A Sketcher’s Audacity To Try

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Larry Marshall

With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything. – Napoleon Bonaparte

So there I was, a street sketcher, faced with a room full of plaster casts. No buildings to sketch. No cars. Not even a single fire hydrant to sketch. So, with all the audacity I could muster, I decided to draw Napoleon Bonaparte. And he was right; audacity did let me try. However, my limited skill limited my ability to do it. Such that it is, here is my pen and ink drawing of General Bonaparte, drawn about 10″ high using a couple Pilot Preras and Lexington Gray.

One thing that might interest to some is that I have diluted Lexington Gray about 50% with water and use this for most of the early ink work. I follow this up with normal strength Lex Gray. This approach seems to have some potential beyond my use of it as a quick-sketching approach.

Danny Gregory is also right. Sketching is all about the process, not the end result and I had a lot of fun doing this one.

Funky Sketcher Or Just In A Funk

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Larry Marshall

The last couple weeks have been tough on my psyche. My clock says its spring. I should be able to sit in the sun and sketch. But Mom Nature is still playing tricks on me and that has put a damper on my sketching enthusiasm.

Has this happened to you? I’ve managed to keep a pen in my hand, sketching in museums and at indoor ‘still life’ sessions, but it’s the tantalizing thought of sketching outdoors that has caused my funk. The temps get just warm enough that I think I can go out. I do and it doesn’t take a long time to realize that an extended, sit-down sketching sessions is just not possible because it’s not quite warm enough and it’s only the walking that is keeping me warm. If only I liked to sketch from photos.

Got on a bus at a turnaround point. Was the only one on the bus, so I sketched the area behind the driver. Pilot Prera.

Doesn’t everybody sketch earbuds? Pilot Prera.

So, my sketching has become a long series of small quick sketches, some done outdoors but often done while I’ve been bored by TV. Here are a few of those sketches. All of these were done in my cheap 3×5 notepad. Pen is noted. I guess I’m slowly starting to do a bit of sketching outdoors but ‘slowly’ and ‘bit’ are the operative words. Will it EVER warm up?

Just some doodles. Pilot Prera

A streetlamp in Place D’Youville. Pilot Prera.

A garbage scene. Color added before scan. Hero 578.

Got to a lunch appt. a few minutes early. One of the food court kiosks. Hero 578.

Mountain Equipment Co-op Seat-In-A-Sack

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Larry Marshall

All summer I wander the streets of Quebec City, carrying my messenger bag of sketching stuff. It’s what I do. I love it. But to wander for two to three hours with art supplies hanging from your shoulder causes me to be more than a little bit concerned about weight.

So, while my Walkstool is my normal butt-holder, and while it’s lighter than most tripod stools and provides me with a comfortable (most don’t) and stable (most aren’t) throne, I often leave it behind (bad pun intended) just to lighten the load.

When I’m without it I search for, and rarely find, park benches or other seating provided for the many tourists who are wandering with me. More often than not, however, I end up sitting on concrete steps, stone walls, or on the grass which is ok, but often hard in all senses of that word. It’s also the case that I have have an ongoing dispute with Mother Nature over these seating areas as she likes to dump her morning dew over everything and/or she rains on my parade route, leaving these seating areas, even those park benches, wet and uninviting.

So, it was with some excitement when my sketching buddy Yvan showed up with this gizmo. It’s sheer genius and made for sketchers like me. It’s got a simple valve that you use to blow it up, providing a ripstop nylon surface on the top and a rubberized, tough fabric on the bottom. What could be better?

I’ll tell you what! It’s a pad like this that ends up this small and that is easy to get back to this size. Unlike so many of these ‘see how small the bag is’ products, this bag could actually be smaller and still accommodate the seat so you don’t have to beat yourself up to get it back in its sack. Mountain Equipment Co-op, my butt thanks you.

Sketching With The Three Musketeers

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Snow has started to melt but it’s still piled high, so Athos, Porthos, and Aramis (the Three Musketeers) decided to meet and draw indoors at Celine’s house. She has a studio full of plaster casts that provide fodder for sketching fanatics. They invited me, d’Artagnan, along as the token anglophone of the group.

We had a great time sketching, looking at art books and talking about our upcoming road trip to Ottawa’s National Gallery. More on that later.

I sketched a couple smaller, painted plaster figurines in a Stillman & Birn sketchbook using a Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray ink. Faber-Castell Albrecht-Durer watercolor pencils were used to add a hint of color. I love these pencils more everytime I use them as you can completely eliminate the lines made by the pencil.

It’s not location sketching but it’s sure good practice and goodness knows I need that.

Sketching in 1900s Toronto

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Larry Marshall

While there is evidence that spring will arrive, it’s not here yet and so as I watched Murdoch Mysteries I thought, why not go to Toronto in the 1900s and do some sketching. Isn’t that why they give me a pause button? Sure it is.

If you’re unfamiliar with Murdoch Mysteries, it smacks of P.G. Woodhouse farce while depicting the Detective Murdoch, of the “Toronto Constabulary” as he uses his brilliant mind and impeccable manners to solve crimes. Set in the early 1900s, the staging is a sketchers dream.

Here’s my initial attempt at capturing just a bit of the ‘action.’ Done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7) using a Pilot Prera and Lex Gray ink. This was lots of fun. Maybe I should head to CSI: Miami. I bet it’s warmer there.