New Pedestrian Bridge Over The St. Charles River

A really nice addition to our city, from the perspective of people like me who walk everywhere, is the new pedestrian bridge over the St. Charles River.  It provides a direct link between one of the major shopping areas and a path up the hill (big hill if you’re old like me) to the older part of Quebec.

I finally got around to drawing it, approaching it as a pen only drawing.  Maybe it would have benefited from color but I like it just the way it is.

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

Trinity Church Entry Gate Sketch

Yvan and I had been quick-sketching people at Place d’Armes in Quebec City when the sun just became too much for us so we started walking around.  We decided to sketch the entry gate to the small parking lot in front of Trinity Church.  Mine is rather spartan as my arthritis was acting up and I was having some difficulty directing my pointy device.  Thought I’d share it anyway.

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

Posing People Sketching

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

People are not my favorite subject.  Don’t get me wrong; I like people, though modern society causes me to question that regularly,  but what I mean is that I don’t like sketching people.  I do it because they’re everywhere and it’s good pointy device practice, something I need to do a lot.

Every year a local portrait group holds outdoor sessions where people get together to do quick portraits of each other and anyone they can entice from the park where it’s held.  I go because I like the people and the ambiance of the sessions, but prefer to draw whole people rather than floating heads.  This requires that I work pretty fast, faster than I’m comfortable doing.  Maybe that’s a good thing.  Here are a few of the ones I’ve done.

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048

Summer Sketching On The Plains Of Abraham

The largest park in Quebec City is officially called Battlefield Park.  It’s just west of the “old city”, the walled part of Quebec City and it was named Battlefield Park because this is where the British climbed the cliffs and fought the French for control of the city in a famous battle.

But we locals still call it the Plains of Abraham because, well, that’s what it’s called.  Abraham was a farmer who farmed the land before the Brits came along and it’s not likely that we’ll start calling it Battlefield Park anytime soon.

On this day, however, we were there to sketch, near a large open area that has rollerblade and running circuits that measure, I think, a kilometer around.  I sat in the sun and made this sketch of what used to be the natural history museum before it was decided that we didn’t need one 🙁

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5.5c8.5), Platinum 3776

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5.5c8.5), Platinum 3776

Nouvelle France People Sketches

2016-07-09-57TraitCarre2Yvan and I went to Galleria Margelis-Paradis in Trait Carre because the Charlesbourg Watercolorists were having an event to promote the gallery, their group, and their upcoming participation in Quebec’s annual Fete de Nouvelle France celebration.

2016-07-09-57TraitCarre1I’m not much of a people sketcher, particularly when the targets are moving, which was the case as the watercolorists were talking with visitors, showing them period items and paintings.  But, practice makes perfect and I’m sure I only need to draw a couple thousand more before I figure it out.  Anyways, here’s a few of the sketches I did that day.  All were done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha softcover sketchbook with my Platinum 3776 pointy device.

 

2016-07-09-57TraitCarre32016-07-09-57TraitCarre4