Yvan Breton, our leader. Apologies to Yvan for the poor photo

Last Sunday, the Croquistes de Québec held their first sketchcrawl, randocroquis, urban sketchers meeting, or whatever you want to call it (grin).  Whatever the name, we were out en masse  sketching on location.  Our fearless leader is Yvan Breton and he brought together more than a dozen folks for the purpose of enjoying the company of fellow sketchers.

And wow, did we have fun.  They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder and there is no better evidence of that than how Quebecers respond to a nice, sunny day.  We got one on Sunday and we all took advantage of it.

The garden, Jardin de Jeanne d’Arc, is part of  Battlefield Park and is one of the prettiest places in Quebec City.  It’s a long strip of land with a large statue in the middle and a well-tended flower garden surrounds its grass interior.  Our dozen or so sketchers spread out and began to sketch.  I couldn’t help but notice the various seating approaches used.

Some (Jodie & Larry here) used the local benchware. [photo by Yvan]

Celine brought a comfy chair

While not popular the elevated view was preferred by Joanne.

The most popular approach, of course, was the tripod stool modeled here by Ann.

Yves brought an entire studio along with his comfy chair

In the end, though, we were all comfortable.  We broke for lunch on the grass and talked about pens, sketching and how great the weather was.  Did I mention that we were impressed by the weather?  Then, it was back to our benches, tripods, and chairs and our pointy devices started moving again.  We didn’t do a formal show-n-tell but sketchbooks were exchanged, mostly during lunch, and I think everyone went away with a hope that the next sketchcrawl will occur soon.

I started my day with this sketch, of the lady honored by the park, Jeanne d’Arc.   I did this one in a Stillman & Birn Beta (9×12) with my Namiki Falcon and De Atramentis Document ink.  I also did a more complete pencil under-drawing than I normally do and, frankly, I think the pencil looked better than the ink, probably because it didn’t attempt so many details.

Things sort of went downhill from there when I started adding color as I stuck the side of my hand in red paint and promptly “stamped” a red blotch onto the paper (bottom left).  I tried, without success, to cover up with an awful dark green grass treatment.  Better luck next time 🙂

I also did this sketch of some of the beautiful rock stairs that lead down into the garden.  I didn’t have time to add color so you’ll just have to look at lines, my favorite things.

Last but not least, this was my daughter’s first opportunity to sketch with other people (she’s the one sitting with me on the bench).  Like so many, she was afraid she was apprehensive, certain she couldn’t sketch well enough, and that she’d be too intimidated.  But, she had a great time and told Yvan just before we left that “I’ll be at the next one.”

Stillman & Birn Gamma (10×7), Namiki Falcon, De Atramentis Document black