We headed to Berthier last Thursday, to enjoy each other’s company and because Claudette has a new project – sketching Casse-Croutes. I don’t even know what you call them in English but they are generally smallish, roadside food dispensaries.
Our first stop was a Casse Croute that sits on Rte 132 near Berthier, Quebec. My sketch was going well until I started adding color. I made a big mistake, though I only half know what it was. I started adding shadows to the building and the shadow color started melting the Quin Gold already in place on the building, causing a mess. Could be that the Quin Gold wasn’t dry. Could be that I used too much water in the shadow. Could be that I rubbed too hard. In any case, I made a mess. I post it here as an example of a sketch gone wrong. Other than a bit of grumpling at the time, it was still fun.
It was time for lunch so we headed for the marina/park in Berthier, scored a great spot overlooking the St. Lawrence, and Louise started digging food out of a big case she brought along. My goodness did we eat…and eat. And drink. Wine and sun can certainly mellow a sketcher. By the time I was done consuming a gazillion calories and a sufficient ration of alcohol, I was ready for a nap.
But time was a wasting and we were sketchers. We piled into the car and headed to a Casse Croute called L’Extra. Claudette and Louise had already drawn that one but they wanted to draw some of the “extras”, which were a bunch of plywood cutouts of all sorts of stuff. I have to be honest, between the wine, the sun and the goofy sketching subjects, I was less than enthused. I still wanted my nap. But I sat down with the rest of them. Yvan took a photo of us. I share that photo with you as it looks like we’re sitting on the side of a road praying. I’m sure I had my eyes closed. I did get out a sketchbook, though, and quickly doodled a few of those “extras.” It was more fun than I thought it would be. I think the wine helped.