How Did Apollo Carry His Water?

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Larry Marshall

The “Olympus” exhibition at Quebec’s Museé de la civilisation includes a series of art-laden pots and pitchers that make ideal drawing subjects, as long as you’re not easily frustrated by a bunch of design details. This particular jug is about a foot in diameter and a bit taller. My view of it, from sitting on my stool, only exposes the bottoms of some of the characters and trees that wrap around the top of it but the placard explains that these folks are Apollo and his buddies and that the jug was used to carry water. I mostly take a ‘who cares’ attitude towards such things as the important thing to me is that it’s a stunning piece and something fun to draw.

I started with a pencil to organize basic shapes and to lay out the detailed banding – banding that drove me nuts as I tried to draw it. I used Strathmore Series 300 (vellum) bristol for this drawing. Once I was happy with the proportions I switched to a Pilot Prera (F) filled with De Atramentis Brown ink, one of the new permanent fountain pen inks made available by the company.

I can’t recommend these inks enough. They’re a dream come true. If you haven’t seen them, go to Jane Blundell’s blog where she’s mixed up a series of colors using them. Then you’ll want to head to Goulet Pens to buy some (grin). To me these are the ink equvalent of Stillman & Birn’s great sketchbooks entered my life. Both provide ideal solutions to my sketching material needs.

Apollo water jug

I’m a ‘line’ kind of guy. I’m not a watercolor guy who happens to do his drawing with a pen. And so when the drawing is done, I feel that I’m done. If I add color it’s mostly done as an afterthought. In this case, however, I decided to try adding some color. Rather than using the original, I scanned it and printed to Canson Montval Watercolor paper. This is my first time using this paper and it may be my last. I much prefer the paper in my Stillman & Birn sketchbooks when it comes to using watercolors. Anyways, this is what it looked like when I was done abusing the paper, or it me.

Polar Bear Sketching As Winter Approaches

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Larry Marshall

It’s becoming difficult to sketch outdoors in Quebec City. It’s comfortable to walk as long as one wears proper attire but to sit and sketch for any period of time is beyond my capacity to endure.

So now the scramble to find indoor subject matter begins. Claudette and I met at the Université Laval library and their small natural history exhibit. It’s a small display and we’re running out of sketching possibilities but I decided to draw the head of a polar bear who, I suspect, had ducked into the library just to get out of the cold. Sketchers aren’t the only ones that find Quebec winters harsh.

I had fun doing this in my Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook, though it’s only a 6×8 and I would have like a larger format for this sketch. Have I mentioned how much I like Faber-Castell Albrecht-Durer watercolor pencils? They’re the only ones I’ve found where a waterbrush can completely eliminate the pencil lines. Anyways, I hope you like Mr Polar Bear, though he might be a she.

Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook, Pilot Falcon w/Platinum Carbon Black ink

Michaud Service – A Limoilu Landmark

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Larry Marshall

One of the fun things about sketching in Quebec City is being able to sketch buildings that have been repurposed and, sometimes, being able to see photos of what the building used to look like. There are a couple photos of Michaud Service from the 50s but they’re copyrighted and so I’m not going to post them here.

Michaud Service used to be an auto service location, with two large bays and an office area, all accessible from the street side of the building. There were also several bays whose doors faced north, on the other side of the building. These days it seems that the north access bays are used for storage while the front of the building houses a couple social service organizations. My sketch was done as I sat in a small park area on the south side of the building, an area that used to be a parking lot associated with Michaud Service.

In a way, this is a fairly plain building but the huge sign that still resides atop the building, and the somewhat organized graffiti along the south wall just spoke to me. There was also the matter that I could sit in the sun which kept me from completely freezing as I sketched. I did high-tail it for home and tea to do the color once I warmed up.

Michaud Service: Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot/Namiki Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Quick-Sketching Quebec Tourists

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Larry Marshall

I’m participating in Sketchbook Skool’s ‘story-telling’ course and this week we were blessed to have Melanie Reim as our instructor. Melanie draws at the speed of light, with loose, flowing ink lines and mostly these depict people on the street. She’s an excellent instructor but more important, she’s an incredible inspiration.

So, I found myself sitting on benches in our downtown area drawing people. I’m a slow sketcher so my attempts at quick-sketching anything always come up short. Nevertheless, I really enjoy doing this. In fact, it’s the only kind of sketching of people that I do as they are not my favorite subjects. Here are some of the sketches I did. Hope you like them.

The Teggert Bell At Mt Herman Cemetery

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Larry Marshall

I discussed a sketching trip I made to the Mt. Herman cemetery here in Quebec City in my last post. I love that place, though I’d rather be walking around in it than “resting” in it, if you know what I mean.

I hope to sketch there quite often, though outdoor sketching days will soon become few and far between as winter is knocking on the door. But I had to return to sketch the Teggert Bell. It is in honor of the family who have acted as cemetery directors for five generations and the way it’s displayed just begged to be sketched. Here is my meager effort at doing just that.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black ink