Sketching Quebec’s Aquarium

I was supposed to meet sketching buddy Fernande at the Nouvelle-France festival but she wrote to say that it was supposed to rain and that maybe it would be better to go to the aquarium.  I said ok, that I’d meet her there but that I bet it wouldn’t rain.

It rained.  I was wrong – again.  At least I’m consistent.  When I arrived it was raining and Fernande had not yet arrived.  I went to the main aquarium building sat in the corner of the foyer and sketched an outdoor scene through the window.  One of the really great things about our aquarium is that there is a lot to sketch outdoors when weather permits and an equal amount of stuff to sketch indoors if it rains, even if you don’t think it will.

Stillman & Birn Beta (6x8), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×8), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Once Fernande arrived we started wandering indoors, looking for sketching opportunities.  Unfortunately, we chose the same day to visit as a convoy of school buses full of kids.  The place was packed, prohibiting us from being able to sketch without being trampled.  After a while we decided that eating lunch was the solution.  And so we did.

Moleskine watercolor notebook (3x5), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Moleskine watercolor notebook (3×5), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

In this case the virtue of patience was rewarded.  The school buses packed up, the crowds thinned out, and we found something to sketch.

By this time, though, I was getting tired so I chose a small subject – a seahorse.

We’re heading back Monday for another session.

 

Quick-Sketching In Malbaie

It was a nice day and my family decided to drive  to Baie St. Paul and Malbaie for the day.  It’s very pretty country and besides, they have good ice cream and there are lots of art galleries in Baie St. Paul.

Moleskine watercolor (3x5), Namiki Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Moleskine watercolor (3×5), Namiki Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

It’s convenient, if you’re going to both towns, to drive right past Baie St. Paul and on to Malbaie as there’s a convenient ‘loop’ road that brings us back to Baie St. Paul.  It also happens to go by a nice, long, sandy, sunny, and popular beach called Plage Irené.  

Family jaunts aren’t conducive to me doing a lot of sketching as watching me sketch is about as exciting as staring down a rock.  I did manage a couple very quick sketches, one of the beach and another of what appeared to be a gatehouse into Domaine Forget.  I don’t know what this place was used for originally but these days it hosts dinner theatre.  I thought the gatehouse was cool, which is the singular criterion for a sketching subject…right after having a place to sit in the shade to sketch.

Moleskine watercolor (3x5), Namiki Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Moleskine watercolor (3×5), Namiki Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Plants Are Everywhere

2014-07-16TreeI’m a building sketcher.  I also love to sketch garbage cans, fire hydrants and lamp posts.  I’ve rarely drawn plants that weren’t part of a building sketch.  After our sketchcrawl at the botanical gardens I started to rethink that and suddenly I’m aware of the obvious.  There are plants everywhere.  Who’da thunk it?

While out walking the other day I did these two sketches.  Both were done quickly in a 3×5 Moleskine watercolor sketchbook, using a Pilot Prera and Lex Gray ink.  I’ll be doing more of these.  They’re fun.

2014-07-18bullrushes

Sketching Behind The Scenes

Moleskine watercolor sketchbook (3x5), TWSBI Mini

Moleskine watercolor sketchbook (3×5), TWSBI Mini

The older parts of Quebec City are very tightly clustered.  There are no front yards and no space between the buildings.  The result is many access portals into the rear parts of the buildings.  Sometimes these are simple corridors.  Often, though they are wide enough for a car, sometimes with parking available behind the buildings and/or courtyard gardens.  I like the ones that lead to lots of clutter.

Here’s one such portal.  It was done in a 3×5 Moleskine watercolor sketchbook using Platinum Carbon Black in my TWSBI Mini.  Hope you like it.

 

Sketchcrawl Sketches And Then Some

We held our fall sketchcrawl last Saturday and I reported on it on Monday.  The post was getting so packed with graphics that I decided not to post the sketches I did during the sketchcrawl.

I did do a couple, however.  Being a fan of mundane urban accessories, I decided to draw one of a dying breed of accessory, the phone booth.  It was convenient as it was situated at the meeting place for the sketchcrawl so I could sketch and still meet people as they arrived.  I learned this trick from my buddy Yvan.  I did it in a Stillman & Birn Zeta (6×9) using a Pilot Prera and Platinum Carbon Black ink.  I found that I’d forgotten my watercolors so I did the color with Faber-Castell “Albrecht-Durer watercolor pencils.  I like these as a substitute for watercolors because I can completely eliminate the lines made by the pencil.

2013-10-19-FarmersMarket-PhoneBooth_72In front of the Farmer’s Market was a large pile of pumpkins, stacked on hay bales.  I drew a portion of those in my Singapore special toned-brown sketchbook that was sent to me by Patrick Ng.  I’m still learning how to work with this paper but I’m really enjoying it.  I used the Pilot Prera and watercolor pencils on this one as well.

2013-10-19-FarmersMarket-Pumpkins_72I thought I’d throw in a couple other sketches I’ve done recently.  The garage sits at the end of a little park I sit in while waiting for a study group I run to convene.  I don’t think I ever posted it.  It was done in a 3×5 Moleskine watercolor book.

2013-10-09GarageWhen I was doing that sketch, they were tearing up the street in front of the park.  By the next week they were ready to re-pave it and they’d just finished laying new curbing along its length.  To do that, it seems, they had to remove the fire hydrant, which was hanging from a mechanized shovel.  I’m a fire hydrant afficionado and this was akin to a bird-watcher seeing a rare bird.  I had to sketch this and so I did, in my Stillman & Birn Zeta (6×9) with my Pilot Prera.  This was the tenth fire hydrant sketch I’ve done and certainly the most unique.

2013-10-02HangingHydrant_72Hope you enjoy these.  I sure had fun creating them. — Larry