Downtown Sketching Event

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Larry Marshall

There is a series of outdoor sketching events, in Quebec City, this year. Time will tell how organized, or not, they are but Yvan and I attended on a week ago.

We were to meet downtown in a small park near the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City’s challenge to Hogwarts. It’s a grand hotel and there’s a huge fountain in the park next to it.

While waiting to meet up with Yvan to walk downtown, I did this little sketch of a branch that caught my eye. It doesn’t take much to get my pen moving.

When we arrived there were four other sketchers there and we all scattered about and got busy sketching. Yvan and I took advantage of the fact that they’d been working on the fountain and it was dry. We climbed into the fountain, sat on its perimeter and started sketching some of the fountain details.

We broke for a quick lunch and then it was back to sketching. I love this large steeple and so it became my target. About half an hour into the sketch it started to rain so we hot-footed it to the Subway a block away. We got lucky and got a seat by the window and we drank coffee and sketched through the window. There was a bike race going on and the rain didn’t stop it so we had plenty to sketch. I’ll spare you my quick sketches from that session as they’re particularly bad.

Once the rain stopped, though, we returned to finish our sketches. Here’s the steeple. Done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7) using a TWSBI Mini and Platinum Carbon Black.

It was a great day, though I remember being particularly tired at the end of it.

The Summer Rush To Sketch

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I waited so long for it to come. Now summer is here and I’ve been sketching up a storm. I’ve also forgotten to post anything on my blog so consider this a catch-up post.

I do some sketching on buses, though I find them too bumpy and bouncy for my untrained eye and hand. Still, here’s one of the many sketches I’ve done of seated passengers. I do these in a small, cheap sketchbook I buy at the dollar store.

I love boats and our marina is, once again, full of boats. Most are sailboats but this one is one of my favorites. This one was done in an S&B Alpha (10×7) with a TWSBI Mini and Platinum Carbon Black ink.

I was at my mother-in-law’s 3rd floor apartment for dinner one night and after dinner I went out on the balcony and got this birds-eye view of a tall church steeple. This church is going to be turned into an indoor skateboard place this fall. S&B Alpha (4×6) with TWSBI Mini/Platinum Carbon Black.

This is a paper mill that’s near the old port area in Quebec City. It’s been the center of brisk debate where one day it was going to close and the next it wasn’t. So far it’s stayed open and they seem to be doing well.

Those are a few of the sketches I’ve done recently. I’ll try to remember to post some more but heck, it’s summer. Around here, when the sun’s out, you go out cuz it doesn’t happen all that often.

Have You Ever Gone Sketch Floating?

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Saturday was 39th Worldwide Sketchcrawl day and we held ours here in Quebec City. Unlike most parts of the world we’re still cold this time of year. In fact, we just got six inches of snow. But we were fortunate to have anticipated an unfriendly weather and scheduled our sketchcrawl so that we could be inside or out and still have fun.

This is a model of the ferry boat we were on all day.

We all met at the ferry boat dock and then spent the day going back and forth across the St. Lawrence River (takes about 10 minutes) between Quebec City and Levis, the town on the other side. There are actually two ferries and they change places from their respective sides of the St. Lawrence every 30 minutes.

Claudette, talking with one of the passengers

And the situation couldn’t have been better for sketching. It was too cold to go out onto the decks, at least for me, but inside the first-class passenger area it was warm and accommodating. The area is complete with toilette facilities, drink and snack vending machines, and comfy chairs. We were surrounded by large windows, complete with slightly sloped ‘shelves’ for us to rest our sketchbooks as we sketched outdoor scenes. Both sides of the St. Lawrence present great views of interesting architecture and there were things nautical all around us.

Susanne, showing proper use of the window “studios” we were provided.

The line up: Pierre, Celine, and Katherine

The line up: Pierre, Celine, and Catherine

Yvan, taking a break while talking with Peter.

Yvan, taking a break while talking with Jean-Marc.

We had ten people show up for the sketchcrawl and a lot of sketching got done. The one sad thing, for me, is that some didn’t seem to ‘get’ the notion that group sketching is a social event that should include a sharing of sketches as well as conversations about them. Some left without even saying goodbye. So, unfortunately, I don’t have the typical group-sketch photos and I don’t have sketches from other people to share.

Here’s a photo I took over Claudette’s shoulder. The quality of her sketches is surpassed only by her bubbly personality.

Of course, I do have my own sketches. This first one is a small sketch I did as an experiment, which demonstrated that I didn’t know what I was doing (grin). I tried to ‘draw’ the sketch using watercolors, adding some ink lines afterwards. It was done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6) sketchbook. I have much to learn about using watercolors.

I did two other sketches, one from the front and the other from the back of the boat. Both were done with my new TWSBI Mini and Noodler’s Lexington Gray ink. I really enjoyed working in my new Stillman & Birn Zeta (5.5×8.5) sketchbook. I hope these sketches reflect the cold, dreary day you see in the accompanying photo.

