The Value Of Sitting

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Larry Marshall

I’m a street sketcher. I wander my city looking for things to sketch. I’m not too picky and actually shun the things tourists photograph. I guess I’m more of a “mundane sketcher” as I like the challenge of creating something that looks good from something most wouldn’t even notice.

But there are times when I “can’t find anything to sketch.” I put that in quotes as it’s a common phrase among sketchers that really makes little sense, but the person saying it knows exactly what they mean. Yes, there are trees, planes, trains and automobiles to sketch but nothing is speaking to them.

When I find myself in that situation I sit down. Yep, it’s that simple. If I sit, pretty much anywhere, I start to see things I don’t see when I’m walking. I’ll sit and start looking around. Rather quickly, I’ll find something interesting to sketch. Remember, I’m not searching for Mona Lisa. I just want something that motivates me to get out my sketchbook and pen.

This sketch is the result of sitting down in a tiny park along the St. Charles River. I sat on a rock as it was dryer than the benches because it had been raining as I walked. Before I got to add color to this sketch, it started raining again so I had to add the color when I got home.

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

I was returning from a long walk and I sat on a bench in Parc Brebeuf, along my river (the St. Charles) and decided to sketch this small scene of a part of the river bank. Done quickly, I added color to this one when I got home as well.

Moleskine watercolor sketchbook, Pilot Falcon, Noodler’s Lexington Gray

So, the next time you’re out and looking for something to sketch, sit down. It may help.

Plants Are Everywhere

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Larry Marshall

I’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.

Sketching The Parc Victoria Chapel

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Parc Victoria is a large park not far from my house and I’ve done a lot of sketches in it. I’ve told myself many times that I needed to sketch the small chapel that’s on the grounds. It’s no longer used as a chapel and I know nothing of its history. Currently, from the looks of things, it’s now used to store equipment for the associated pro-quality soccer field that was built a couple years ago. Here’s my take on this cute little chapel.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6x8), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray ink

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray ink

Sketchcrawling Through The Garden

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Yesterday I reported on our 44th Worldwide Sketchcrawl participation. What I didn’t do was show you my sketches and talk a bit about them as that post became quite large because of all the photos. Here be the follow up post on my sketchcrawl sketches.

The sketchcrawl was supposed to start at 10AM but I ended up getting there around 9:30. As you enter the botanical gardens there is a large water feature amounting to several lily-pad-filled ponds with small water features between them. I located shade, my first prerequisite for sketching on a sunny day, and started sketching next to the second of these ponds. It was a great place to be as I could meet people as they arrived while sketching. It breaks my meditative sketching state to have to get up ever few minutes to say hi but gosh… isn’t that what sketchcrawls are all about? I think so.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray ink

By the time I’d finished this sketch, I was sitting in the sun as at this time of year the sun swings across its southerly track across our sky fairly quickly. So, I was once again hunting for a shady spot.

I found it on the other side of the entrance, with several sketching options. I decided to draw the main kiosk that faces the entrance. Lots of brightly-colored flowers, a nice shape and the girl who manned (womaned?) the kiosk obliged by wearing a red shirt. I switched weapons for this sketch as I wanted to get some more experience with my Hero pens. I’ve got several of them and I don’t use them enough.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6x8), Hero 578, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8), Hero 578, Platinum Carbon Black

It was lunch time so we all met together to swap sketchbooks and wish we were as good as everyone else. For me, this is the best part of sketchcrawls. I do a lot of solo sketching and it’s really fun to get together with other sketchers, though my French is sufficiently bad that I’m more than a little bit limited in my ability to talk like an adult. Quebecers are quite patient, however.

After lunch I decided I should draw flowers. I don’t know flowers beyond red flowers, purple flowers, orange flowers, etc. I can tell you the names of all their parts, discuss at length the mating ‘habits’ of plants, and all the rest, as in another life I was a research scientist but when it comes to naming flowers… I got nada, or as we say around here, rien.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8), Pilot Penmanship XF, Lexington Gray

But flowers are cool. Depending upon how accurate you want to be while drawing them, they can be quite challenging as the more you drill down into their details the more difficult they become to properly depict. I’ve drawn very few, and it shows (grin). Here’s a couple. At least they look like flowers.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6x8), TWSBI Mini, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8), TWSBI Mini, Platinum Carbon Black

Catching Up On My Walking

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Having lost a couple days to rain, I was running a walking deficit for the week. I walk a lot and do so as my old man way of keeping my body from taking on the shape of an eggplant. That translates to walking a couple hours every day. With two days lost and the worldwide sketchcrawl coming up on Saturday, I’ve been living on the streets, hoofing everywhere and anywhere, trying to put in the miles.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9x6), Pilot Prera, Lex Gray

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Lex Gray

This has gotten in the way of my sketching time. I just didn’t feel I could stop to sketch if I was going to get caught up. But I did stop to do this quick sketch. It’s one of the many gables on our train station.

I can skip a day or two without sketching, but when I do I start to feel like something is missing. My solution this time was to sit in the backyard and draw some flowers.

I rarely draw flowers but every time I do I think that I should do it more often. The shapes are endless.

I started this sketch with a rudimentary pencil sketch but most of the shapes were formed directly with watercolors, something I’ve only done once before and, back then, things didn’t go so well. Once done, I added some ink using a refillable Sharpie pen. I did this in a Stillman & Birn Delta series sketchbook. This is my first “ivory” sketchbook. It was fun and provided me with some much needed sketching/meditation time.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8)