Outdoor Car Show Sketching

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Last weekend I went to a large, outdoor car show in the park at Montmorency Falls, just east of Quebec City. This is a show of hundreds of cars with thousands of people paying their eight bucks to look at them.

I mention this because people who haven’t done much location sketching often express how they’d be afraid to sketch in public. I always respond with “people interaction is one of the best things about location sketching because only nice people ever talk to you and the interactions are always fun.”

I have to revise that view just a little bit. Am I a bad person for getting annoyed at LOTS of people being really nice? I started sketching and because there were so many people telling me how talented I was, asking if I was an artist, and telling me that they couldn’t draw, that I had a hard time actually getting any sketching accomplished. Still, it was a great day and the people were wonderful.

I’m old, so ‘cool car’ means cars that existed when I was a kid. In 1956 I was eight years old and Ford Fairlanes were everywhere. And so, with every car imaginable on display, it was nature for me to find a ’56 Fairlane to draw. I sort of messed up the wheels but otherwise I was happy with this result.

Stillman & Birn Gamma, Namiki Falcon, De Atramentis Document Black

After attracting more than my share of observers while doing that long sketch, I decided a better tactic might be to wander around, drawing pieces of cars. That was fun too and I did this page. I didn’t complete the ’30s Ford front end as, well, I was getting really hungry and I would have had to stand in line for an hour to get something to eat. I didn’t have the patience for that so I decided to go home.

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

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

Urban Sketching On A Rainy, Windy Day

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Larry Marshall

What’s an urban sketcher to do when the weather turns bad. One thing is to go with other sketchers to a cafe where you can sketch and talk about sketching, pointy devices and anything else that might interest the group.

That’s what we did on Thursday. We drove to a great cafe and bakery on Ile d’Orleans. Called La Boulange, it’s a grand old house that’s been converted to a cafe. Great place to sketch in good weather and bad as there are lots of great scenes to sketch outdoors when weather permits.

On this day Yvan and I rattled on about fountain pens while Fernande and Claudette had fun drawing a family. Looking through a passageway from the bakery to the restaurant tables, I saw this scene.

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

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

A Great Day At Trait Carre

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Quebec City is a mosaic of small enclaves, one of which is Trait Carre, an area filled with big, beautiful elms and maples that surround beautiful old homes, some of which have become art galleries. There’s a library with grass on its roof, a large dual-steeple cathedral and an ambiance of a very rural community, though it sits in the middle of the hustle and bustle of our city.

The sketchcrawl was coordinated by Daniel Chagnon and was part of the schedule of activities organized by Le Collectif (http://calvaq.com). We weren’t a large group this day but, in a way, that’s what made it fun. I got a chance to chat a bit with Lucien and Diane, who do most of the organizing for the group. My French is very poor and I get lost when there are a lot of people speaking French simultaneously so the low turnout this day was a bonus for me.

Daniel knows the area well and we got a tour of the area before we each headed off in our own directions to sketch. I decided to sketch this house and did it in a small format (3×5).

Moleskine watercolor notebook (3×5), Namiki Falcon, Platinum Carbon ink, Daniel Smith watercolors

We met for lunch, chatted about upcoming events, fountain pens and ink and we shared the sketches we’d done thus far. We decided to get back to sketching and I headed to a scene I wanted to sketch. It called for a larger format and the largest book I had with me was a Stillman & Birn Beta (6×8) so I decided to do a two-page spread. I spent nearly two hours on this one and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent and the conversation I had with a young guy who was interested in my work. Hope you like it too.

Stillman & Birn Beta (6x8), Namiki Falcon, Platinum Carbon ink, Daniel Smith watercolors

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×8), Namiki Falcon, Platinum Carbon ink, Daniel Smith watercolors

Quebec City In 1759 – Well, Almost

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Larry Marshall

The short story that everyone is taught about how Quebec City went from being a French colony to one in which the British were in charge goes something like this:

Battle on the Plains of Abraham
The Brits sailed up the St. Lawrence and spent some months lobbing cannon balls at Quebec City. The French lobbed some back. Then the British climbed the cliffs to the Plains of Abraham, where General Wolfe and General Montcalm pointed their respective troops at one another and after a short battle, the British prevailed and both Wolfe and Montcalm were killed.

There is truth to that story but so is “The Roadrunner ran fast and Wile E. Coyote got an anvil on his head.” There’s just more to it than that. In point of fact, there were battles up and down the St. Lawrence and Wolfe and Montcalm’s troops had more than one encounter.

What does any of this have to do with sketching? Well, Le Collectif arranged a sketching adventure to Maison Vezina, a beautiful house and historic site that sits on the east side of Montmorency Falls, a huge waterfall that is fed by the Montmorency River and which dumps into the St. Lawrence.

This house is fully renovated and was home to the Vezina family for much of its existence. But prior to that this area was one of the encampments of General Wolfe. Back then, the buildings were a bit more spartan but neverthess, they indicate the longer-term nature of the battles for Quebec. Wolfe had built a fort, complete with dry moat as well as several buildings on this high perch above the St. Lawrence. From there he could see the French troops on the other side of Montmorency Falls and had a good view of Quebec City itself. It’s likely that he could also see his ships and encampments on the south side of the St. Lawrence. It was an ideal place if you were a British general.

There are many things to draw in this area but I settled on the more mundane, the main doorway into Maison Vezina. I just liked the rocking chair on the porch.

Stillman & Birn Beta (6x8), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×8), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Warm Up With Small, Quick Sketches

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Sometimes, when I’m out walking/sketching I start with some small, quick sketches, done in an inexpensive 3×5 or 4×6 sketchbook. This gets the juices flowing but also, this allows me to capture little scenes or things that I would otherwise pass by.

I’ve been doing a lot of them this week, mostly because I’m so thrilled by the sun that I just want to walk around in it rather than sit for extended periods sketching. I’m getting a good tan (grin). These quick-sketches also give me a chance to play with different approaches and I’m convinced that they have teach me more than any of my longer sketches. Here are a couple examples:

3x5 sketchbook, Namiki Falcon, PCB and Kuretake #13 brush pen w/PCB

3×5 sketchbook, Namiki Falcon, PCB and Kuretake #13 brush pen w/PCB

3×5 sketchbook, Namiki Falcon w/PCB.