10 Favorite Sketches of 2012

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Larry Marshall

2012 represents most of my sketching experience to date. I started trying to draw cubes back in September of 2011 but I didn’t start doing any location sketching until spring of 2012 as the Quebec snow melted. It’s been a fantastic journey as I’ve climbed the early stages of the sketching learning curve. I thought it might be fun to do a ‘ 10 favorites’ post, where I present what I think are some of my best sketches of the year. I’m often accused of being ‘down’ on my sketches. Here’s my chance to show people that I’m actually happy with some of them (grin).

Because 90% or more of my sketches have been done on the street and most have been buildings, I thought I should vary my choices by selecting one sketch from ten different categories, just to increase the variety. So, here they are. I hope you like them.

Building

This is, by far, the hardest selection. I’ve done a LOT of building sketches and none of them really stand out as extraordinary, though many are personal ‘favorites’. I’ve chosen this one because it, in the extreme, is the brightest (grin).

Vehicle

I’ve drawn a number of cars, trucks and even heavy equipment. I chose this one, however, because the subject was so darn cute when it found it lounging in the old port area of Quebec.

Fire hydrant

Pete Scully, by example, caused me to notice and sketch fire hydrants. I don’t know what it is about them but once you start looking at them you realize they vary considerably and that fire hydrants have oodles of personality. I chose this one because I like the composition.

Samurai helmet

I’ve tried drawing from photos and it’s ‘ok’ but sketching, for me, is about going places and seeing things. But winter in Quebec City is just too cold to be outdoors so we’re all driven indoors. At first I found that depressing but once I saw the Samurai exhibit at our museum of civilization, I was hooked on indoor sketching. I started sketching Samurai helmets, which are amazing, serving to protect heads as well as indicate status, identity, and even to serve in ceremonial roles. It’s hard to choose a single helmet sketch as I love these amazing pieces of hardware. I chose this one as it nearly drove me nuts drawing all those flame thingies.

Human

This was hard as I haven’t drawn many people. It’s on my ‘to do’ list for 2013. But I chose this one, a very simple sketch, because I liked the way I was lucky enough to capture the movement of this guy’s coat as he walked along.

Ship

Quebec City has an active port so I’ve sketched several ships. I chose this one because I remember struggling with all the decks and railings. I also have memories of how much fun I had that day as I sketched with my buddy Pierre.

Steeple/Dome

Quebec City is heavily populated by domes and steeples projecting upward from their supporting structures. I love sketching them and have done a bunch of them. I chose this particular sketch because it features both domes and steeples in a single sketch.

Telephone pole

Maybe you have to be an urban sketcher to appreciate them, but I like telephone poles and all the wires, transformers and connectors that hang from them. I did this sketch on blue paper and liked the way it turned out.

Tree

I’ve drawn a bunch of trees but mostly they’ve been ‘studies’ where it was just the tree and nothing for supporting material. This one, however, was done one day when Pierre and I headed out one Sunday morning looking for things to sketch. It was a crisp autumn day and the maples had started to change colors. I decided to make the tree the main attraction, putting the building in the background.

Vignette

To fulfill my promise of ten sketches, I’ve added this vignette to complete the set. I was sketching with my friend Nicolas and we were sitting in a church yard, a church that has become a library. I looked over my shoulder and could see part of this restaurant, liked the red umbrellas and so I drew it. Again, it brings back memories of a good day.

I’m looking forward to 2013 sketching. For a while I’m going to have to work indoors but sometime around April we’ll start having a day or three where it’s tolerable to sketch outside and you’ll find me on the streets all summer. Happy New Year, everyone.

Where The Dogs Run In Quebec City

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Larry Marshall

The keepers of Quebec City have a sense of humor, or so it seems. On every tourist map there is a pointer to Passage du Chiens, or Dog Passage and people flock to see it. Well, maybe not flock as it’s down the street from lots of other stuff and they simply see it as they pass by.

But there it is, complete with official street sign – Passage du Chiens. It is a passageway to a road/parking area for residents who live in the area and whose house fronts on a ‘street’ that is no longer a street but rather a walkway for pedestrians. And the Passage du Cheins does sit between two art galleries that are quite photogenic and so many photos are taken of the spot. I suspect dog lovers get a kick out of showing it to their friends.

Towards the end of our outdoor sketching season I was wandering around, trying to get in some last minute plein air sketching, and I decided to sketch this famous landmark. The sun was bright, which was great because the temps were just above freezing. Before I finished, though, the sun had moved behind the buildings, shading the entire area. This, and the fact that I’d been sitting for an hour caused me to be quite cold so I quickly snapped this photo and moved on to find more sunny ground.

And then I completely forgot about the sketch, until today. I decided it was time to add some color and this was the result. Hope you like it. It was done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook (10×7) and a Pilot Prera pen filled with Noodler’s Lexington Gray ink.