Sketching At The Library

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Larry Marshall

One of my many struggles as a sketcher is that I am slow, very slow. I love to get into a subject and spent an hour or two sketching something. But many times, I just don’t have that much time, or the scene I want to sketch is just too transient, or I’m with other people who don’t want to wait around for me to spend an hour sketching.

So, one of the things I vowed to do this winter was to work on my quick sketching abilities. Quick sketching people is a good way to improve (develop?) those skills, of course, and it fits well with our harsh winters because I can be do it inside. I went with Yvan, an amazing quick-sketcher, to our main library and we sat for a couple hours doing quick sketches, or in my case attempting to quick sketch people who were sitting/standing in the library.

Here is one of two spreads of these sketches that I did. You can see some abject failures. You can see evidence of where I started to sketch someone just as they got up and walked away. You may also see a sketch or two that actually looks, kinda-sorta like a person. At least I hope you do (grin).

Of course, being the building guy that I am, I couldn’t resist doing a quick sketch of a piece of the building across the street too. Very quick and about as loose as I’ve ever tried to sketch a building.

All of the sketches were done in a Strathmore Series 400 ‘gray’ sketchbook using a Pilot Metropolitan (M) with Waterman Absolute Brown or a Lamy Safari (XF) with Private Reserve Velvet Black. Both of these are washable inks and I used a waterbrush to create a bit of shading here and there.

It’s interesting to compare the Pilot Metropolitan, with its “medium” nib to my Lamy Safari “extra fine” nib. The Metropolitan is finer, illustrating clearly the differences between Asian and European sizing nomenclature. Between the museums and the library I continue to be a busy location sketcher in spite of the wind and cold outside.

Museum Sketching With Claudette

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Larry Marshall

What’s going on? Last week it was so cold that it was fashionable to run outside with a bucket of hot water, throw it up in the air and watch it turn instantly to snow. Those -30C temps are tough so mostly we just stay indoors. But this week, we’re 40-degrees warmer than that and it’s RAINING! This doesn’t happen in Quebec, in February. These temps, however, are much easier to take.

And so it was, yesterday, when I walked in the rain to the Musee de l’Amerique francais to meet up with a new sketching buddy, Claudette Gauvreau, a very talented sketcher. I met her at our last sketchcrawl and we agreed meet at the museum for a sketching session.

I got there about half an hour or so before our scheduled meet time and decided to sketch an organ that sits high above the floor of a chapel associated with the museum. I always struggle with perspective when I have to look up this much and this case was no exception. I started with pencil, drawing and redrawing the basic columns and the ceiling curves. I even drew a big cube where the organ sits before turning to pen to do the actual sketch.

When Claudette arrived she needed to do some work in the chapel as well so I continued working and finished up the pen work. I did it in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook using Pilot Prera and Metropolitan pens filled with Noodler’s Lexington Gray. Shading was done with a Derwent Graphitone 8B pencil. These pencils are great because once you hit them with a waterbrush they ‘set’ and you can put watercolor washes over it.

Claudette finished up this great sketch of part of the railing around the main seating area, which holds a bunch of round banquet tables these days. I can’t speak to materials used but isn’t it great? The small bit at the bottom is an example of the flooring.

We headed into the museum where we sat in comfy sofas and sketched mannequins dressed in costumes used in movies and created by French costume designers. She started sketching the cowboy character that Owen Wilson played in Night at the Museum, while I decided to do something I’d never done. I sketched a Victorian dress using only a pen. I’m fascinated by clothing folds and want to learn to draw them in ink.

Anyways, in the time it took me to do this sketch, Claudette finished drawing her cowboy, then drew a security guard and an indian from the same movie. Then she wandered off to look at the exhibits while I finished up my single figure. Have I mentioned that I’m slow at sketching (grin)? This sketch was done with a Pilot G-TEC-C3, hybrid ink pen on Strathmore Series 400 toned gray paper (5.5×8.5). I wish I could show you Claudette’s sketches but I didn’t think to take a photo.

Next Wednesday, we’re meeting at the Musee de la Civilisation. Want to join us?

Pilot Metropolitan from Goulet Pens

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Larry Marshall

Is there a better online company than Goulet Pens? Their service is simply amazing. No, it’s unbelievable. I ordered a $15 pen from them. This is what I got in the mail today.

The Pilot Metropolitan came in the typical (as in nice) Pilot box. They also sent me a business card, a bookmark, and a lollipop. A lollipop… can you believe it? And Alex wrote a nice note, in impeccable handwriting, and he used Noodlers 54th Massachusetts ink, the new bulletproof ink that Nathan Tardiff has brewed up. All this and I only bought a $15 pen. Thanks Goulet Pens. You are the online seller to which all others are compared.

Comparison between Lamy Al-Star (top), Pilot Metropolitan, and Pilot Prera (bottom)

So, with lollipop in mouth, I opened up my Pilot Metropolitan. It came with a Pilot CON-20 “squeeze” converter and a cartridge. I’m not a fan of these rubber converters and didn’t have a CON-50 on hand but I did have some empty cartridges so I filled one with Noodler’s Lexington Gray, my favorite sketching ink, and the pen was ready to go.

Everyone is talking about these pens, saying they’re a lot of bang for the buck. My go to sketching pen is a Pilot Prera (F) because I love its fine line and great features. Sometimes, though, I need a slightly thicker line in some sketches and I thought the Metropolitan might serve that purpose as it is a Pilot medium nib which is similar to a Lamy fine nib. I was right.

Posted it’s just slightly longer than my posted Pilot Prera.

The pen balances well even when posted and it’s comfortable in my hand. Before now, I’ve used Lamy Safaris when I needed a thicker line. They’re fine but they’re sufficiently different from the Prera in balance and size that I don’t like switching between them. The Metropolitan makes this switch much easier.

In my opinion, this pen lives up to all the laudatory things that have been said about it. It looks good and it’s smooth, at least on Rhodia notepad paper and my Stillman & Birn sketchbooks. I don’t know how Pilot can produce such quality for $15 but I’m sure glad they did. I drew this little sketch in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook (4×6) to let you see how the Metropolitan pen lines look in a simple sketch.