New Restaurant In Quebec

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I don’t have an official count but I think Quebec City has more restaurants per capita than most cities on the planet. I pass no less than 9 of them on my way to a new one that has just opened and I don’t live in what one might call a dining hotspot.

But open it has, a new Vietnamese restaurant named Ubong. If the outside is any reflection of the inside, though, I’m sure it will be successful as they’ve completely remodeled the building and painted it with this stunning yellow and green paint and trim.

It’s on a well-traveled street and every once in a while I’d have to stop as a truck or bus blocked my view and there was a steady stream of pedestrians, some of whom stopped to say hello. I really enjoy this part of street sketching. It was sketched in my Stillman & Birn Zeta (5×8) and I used a Uniball Signo UM-151 (.38) in black, followed by drawing the window and door frames using a brown-black version of the same pen. W&N artist watercolors added a bit of shadow and color.

The Thrill Of The Chase

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I’m a sketcher… a street sketcher. What excites me about sketching is the process, not the results. I love the feeling I have as I sit, studying a subject, drawing lines – oblivious to everything around me. I love people who stop and ask questions. Often they’re the same questions (eg – Do you sell these? Did you go to art school? How long have you been doing this?) but there’s always a smile attached and some simple chit-chat that connects me to my fellow humans.

And part of the process, for me, is finding something to sketch… the thrill of the hunt. It’s pretty rare that I plan to go some particular place to sketch some particular thing. That takes half the fun out of it for me. I like to just strike out, in any direction, looking for something that catches my attention.

The other day I did just that. I walked to a main intersection near my house. There were metro buses that head east/west/north/south and I decided to hop the first one that came along. I found myself heading east and, once I had passed areas I knew well, I got off the bus. I continued, walking east until I came across a small park.

I walked into it and sat on a bench. I looked around. There were ravens in one end of the park and I thought about sketching them. There were swings, slides, and what looked like a hamburger that kids could ride. It sat on a large spring. These would make a nice sketch, too.

Then I noticed a small mechanics shop stuffed between two larger buildings. I walked to that corner of the park, picked out a shady area, plunked myself down on my tripod stool, and started this sketch.

My hunt was a success. I spent a blissful hour while my pen entertained me as no television ever could. Life is good.

Stillman & Birn Zeta (5×8) sketchbook; Pilot Prera pen; Platinum Carbon Black ink; W&N artist watercolors

Big Building In A Little Town

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Quebec City is not an industrial town. We have no massive factories except for our paper mill. Rather, we have government…lots of government as we’re the capital of the province of Quebec. And we have the oldest walled city in North America and cruise ships visit us regularly. We do tourism. And so we have lots of politicians and tourists. We also have UbiSoft, the video game manufacturer so we have animators…story-tellers. In short, no big factories to sketch.

But we are also a port and the largest building around that port is a huge grain elevator and ship loading facility along the northern side of our marina. Lots of train cars and boats visit the place as grain is moved onto awaiting ships. In short, it’s a big, intimidating building to sketch 🙂

I took it as something of a challenge and so became my sketch of the Bunge grain elevators. Done in a Stillman & Birn Zeta (5×8 x 2) sketchbook with a Pilot Prera and Platinum Carbon Black ink. W&N watercolors give it a bit of color. Click for a larger image.

Portraits In The Park

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Last weekend I attended an annual event that brings portrait artists together in a park area in front of the Gallerie d’Art Magella-Paradis. This gallery, in association with the La Societé Artistique de Charlesbourg organized the event and Alain Fortier and Lucien Lanoie were the prime movers to make it happen.

René Chamberland doing his thing.

And what a fun day it was. By my count there were a dozen or so portrait artists who drew each other and anyone else they could get to sit for them. René Chamberland even sketched me. With great company, in a great place, and with a dose of great weather, the day was pretty special.

Richard is drawing a lovely lady who volunteered to pose for him.

Luceien Lanoie ran the 20-minute sessions and helped portrait artists as he walked around the area.

Lucien Lanoie ran the 20-minute sessions and helped portrait artists as he walked around the area.

Some of the artists taking a break to get something to drink and chat a bit.

I’m an urban sketcher, not a portrait artist but that didn’t keep my pen in my pocket. I did several sketches during the day, including these sketches of the artists doing what they do best. These were done in a small 3×5 sketchbook using J.Herbin 1670 ink. Is it urban sketching to sketch a portrait event? I think it is (grin).

Do You Sketch The Boring Stuff?

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I like to sketch boring stuff. I guess I should be more precise and say that I like to sketch things that other people find boring, or worse, don’t even notice them at all. Things like garbage cans, fire hydrants, telephone poles… and plain, ‘boring’ buildings.

So when I saw this view of the end of a 3-store complex, it called to me. I set up my stool, sat down, and got out my Stillman & Birn Zeta (5×8) sketchbook. I used a Pilot Prera loaded with Platinum Carbon Ink to do the sketch. I was happy with the results.

What do you think? Do you sketch boring stuff?