Sketching Doesn’t Have To Be Good To Have a Good Day Sketching

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Larry Marshall

Sometimes my sketches don’t work out. Yvan and I headed to the south shore of the St. Lawrence to sit in the new ferry terminal and sketch the Quebec City skyline on the north shore of the river.

The view is great but the buildings are small from that distance. On a clear day the morning sun provides sufficient contrast to allow one to make out the building relationships but on this morning, Mr. Sun was sleeping in and the buildings sort of blended into one another. We tried to sketch and while Yvan was successful (he always is), I struggled with a couple false starts and I never did get a decent sketch done. This was the best I could muster.

Platinum 3776, DeAtramentis Document Black

The results may suggest that this wasn’t a great sketching day, but exactly the opposite was the case. Yvan and I went downstairs and got coffee at the newly opened Tim Hortons. I did a small sketch out the window but the real fun was that we got out some watercolor paper and started discussing color, mixing and matching. I’m sure this is how kids feel when they finger paint but, of course, we were very adult about it and we had a lot of fun.

small 4×6 sketch – Platinum 3776, DeAtramentis Document Black

As we played with my paints, we talked about drawing, my favorite subject. Yvan is a veritable fountain of drawing knowledge and I’m finally experienced enough to understand what he’s telling me most of the time. His mentorship is priceless. It was a spectacular sketching day. Tomorrow we’re headed back to the museum. I love it that I have to maintain a calendar of my sketching sessions.

Collectif Rendevous At The Museum Of Civilisation

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Larry Marshall

The Collectif group in Quebec City held its annual rendevous at Quebec’s Musée de la civilisation last Saturday. Unfortunately, a bunch of the regulars were playing snowbirds in one for or another and so turnout was down from previous years. Nevertheless, we had a great time.

I started sketching in the Egypt exhibit, where I drew this pharoah mask. I used Faber-Castell Albrecht-Durer watercolor pencils for color. It’s hard to deal with color in that exhibit because it’s so dark so it’s hard to know what you’ve got until you’re done and eating lunch (grin).

Fabriano Artistico CP, DeAtramentis Document Black, Pilot Falcon

I took a short break by wandering around a bit and when I saw this large Australian aboriginal totem I had to translate it to paper. Pretty simple drawing. Lots of fun. It’s good to be back out sketching.

Fabriano Artistico CP, DeAtramentis Document Black, Pilot Metropolitan

Cruising Down The Nile

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Larry Marshall

Egyptian culture was inseparable from the Nile River. It was a source of water, provided fertile soils for agriculture, fish were a ready protein supply, and the bullrushes that grew along its banks provided material for baskets, floor mats, and other Egyptian stuff.

But heck, you gotta suppose that Egyptians used it for fun too. Swimming might not have been a great idea because the Nile was home to crocodiles but how about hopping in the family yacht and going for a cruise. Egyptians must have done that. And one of the objects in our museum’s Egyptian exhibit is a large (4-feet long) wooden model of an Egyptian boat, complete with several people standing on deck. It seemed that sketching it was the right thing to do. Hope you like it.

Fabriano Artistico cold-press, DeAtramentis Document Black, Pilot Metropolitan F

Sketching A Bit Of Egypt

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Larry Marshall

Our gang was back at the museum cuz, “baby, it’s cold outside.” I decided to draw a stone guy who was making an offering at a funeral, or so sayeth the plaque associated with him. Hope you like him.

Fabriano Artistico CP (7.5×11), Platinum 3776, DeAtramentis Document Black

Sketching And Painting Decorative Squares

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Larry Marshall

Not long ago I posted this decorative square and talked about how we’d started drawing these squares in a chapel. I also mentioned that I was going to work on methods for painting/shading them.

These wood-carved squares are probably not even noticed by most visitors to the chapel because they’re dark mahogany and blend into the mahogany wainscotting that runs around the chapel. Yvan ‘discovered’ them and we’ve both been thrilled with the idea of drawing them. I find them challenging. Yvan just makes them look beautiful (grin).

We’ve continued drawing them and I have been experimenting a bit with approaches to shading them. The process is teaching me quite a bit about watercolors and their use, at least the way I want to use them. Which one looks best to you?