re taking advantage of it.

This is a view I’ve wanted to sketch for a while. It’s nothing special but the trees frame up a group of building shapes that has always attracted my eye.

Stillman & Birn Delta (8×10), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Sometimes I’m attracted by a shape, sometimes a texture. Unlike a lot of artists, I’m not driven to find “great scenes” but rather I like things that look like they’d be fun to draw. I think this sketch illustrates this point. I was walking along the harbor and found the sacks that cover furled sails create an interesting draped fabric shape and I thought they’d be fun to draw one… and so I did. Ain’t sketching fun?

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5x8), Platinum 3776

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5×8), Platinum 3776

While Out For A Walk

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Larry Marshall

Lots of people get their exercise and their dose of mental health by wandering through forests. I’m more likely to do my walking through our old city, an almost fantasy world from the 18th Century. Soon it will get really crowded as the tourists start to show up but right now it’s a restful place to walk.

This was a blustery day, putting a chill in my bones as I walked along so I was reluctant to stop to sketch. I was looking for something I could sketch quickly, before the wind took its toll. There are a series of large stone sculptures that form a fence near the seminary. I hid from the wind behind a large statue and did this sketch as quickly as I could. Hope you like it.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (8x5), Platinum 3776

Stillman & Birn Alpha (8×5), Platinum 3776