My Love Affair With Street Lamps

Long ago, Pete Scully introduced me to the notion that the mundane in our lives could be great sketching subjects with his series of fire hydrant sketches.  I started drawing every fire hydrant and garbage can in sight.  When you start looking at these things as art objects, they become art objects and that Pete’s important lesson to the rest of us.

I feel the same way about street lamps.  I draw them all the time.  They serve as practice; they serve as fun.  They also serve as the basis for sketches that give me joy.  Here’s one I did recently in Tadoussac where my family spent the day last week.  I’ll talk more about sketching Tadoussac in a future post but for now, imagine a place with these all over the place.

Stillman & Birn Beta (6x9), Esterbrook J9550, diluted DeAtramentis Document Black

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×9), Esterbrook J9550, diluted DeAtramentis Document Black

Taking A Line For A Walk

“Drawing is taking a line for a walk” – Paul Klee

I’m an urban sketcher and this blog reflects that fact with a steady stream of sketches done on location as I wander around the city.  If I do “art” at all, this is it.

But I’m also a baseball fan, a Toronto Blue Jays fan to be precise.  This is baseball season and that means I record near daily Blue Jays games and I watch them in the evening.  While watching I generally have a pen in my hand, cheap sketchbook on my lap.  I doodle.  I practice drawing parallel lines, drawing ellipses, circles, etc.  I consider it the equivalent of a pianist playing scales and I do need the practice.

I was doodling away and the Jays were doing well.   One of my few active neurons fired and I remembered seeing faces drawn by artists who let their pen wander around, spending more time in dark tone portions of a face than elsewhere.  In doing this they create a face.  I thought I’d try it and I have to admit that it was fun to take a line for a walk.  Have you ever done this?

Pilot Metropolitan, J.Herbin Cacao de Bresil

Pilot Metropolitan, J.Herbin Cacao de Bresil

Taking A Break By Drawing A Bridge

I was out walking the other day and realized that I’d forgotten my stool.  This limits where I can sit to sketch so I started looking for the magic sketcher’s triad.  A shady spot, a subject to sketch, and something to sit on.  Eventually I found a bench under a tree and the end of a bridge I could sketch.  This was the result.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5x8), Esterbrook J9550, diluted DeAtramentis Document Black

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5×8), Esterbrook J9550, diluted DeAtramentis Document Black

Sketching In Limoilou

Our group wanted to sketch some more in the allies of Limoilou.  I’ve written about our previous sketching sessions there.  This part of the city was built mostly during the period where alleyways were used for garbage collection, electric wires, and other services.

But while the rest of the group headed off to the alleys, I decided to draw a chapel on 3rd Avenue.  I’ve wanted to sketch it for a long time and think most about the idea when there are no leaves on the trees as this affords a better view of the building.  But trees are nice too and this is what it looks like in July.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5x8), Esterbrook J9550, diluted DeAtramentis Document Black

Stillman & Birn Alpha (5×8), Esterbrook J9550, diluted DeAtramentis Document Black

When I finished I wandered around the alleys looking for the group.  I found them and they were all finishing up drawing an alley scene.  I only had a few minutes but I documented this gaggle of sketchers.

2016-07-30-50sketchers

Fetes de Nouvelle France Sketching

LtoR - Celine, Pierre, Yvan, Larry

LtoR – Celine, Pierre, Yvan, Larry

2015-08-09NouvelleFrance8Tomorrow starts a five day event called Fêtes de Nouvelle France.  This is to commemorate the founding of Quebec but also a celebration of an earlier time of 3-cornered hats and beautiful clothes.  Truth be told, the dress donned by participants varies from that of a peddler to that of a king and this provides infinite sketching subjects for those who can sketch while people are wandering around.  They do sometimes stop to pose for people taking photos and sometimes actually stop and talk to one another.  All these things help as we try to capture them on paper.

On Sunday, the last day of the event, the Croquistes de Québec will hold their August sketchcrawl event an I encourage any and all to show up to sketch with us.  It’s always a lot of fun.  If you come to the event on any other day, look for the fat guy with a sketchbook in his hand and we can sketch together.