We Went Sketching At Celine’s House

Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

We’re still anticipating spring and hard-pressed to find sketching venues that we haven’t visited a dozen times this winter.  Celine suggested that we all go to her place for a sketching session and we  jumped at the chance, because Celine has a great studio environment and lots of props just waiting to be sketched.

Five of us had a ball sketching, laughing and chatting that day.  My first sketch was a small plaster head of what can only be an Irishman.   I did it in my conventional manner, using a fountain pen.

2016-04-13earFor my second sketch I chose a large plaster ear that Celine had hanging on her wall.  Only an artists have a plaster ears on their walls and I wanted to take advantage of Celine’s ear.  As I started drawing the first couple lines, however, I realized that so much of an ear is defined by soft edges that I decided to take a different approach.  I got out a waterbrush that’s filled with very dilute ink and started drawing all the shadow shapes.  I used multiple layers to achieve a couple different values.  In this way, I blocked in the overall shape of the ear and then I could add some ink lines to emphasize contour and  some shapes.  I was pretty pleased with this approach and I might find myself doing it more often.  Doing this sort of thing is great practice in seeing form.  Thanks, Celine, for a great day.

Drawing Chapel Arches

The Croquistes de Québec held their April sketchcrawl at the chapel associated with the Musée de l’Amérique du Francophone.  It’s really hard finding indoor places to sketch in the winter and so I’ve been to this chapel enough this winter to say that I’m ‘all full up.’  Nevertheless, I always enjoy sketching with others.

Turnout wasn’t great, probably because others are as tired as I am of sketching indoors, but there were five of us in attendance and we had fun, though this sketchcrawl wasn’t as long in duration as our summer sessions will be.

I decided to draw some arches.  I always have trouble drawing when I have to look upward.  I wonder whether it’s because of the view itself or the fact that my sketcher head-bob up and down from subject to paper, is so extreme.  Either way, it slows the sketching process and always results in some wonkiness working its way into my drawing.  Next month we’re going to sketch the alleyways of Limoilu – outdoors.  Spring had better be here by then.

Stllman & BIrn Beta (9x12), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Stllman & BIrn Beta (9×12), Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black

Sketching A Native American Exhibit

A pair of snowshoes provided some symmetry practice.

A pair of snowshoes provided some symmetry practice.

 

 

I went to our Thursday museum sketching session in spite of being more than a little bored with sketching at the museum.   The walk was cold and snowy and when I arrived I wasn’t much in the mood to sketch but I found myself in the Native American exhibit, which is part of the permanent collection at the museum.

This large cup was made from seal skin and sewn with reindeer sinew.

This large cup was made from seal skin and sewn with reindeer sinew.

I approached the morning with my little, red Field Notes book instead of my normal sketchbook.  I spent a lot of time wandering but when I stopped I did these small sketches.  It wasn’t the most productive morning but, as always, it was fun chatting with friends.

This is a small stone carving of an Inuit fisherman who is laying on the ice, looking into his fishing hole.

This is a small stone carving of an Inuit fisherman who is laying on the ice, looking into his fishing hole.

Birds, Birds, Birds: Sketching While Waiting For Spring

The Croquistes de Québec held their April sketchcrawl yesterday.  There were seven of us in attendance.  We got to sketch in Les Collections at Laval University.  I love sketching there and because it’s not open to the public, it’s a special treat.  Big thanks to Yvan Breton who organized it and to Mme. Wagner who permitted us access.

This is a place that is piled to the gills with great stuff to draw, which is great.  If there’s a downside it’s that it’s piled to the gills with great stuff to draw.  Way too little space holds what used to be displayed at a full natural history museum and a huge collection of plaster casts that used to be used by the art department when they cared about artists learning to draw.   Les Collections is a storage facility, not a display museum.

Stillman & Birn Beta, Platinum 3776

Stillman & Birn Beta, Platinum 3776

I decided to draw some birds because 1) I’m really bad at it and 2) because I’m really bad at it.  To do this required that I sit in a very narrow space in front of a cabinet full of taxidermy specimens.  Lighting was rather poor so seeing feather tracts and other details was nearly impossible but it was fun to draw them nevertheless.  I’ll show you two of my sketches.  I started a third but didn’t get a chance to finish it.

Stillman & Birn Beta, Platinum 3776

Stillman & Birn Beta, Platinum 3776

Sketching At A Plant Nursery

I had a great time on Thursday.  Normally we meet at the museum to sketch but Claudette knows someone at one of the major plant nurseries and she arranged for us to sketch in their large greenhouses.

We arrived at 10AM and spent the next two hours sketching, chatting, and generally having a great time.   As I entered the room I noticed a large concrete tortoise sitting on a shelf.  He was gorgeous and I lamented to Yvan that I wished he were on a lower shelf as if I sat on my stool, he would have towered overhead.  But luck was with me as they actually had several of them, one of which was sitting on a large flat table at my eye height as I sat on my stool.  So I drew him.  Isn’t he cute?  I should have drawn some ground for him to walk on.  I think he would have appreciated that.

Stillman & Birn Beta (9x12), Platinum 3776

Stillman & Birn Beta (9×12), Platinum 3776

When I finished, my back needed a rest so I wandered around, checking what everyone else was drawing.  I’m nothing if not nosy.  Francine is just back from a couple months visiting the sun in Mexico so it was fun to catch up with her.   She’d sketched a stone fish that I liked very much so I decided to draw it too.  I decided to do it in my red Field Notes book, a small book that’s providing me way too much fun.  I suppose ‘serious’ artists don’t draw stuff like this but I had a lot of fun doing it.

Field Notes (Sweet Tooth Red); Platinum 3776, Uniball UM 153 white pen)

Field Notes (Sweet Tooth Red); Platinum 3776, Uniball UM 153 white pen)

When I finished I realized that it was almost 11:30 so I checked with everyone again to find out how much longer they would be sketching.  We typically break for lunch no later than 12:00 and it sounded like today would be no exception.  So, I started wandering, looking for something else to draw.

I was in a nursery so flowers and plants were everywhere but I just wasn’t motivated to draw any of them.  Not sure why but I was more in the mood to keep drawing garden decorations.  I spent time looking at garden gnomes, nearly decided to draw a different turtle but then I saw these fat green frogs.  I couldn’t resist.  It was akin to drawing a ball with eyes.  Hope you like him.

2016-03-31frog