Citroen 2-CV

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Larry Marshall

The Citroen 2-CV (deux chevaux-vapeur), is something of a blast from the past. While not made in production numbers until after WWII, it was designed in the 30s to move a couple adults at a whopping 37 mph along French dirt roads. I don’t know if they ever made it to the US but I never saw one until I came to Quebec and even here, the only ones I’ve seen are display items at a large restaurant. But they smack of a pre-Volkswagon where inexpensive cars were kept light, low-powered and without power everything.

I went with Claudette to the north side of the city because she wanted to draw a large bear statue. When we got there I found the 2-CV and knew what I had to do. The subject I was looking at was painted bright red with white polka dots. Why they had insulted this vehicle in this way is beyond me but I colored the sketch in more traditional colors.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10x7), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Even So, The Sketchcrawl Was A Success

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Steps in the garden at Bois du Coulonge; Stillman & Birn Beta (6×9), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Sometimes luck is on your side; sometimes it’s not. I’m still not sure which of these occurred yesterday, when we held our second Croquistes de Quebec sketchcrawl. The day before the event the weather reports were suggesting 20-30mm of rain for the day – not exactly what you want to hear as an organizer of an outdoor event. But when Sunday morning arrived, the report had been downgraded to 1mm of rain. It was windy and it had cooled significantly from the nice temps we’d had all week. Things, shall we say, were not looking good.

But, intrepid sketchers that we are, Yvan and I arrived at Parc Parc du Bois de Coulonge bright and early with smiles on our faces, though our collars were turned up and hats pulled down tight onto our heads. We started sketching, hoping beyond hope that someone else would show up. I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that we were doubtful.

Agathe drawing a Hosta plant.

But alas, there are other ~~crazy~~ dedicated sketchers in Quebec City and soon, Agathe showed up. She’s a passionate sketcher that did a great sketch of me sketching. I wish I had it to share with you. Later she became interested in drawing some of the plants in the park.

Guylaine, trying to keep warm

A bit later Guylaine arrived and began drawing a building that’s right out of one of Disney’s animation movies, with more gables and turrets resting on its small footprint than any building deserves. I think she was the really smart one among us as the building houses a coffee shop and she got to sit at a table while she drew.

Yvan, my mentor, doing what he’s always doing – drawing

It was cold, however, and very windy. Rain seemed just around the corner, though it didn’t actually rain until Yvan and I were heading home late in the afternoon. The two women had had enough by lunch time and left but since we had established both a morning and an afternoon meeting time, for those who couldn’t make it in the morning, Yvan and I felt compelled to stay. We headed to the afternoon meeting place, and while our spirits were cold, they had yet to be dampened, at least not literally.

Yvan decided he was going to draw the grand building at the head of the large garden/fountain/open area that is the heart of the park. Being of more modest abilities and energy, I decided to draw what is now the information center. It used to be the hub building for three greenhouses that splayed out in three directions but had been removed. I found the building fascinating, particularly from my perch on a hill above it. I still need to draw some of the garden behind it.

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×9), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

One thing Yvan did during the day was accumulate drawings of the lamps and fixtures within the park. I thought I’d share it with you to give you some indication of this guy’s talent. These are his “quick sketches,” each taking him only 2-3 minutes.

In the end, the bad weather reports and the cold reality diminished our numbers and was unlucky. On other hand, four of us had a great time getting together to sketch. Overall I think we were lucky because we all went home happy and dry. Besides, it’s supposed to warm up tomorrow and I’ll be out sketching.

Marc Taro Holmes Comes To Visit

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Larry Marshall

I’m fortunate to have some sketchers that I can sketch with regularly but I confess that sometimes I feel isolated from things like urban sketchers, as we have no regional group here. So when Marc Taro Holmes said he’d like to come to Quebec City to sketch, I was pretty excited. I’m a big fan of his and have learned a lot from his book and from his Craftsy courses.

He and his wife Laurel were to arrive Sunday morning and so I was sitting outside their hotel, waiting for them to arrive. It seemed natural that I should sketch the hotel while I waited.

With that done, I did this quick sketch of a bronze bust of a famous Vietnamese guy, whose name eludes me.

