Last Sunday was our May sketchcrawl through the alleyways of Limoilu but things didn’t go as planned. My first sketch was interrupted by rain, big drops hitting the sketch before the ink had dried that created ink splats to form on the page. A quick run to the coffee shop where Yvan and Ginette shaking off their own rain.
This was Ginette’s first sketchcrawl and we had a great time getting to know each other as we sat in the cafe, sketching people. Clearly she was the highlight of this sketchcrawl as it just went downhill from here.
We are almost desperate to sketch outdoors and the sketchcrawl was supposed to be our first outdoor sketchcrawl of the year, so when the rain stopped we headed out again to do the proverbial try, try again. Same results, and in my case it was worse – another sketch ruined. We decided to pack it in and that was probably a good thing because almost immediately the rain started coming down in buckets.
Stillman & Birn Delta (8×10) softcover, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black
The attempts to sketch alleyways put me in the mood to try again as in Quebec City alleyways provide large shape-clusters that are both appealing to me and challenging, particularly all the stairways going up the back of the structures. So, when the weather turned nice on Wednesday, I headed out to sketch. Here are two sketches I did that day. They don’t have any color on them because I forgot to put my watercolor kit in my bag. Hope you like them.
Stillman & Birn Delta (8×10) softcover, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black
even without watercolor set you did a great job, love the sketches a lot, the last one is my favourite. Today i also interrupted by rain, what a coincidence…
Thanks, Ahmet. Rain is always disappointing but when I’m with other sketchers we always find a way to make it fun. — Larry
An impressive number of stairs you managed to sketch! Sorry to hear about the rain. . . I’d share our sunshine if I could (though our current bounty is about to run out).
Tina
Stairs, stairs, stairs…everywhere there’s stairs. Old Quebec is full of 2 and 3-story housing, almost all of them with outdoor stairways. Sketching the alleyways is not for the faint of heart 🙂 — Larry
Larry, I’ve followed your blog for a while now and am amazed at the improvement in your sketches. The stairs with all the angles and perspective as you sketched it is a real tour de force. Lovely work!
Hi Rose,
Glad you’re enjoying the blog. Stairs are hard. Glad you’re seeing my work improve. I don’t see such trends as so many things determine the quality of a sketch. Sometimes I work quickly; sometimes I work slow. Sometimes I’m standing, while other times I’m sitting. I don’t do as well when it’s windy or cold. But I always have fun. — Larry