Playing A Bit With Color

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Stillman & Birn Zeta (6×9), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

A couple days ago I posted a couple pen and ink graphics of some spiffy clothes with people in them. One of them was this guy, Connor, from the Assassin’s Creed game. My one disappointment was that his costume is blue, tan and brown and the local color is lost in a pen and ink sketch.

So, I decided to play yesterday. The first thing I did was to print my sketch on some cheap paper. That was a mistake and I wish I’d used better paper but we live and learn. The next step was to apply some color, which is where I learned about my first mistake as I couldn’t move the color around at all as it soaked immediately into the unsized paper and was stuck. I also couldn’t put multiple layers as the paper started coming apart when I tried. Nevertheless, it was fun and I liked the results. I know nothing of the Assassin’s Creed game but I sure do like the costume.

Sketching Pirates and Assasins

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Larry Marshall

For some, drawing people is seen as the pinnacle of art. Not for me. I like doing portraits, as long as they’re portraits of buildings. I like clothes on people and find capturing all the folds and pleats to be a near impossible task given my limited drawing abilities. But, it’s winter, and there are more people inside buildings than buildings inside buildings and if I’m going to have to draw from photos, why not something I don’t normally draw?

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10x7), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

And so it is…winter, and I’ve decided to draw a few more people than normal. I decided to draw this pirate from a book. He was fun and ample proof that I still have much to learn about pen and ink, particularly shading with ink.

I went to the Musée de la Civilisation on Friday and met up with Yvan and Claudette. I decided to draw “Connor”, the protagonist in the 3rd Assassin’s Creed video game. The museum has a life-size statue of him at the entrance to a video game history exhibit. As he has a great costume, I may have to sketch him at least once more. I might even do him in color as his tunic is tan but his coat is Revolutionary War blue, and he’s got leather chaps and a red belt with gold trim. Video game designers have good tastes in clothes, if nothing else.

Stillman & Birn Zeta (6×9), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

A Bit Of Christmas Sketching

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Larry Marshall

It seems that some sketchers become very active during holidays and get togethers. I seem to be just the opposite and when a holiday rolls around, I find it hard to find either time or inclination to sketch.

That’s not to say I don’t sketch at all. During the two days around the Christmas holiday, I did four sketches but for me, that’s a lull. I thought I’d share a couple of them with you. They’re nothing special but they reflect the laid back way my family celebrates.

Books are a big part of our gift-giving as we all love them. The result of this, of course, is that we spend time on Christmas day listening to music and reading. Within the limits of my very limited sketching ability this is what my daughter looks like when she’s curled up at the end of the sofa, big comforter wrapped around her and her face in a book. I don’t think her nose is really that long (grin).

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4x6), Pilot Prera

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6), Pilot Prera

Christmas movies are a tradition too. We watch them, ad nauseum, throughout the holiday season. There’s Elf, Santa Clause, Santa Clause 2, Santa Clause 3, Miracle on 34th St (the old and the new), It’s a Wonderful Life, Heloise at Christmas… well you get the picture. Here’s another picture. It’s a sketch I did during one of those movies. The real thing rests on top of our Christmas tree.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4x6), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6), Pilot Prera, Lexington Gray

In conclusion, I don’t think there could be a more laid-back Christmas than ours but we enjoy each other’s company and not having to go anywhere. And, between all the eating of too much of too many things, I did a bit of sketching. I hope you enjoyed your holiday as much as we did ours.

A Visit to Bugel – The Bagel Maker

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Larry Marshall

In my continuing quest to eat my way through Quebec City, sketching as I go, Claudette and I visited Bugel – Fabrique de Bagels, a small place that makes some of the best best bagels I’ve ever tasted. Situated at 164 rue Cremazie, it is hidden from the main traffic corridors but the locals know it well. Besides, there are a great used bookstore across the street that has a lot of art books I can’t afford, but looking is free.

It was a nice way to spend the morning, though we had to cut it a bit shorter than our normal sessions as had things to do before Christmas eve. Claudette managed to sketch a bunch of the patrons, many of whom were running in to pick up orders and each time someone came through the door, we’d get a blast of Quebec air, which kept us quite alert. This is the time of year where I conclude that I will be permanently ‘cold’ until sometime in June.

Here’s my sketch. The funny thing on the side is the stained glass address that rests above the door. You might be able to make out the 164 (backwards) but it was really a failed attempt on my part. Too much of an afterthrought. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4x6), Pilot Prera, Kuretake brush pen

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6), Pilot Prera, Kuretake brush pen

Sketching the Past – episode 2

Posted on December 7, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Recently I posted a sketch I’d done of a caboose, done from a photograph taken when cabooses were part of our landscape. In that post I floated the idea that if I was going to be forced to sketch from photos by winter, that maybe I should sketch things that used to be part of our landscape but that have largely disappeared.

Well, never say stuff if you don’t mean it. My sketching buddies, Fernande and Claudette picked up on the idea and said, “You should sketch a bee-douze“, and I said, “Huh?”

They were surprised that I didn’t know what a “bee-douze” was even though they know my French isn’t very good. It wasn’t a French problem, however. “Bee-douze” is simply “B-twelve” in English but I still had no idea what they were talking about and I don’t think a lot of Francophones would know either. But Fernande and Claudette both grew up in a part of Quebec called “La Gaspesie”, a rural part of the province. They were taken to school in a “bee-douze” when winter snows prevented alternative transportation.

And you know what? The B-12 is an important part of our technological history as it was a big money-maker for a company called Bombardier who invented snowmobiles and who are now one of the world’s largest suppliers of modern passenger train cars and executive jets. Oh, and they still make snowmobiles via their recreational vehicle division called Ski-Doo. Maybe you’ve heard of it.

The B12 gets its name from the fact that it could zip along above the snow, carrying 12 people. Not the prettiest vehicle ever built, it gets high marks for its unique, almost Flash-Gordon-like round windows and teardrop shape. I had fun drawing this one.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9x6), Pilot Prera, Platinum Carbon ink

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Platinum Carbon ink