Drawing Chapel Arches

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Larry Marshall

The Croquistes de Québec held their April sketchcrawl at the chapel associated with the Musée de l’Amérique du Francophone. It’s really hard finding indoor places to sketch in the winter and so I’ve been to this chapel enough this winter to say that I’m ‘all full up.’ Nevertheless, I always enjoy sketching with others.

Turnout wasn’t great, probably because others are as tired as I am of sketching indoors, but there were five of us in attendance and we had fun, though this sketchcrawl wasn’t as long in duration as our summer sessions will be.

I decided to draw some arches. I always have trouble drawing when I have to look upward. I wonder whether it’s because of the view itself or the fact that my sketcher head-bob up and down from subject to paper, is so extreme. Either way, it slows the sketching process and always results in some wonkiness working its way into my drawing. Next month we’re going to sketch the alleyways of Limoilu – outdoors. Spring had better be here by then.

Stllman & BIrn Beta (9x12), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Stllman & BIrn Beta (9×12), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Sketching At A Plant Nursery

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Larry Marshall

I had a great time on Thursday. Normally we meet at the museum to sketch but Claudette knows someone at one of the major plant nurseries and she arranged for us to sketch in their large greenhouses.

We arrived at 10AM and spent the next two hours sketching, chatting, and generally having a great time. As I entered the room I noticed a large concrete tortoise sitting on a shelf. He was gorgeous and I lamented to Yvan that I wished he were on a lower shelf as if I sat on my stool, he would have towered overhead. But luck was with me as they actually had several of them, one of which was sitting on a large flat table at my eye height as I sat on my stool. So I drew him. Isn’t he cute? I should have drawn some ground for him to walk on. I think he would have appreciated that.

Stillman & Birn Beta (9x12), Platinum 3776

Stillman & Birn Beta (9×12), Platinum 3776

When I finished, my back needed a rest so I wandered around, checking what everyone else was drawing. I’m nothing if not nosy. Francine is just back from a couple months visiting the sun in Mexico so it was fun to catch up with her. She’d sketched a stone fish that I liked very much so I decided to draw it too. I decided to do it in my red Field Notes book, a small book that’s providing me way too much fun. I suppose ‘serious’ artists don’t draw stuff like this but I had a lot of fun doing it.

Field Notes (Sweet Tooth Red); Platinum 3776, Uniball UM 153 white pen)

When I finished I realized that it was almost 11:30 so I checked with everyone again to find out how much longer they would be sketching. We typically break for lunch no later than 12:00 and it sounded like today would be no exception. So, I started wandering, looking for something else to draw.

I was in a nursery so flowers and plants were everywhere but I just wasn’t motivated to draw any of them. Not sure why but I was more in the mood to keep drawing garden decorations. I spent time looking at garden gnomes, nearly decided to draw a different turtle but then I saw these fat green frogs. I couldn’t resist. It was akin to drawing a ball with eyes. Hope you like him.

New Tuesday Museum Sketchers Group???

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Larry Marshall

This winter it has become a habit for five or six of us to meet at the museum for a sketching session on Thursday mornings. I really look forward to it. I go on other days as well but it’s fun to meet and talk with some fellow sketchers.

Field Notes (3x5), Pilot Prera F, Noodlers Polar Brown

Field Notes (3×5), Pilot Prera F, Noodlers Polar Brown

Claudette suggested that we meet on Tuesday this week as well, and while some of the ‘regulars’ couldn’t come on Tuesday, she managed to get a couple sketchers I don’t see often to show up so there were seven of us sketching this morning. Why is it so exciting for sketchers to gather together only to ignore one another for extended periods of time? Don’t know myself but it sure is fun.

I started the day with a little five-minute (maybe?) sketch to try out the yellow Field Notes book that comes with the blue and red books I’ve reported on recently. It’s a small wooden statue and I guess the yellow notebook passes the suitability test. I’ll probably do more in this book, though I prefer the red and blue books.

After wandering around a bit I headed to the new nanotechnology exhibit to draw a Mayan 3-tube flute. It’s made of clay and I haven’t a clue why it’s part of the nanotechnology exhibit. Maybe I should have read the plaque.

I’d filled my Falcon with Noodler’s Lexington Gray which I haven’t used in quite a while. I’d forgotten how much its “water-resistant” nature doesn’t work on papers with lots of sizing. I applied some color with watercolor pencils and a waterbrush and everything acquired a gray overcast from the ink. Back to DeAtramentis Document Black for me.

Stillman & Birn Beta (9x12), Pilot Falcon, Noodler's Lexington Gray

Stillman & Birn Beta (9×12), Pilot Falcon, Noodler’s Lexington Gray

Museum Sketching Fatigue

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Larry Marshall

As the internet brings me sketches of cherry blossoms, crocuses popping out of the ground, and various pronouncements of spring, we’re bracing for a foot of snow tonight. Spring will come to Quebec but I’m beginning to wonder if I’m going to live long enough to see it.

We were back at the museum again, a place I’m really tiring of this year. In the past the exhibits have been very interesting and full of variety but the main exhibit this winter has been Egyptian Magic and, well, there are only so many times one can sketch another stone statue of a mummy or the favorite Egyptian god, Bes. To make matters worse the exhibit is very dark. You can’t even see many of the display items it’s so dark and after a while it becomes downright depressing.

Stillman & BIrn Delta (8x10) softcover, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & BIrn Delta (8×10) softcover, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Yvan and I sketched this guy because he was outside the exhibit and there was decent light. It’s not a real artifact, however, as you can buy one at the museum store 🙂

Stillman & Birn Delta (8×10) softcover, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

After that I decided to go to the Australian aboriginal exhibit. It’s mostly tapestries and such but I found these guys fun. Meet Mimih, who is something of a jokester god. They’re tall (8-feet or so), thin and they hide in the cracks between the rocks in Arnhem land. It took forever to put all those dots on him with a Uniball white pen but at least there was light in the room.

The snow is starting. Maybe I should trade in my sketchbook for a snowboard (grin).

They Say It’s Spring

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Larry Marshall

They say that this is the first day of spring. It must be true but from where I stand, it doesn’t seem like it. It’s currently -15C outside. It looks like mother nature is going to tease us with a warm up this week, though, and we may actually get above freezing so there is hope.

During our Thursday sketchers gathering at the museum last week, I got in the mood to challenge my abilities to draw stuff and I chose subjects that weren’t all that photogenic but that I thought might be difficult for my brain to get my hand to move in the right direction.

Stillman & BIrn Delta (8x10), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & BIrn Delta (8×10), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

I started with this headrest. I saw it as a challenge because it was both handmade from wood and also centuries old. Thus, in addition to having odd, curved surfaces, it was also somewhat asymmetric and the top was a bit askew. It was a fun subject.

There’s a new exhibit all about nanotechnology and they’re got a series of microscopes, showing their development history. I chose this early, somewhat simple microscope as an ellipse/alignment challenge. It worked out ok but I really should have drawn it larger and taken more time with it. Baby steps.

Stillman & Birn Delta (8×10), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black