I was getting a bit worried because they were very late in arriving. As it turned out, most of their hold up was due to problems finding a place to park. By the time they did show up, I’d done this sketch of a lamp post. It’s amazing how much you can find to draw without moving.

As Marc and Laurel had driven from Montreal, they needed a break before we headed out sketching and so we headed for a coffee shop. Anyone who has met Laurel and Marc know they are very laid back, and absolutely wonderful people. We talked about sketching, did the typical kibbitz about some of our sketching kit and then I made my confession.

“Marc, I’ve got a problem. We’re going to sketch in places where I can sketch any day of the week. I can’t look over Marc Taro Holmes’ shoulder any day of the week. It’s going to be hard for me to sketch today.”

I’m pretty sure Marc thought I was kidding but…well, I wasn’t. As it turned out, my statement was prophetic. While I was embarrassed that all my pen could produce was babble, and precious little of that, I learned so much from watching Marc draw and from our conversations. This is the only sketch I managed to produce while Marc produced four 16×20 sketches during the day. It was a bit embarrassing.

Marc, doing his thing on the terrace near Chateau Frontenac

The conversation stuff was another “problem.” Marc can talk while he draws; I cannot, and our conversations were near nonstop. In spite of me dropping the sketching ball, the day was very special to me and I hope Marc and Laurel enjoyed themselves in Quebec City. Thanks, Marc, for a great day. I promise to sketch more next time.

Here’s the ‘thing’ Marc was doing. He spent the day working with dip pens and doing magic

Not Quick Sketching, But Quicker Sketching

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Larry Marshall

I’ve been following Marc Taro Holmes’ new Craftsy course and as a result of that I’ve been doing a lot of his ‘single-line drawing’ sketches. This is an exercise with two purposes – to get your hand to loosen up and to simplify what you are drawing. It’s like doing push ups so you can hit a baseball. It’s not the way to do most drawings. It’s also not the equivalent of a blind contour drawing as you’re looking at what you’re drawing.

Canson watercolor paper (6x9), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Canson watercolor paper (6×9), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

It’s taking me a while to get so I could do it, and I’m far from doing it well, but this exercise is really opening doors for me. I struggle with the fact that my typical “style” is rather tight and SLOW. Sometimes I want to capture something without spending a lot of time. Sometimes I want to capture a LOT, and don’t have the time given my style. So developing an alternative is useful to me. Note that I didn’t say replacement.

Anyways, I’m starting to try to bring some of that more loose, quicker approach into my sketching and here’s an example. Not a single-line drawing by any means but one done more loosely and more quickly than is my norm. New adventures.

It was done on the same 6×9 sheets of cheap watercolor paper that I’ve been using for my single-line exercises. BTW, Marc’s course is spectacular, providing more bang for the buck than most courses. I highly recommend it.

A Day With My Daughter

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Larry Marshall

My daughter returned to school last week but before she did we spent one morning wandering around old Quebec City, enjoying an unseasonably warm day. We sat down near City Hall in the new fountain area south of the building and while we chatted, I did this quick sketch.

We continued walking, talking and generally wasting time until hunger took hold. We decided to head to one of my favorite spots for lunch, McDonalds. Not any old McDonalds as I’m not particularly fond of the food, but rather the McDonalds on St. Jean street, where you can sit in a window on the 2nd floor and look out at great scenes and down on lots of tourists. I’ve done a lot of sketches from this perch (their coffee ain’t bad). On this day, since I didn’t want to spend a lot of time ignoring my daughter, I did a simple sketch of the window contents across the street. The pitcher was tall and very striking. I doubt I did it justice in the few minutes I spent on it.

My daughter was supposed to meet someone downtown in the afternoon and so eventually we split up and I headed home. On my way I found that the Levis Marathon, an annual event, was finishing up. I decided to quickly sketch some of the spectators lined up along the receiving path the runners took to the finish line, along with the proverbial guy who feels the need to climb up on the fence to be above everyone else.

It was a good day. Not a lot of sketching but just enough. In writing this I’m realizing just how far behind I am in blog posting as this day took place more than a week ago. I’ll try to get caught up ‘real soon.’