How could I walk by this place without drawing it? I haven’t exaggerated the colors – they are shockingly bright. But with the mini-garden and its own personal fire hydrant, it is also kinda cute, at least I think so.
Tag Archives: watercolor
Quebec City Tugboats
We get a lot of large ships either docking in Quebec City or passing through the most narrow portion of the St. Lawrence. In either case, tugboats are often required to shove them this way or that. So, within the confines of Bassin Louise, our protected harbor there are always half a dozen tugboats awaiting assignment. Just before I left for Ottawa (the reason this blog went silent for a few days) I did this sketch of one of the big ‘ocean’ tugs. A segment of a huge grain elevator is depicted (I hope) in the background.
Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black
Not All Quebec City Buildings Are Old
If you only view Quebec City through my sketches you’d think we only had old buildings, all built before the 20th Century. Part of “artistic license” is the ability to choose my subjects and I do prefer the older buildings. Quebec City does have modern buildings, however. They’re just boring, like they are in most cities.
But stick a bunch of flags in the scene, as exist along Boulevard Rene-Levesque near our Grand Theatre and even tall block boxes like the Delta Hotel start to look ok. The Delta Hotel is still boring, but the flags are cool (grin).
Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black
Sketching The St. Louis Gate In Quebec City
This is a scene I’ve been thinking about ever since Yvan pointed it out to me. You have to climb to the top of the St. Louis Gate into the old city, and then walk to its south side. This is the view looking back on the gate tower.
The best part was that early in the morning the gate was in sun, but I could sit in the shade – sketcher ecstasy. I sketched as a steady stream of tourists wandered the path in front of me. A couple came to see what I was doing and we had a nice chat about sketching. People are so nice.
I’m really enjoying the use of my Pilot Falcon fountain pen. Some suggested, before I bought it, that this pen isn’t fine enough. Maybe I just got lucky but with a light touch I get a finer line from it than I do from any of my other fine pens, and it handled Platinum Carbon Black wonderfully. Admittedly it’s a bit pricey but it has become an everyday tool for me which makes the price easier to tolerate.
Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black
Another Hydrant?
I was out for a long walk, with no intention to sketch, but as always, I had my sketching stuff with me. I was walking down Rue St. Claire from Rue St. Jean and saw this little scene containing my favorite thing – a fire hydrant. My stool comes out, I sat down, and the next thing you know, this little sketch was completed. Sometimes it’s the little things that count.
Moleskine watercolor book (5×3), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black