Today I drew our Ocimum basilicum plant. Sweet Basil is a one of my favorite herbs. Did you know that it’s related to mint? And while it tastes just dandy, it’s those big, puffy leaves that cause sketchers to be drawn to it.
There’s not much to say about this sketch. I sat on our deck and drew it. Not a big drawing (about 4″x4″) but I did switch pens. Instead of my fine nib fountain pens, I chose an old Hero fude pen just for a change.
Since my mobility is been limited by my bad knee, it seems I’ve traded in drawing architecture for drawing plants. I can’t say that’s a bad thing exactly but it sure is different, putting me in unfamiliar territory.
I was at another Artistes dans les parcs event, this time at the Domain Maizeret Arboretum. Lots of trees, lots of grass, and a wonderful pond and creek, though this time of year the later is mostly hidden by tall foliage that surrounds it.
Having no imagination at all, I found it difficult to find something to draw. But where there’s a coneflower, there’s something to draw. Better yet, two coneflowers. A botanical artist I am not, but I really had a good time drawing these. For some reason it was very relaxing.
It had become quite hot and I wasn’t in the mood for a complex subject. I got the idea to try to do a very quick sketch attempt of a ‘landscape’ to see if I could manage a minimal ink, mostly color sketch. I drew some steps and then picked up a big brush and started placing blobs of color around them. Near the end I went back to the pen to add some structure.
Mostly I think I failed at this because all my foliage lacks texture and depth. It was an interesting experiment, though, throwing detail to the wind and just capturing the structure of the scene. I post it here because I’m not easily embarrassed (grin).
I was wandering around a place called Domain Maizeret, a large park not far from my house. There is a huge building in the middle of the park where most of the activity is centered and around it is forested land with walk paths so we can go in and feed the mosquitoes.
When I saw this scene I didn’t see a garbage can. I saw a sentry, bravely holding up its “no bicycles” sign as it protected the forest entry from marauding bicyclists. I decided to do another paint first experiment. Some day I’ll do one that doesn’t fail, or that fails to a lesser degree. I don’t expect progress overnight (grin).
I had fun with this one, mostly because I just couldn’t get the sentry idea out of my head. While I was sketching, not a single bicyclist got past the sentry. I do hope walkers appreciate its effort.
Moleskine watercolor portrait format (5×8), DeAtramentis Document brn/blk, Wing Sung 8009
I’ve been using Stillman & Birn sketchbooks almost exclusively for about eight years. When I started with them they didn’t have all the products they have today, but I bought a pile of Alpha-series 10×7 spiral-bound landscape books and I filled them. As they came out with other options I tried those too, though Alpha and Beta series are my favorites. I’ve filled a bunch of their newer softcover books as well. When they released their 3×5 books I started using those, replacing the cheap small books I’d used for quick-sketching people.
But there was a time that I used the small Moleskine (landscape) watercolor books. I loved their covers but always felt that the larger landscape books became unwieldy when balanced on my knee. So I joined the throngs of people asking begging Moleskine to produce portrait versions of these sketchbooks. In spite of repeated letter-writing campaigns, they never did and since S&B was serving my needs I didn’t much care.
But Moleskine finally answered the call, with both A5 and A4 versions in portrait format. I didn’t buy one… at first, but eventually I started feeling guilty that I’d whined so loudly ‘back then’ and yet hadn’t bought one now that they were producing them. And so I did buy one.
The sketch above was the first sketch in my new A5 Moleskine book. I feel like I’m cheating on S&B by using the darn thing (grin). S&B have been there, thick and thin, relieving me of the burden of finding the right sketchbook.
I tell myself that I haven’t stopped using S&B sketchbooks and its true. Right now I carry two of them next to this new Moleskine. Still I feel guilty. I also feel bad that now I have a sketchbook to fill that has paper that’s not as good as my other sketchbooks. Serves me right for being a cheater (grin).
Why would anyone draw a single squash? Because it was there, of course. There need be no other reason. And so it was as the squash sat on our kitchen island and I drew it. This one was odd-looking in that while most Sunburst squashes are round, but flattened, this one was almost as high as it was round.
If I were Charlie O’Shields (Mr. Doodlewash) I’d have a charming story to tell you about how Philippe prepares squash or how his mother forced him to eat it when he was young. I’m not nearly as talented. I buy squash, I cook squash, I eat squash and now I can say I’ve sketched squash. Anyway, I had fun sketching it.
You probably don’t know who Roger Van den Hende was but that’s ok, neither do I. What I know is that he was rich and left a lot of money for the purposes of establishing a botanical garden in Quebec City. It’s one of my favorite places to sketch, particularly since my bad knee has limited my ability to wander the city.
So, when Denise scheduled an event there for the Artistes dans les parcs I headed there to sketch. This was actually a couple weeks ago and I forgot to write about it. We had a good day but it wasn’t without some challenges.
The day started great. Predictions were for hot and sunny so shade was at a premium. Finding the combination of shady spot and something to sketch was challenging. I had fun trying to follow the growth pattern of this vine.
The ‘hot’ that was predicted came to pass and so water and rest was in order so I took a break, drank a lot of water, and then started wandering around looking for more shade to sit in. Finding shade with something in my view became particularly hard as we were nearing mid-day but eventually I found a lily I could draw while sitting in the cast shadow from a small building.
I decided to try to sketch it “paint first”, always a mistake for me but I’m determined to learn this approach regardless of the frustration level (grin). I began with a light wash in a lily shape and then I started adding some shadow tone… just as the clouds rolled in, killing all shadows on my flower. If only I had better visual memory. I persevered, sort of, doing my best to make up a shadow pattern.
At that point I had to wait for the paper to dry so I decided that I would take a break and make a trip to the restroom, which was a short hike through the garden. I left all my stuff laying on the ground in front of my lily and headed off. When I came out of the bathroom it was raining… on my sketchbook… only a one minute run from where I was, only I couldn’t run. So I hobbled with a pained look on my face.
By the time I got back, my paper was now VERY wet and there was little I could do besides pack everything up, take a photo of the flower, and head for home. I tried to salvage the sketch at home and this was the best I could manage. DeAtramentis Document ink and Stillman &Birn Alpha paper hold up pretty well to a rain storm.
DeAtramentis Document brn/blk, Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6)