While Walking Through The Park One Day….

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Yvan and I planned a sketching session on St. Denis street and we were to meet there. This street has many majestic residences and a large grassy area in front of them so it’s an ideal place to sketch.

As I arrived I realized that I’d forgotten my WalkStool. This is a big problem as my knees and me don’t much like sitting on the ground, for fear that we’ll never be able to get back up.

And so the search began for a sitting place with something in front of me to sketch. It’s not really rocket science but I wandered around for a while before finding such a combination. I ended up in the Parc des Governeurs, a small park between the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City’s tourist landmark and the American consulate.

Both of these buildings are great sketching subjects but I chose this more humble structure that sits in the park. Yvan suggested that it was once a toilet but these days it looks to be used by maintenance people. In any case, it had a bench, in the shade, and so I sketched it in my Stillman & Birn Zeta (5×8) with a Pilot Prera and Platinum Carbon Black ink. I used Lexington Gray for the stairs in the background. I’m enjoying the contrast between these two inks. As always, I used Winsor & Newton watercolors like crayons to add some color.

Ferry Dock Sketching

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I use any excuse to take the ferry from Quebec City to Levis, which is on the other side of the St. Lawrence River from us. I do it because 1) I like boats, 2) my bus pass makes it free, and 3) did I mention that I like boats?

On this day, I did it because Yvan wanted to sketch the ferry station, which is an old train station that’s been sort of messed up by neglect and its conversion into a ferry dock. But they’re planning on tearing it down and he wanted a sketch of it. Seemed like a plan to me.

But when I got there, something about sketching the station just didn’t turn my crank that morning so I found an alternative, this building that was probably a hotel at some point and may still be. I like the way the cliff jutted up above, dwarfing what is actually a very large building.

It was done in a Stillman & Birn Zeta (5×8) sketchbook with Pilot Preras and Platinum Carbon Black and Noodler’s Lexington gray inks. Hope you like it. It was sure fun.

Do You Sketch Small?

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I’ve always carried a small sketchbook with me for doing quick-sketches of things. But more and more I’ve been sketching in 5×8 or 10×7 sketchbooks. Working larger is fun and lets me ‘stretch’ my gaze a bit more. The result is that my small sketchbook became a cheap dollar store sketchbook that wouldn’t tolerate watercolors while my larger sketchbooks are all Stillman & Birn, first-class sketchbooks. The ‘gap’ between small and large had become greater in my sketching.

So I tried one of Stillman & Birn’s 4×6 sketchbooks. In fact, I’ve nearly filled two of them. The paper is fantastic, as always, but a 4×6, thick sketchbook is too ‘big’ to be called a ‘small’ sketchbook, at least for this street sketcher. I need something I can stuff in a pocket.

And so I bought a Moleskine watercolor book. I don’t much like its landscape layout but it’s tolerable in this small size. The larger one is almost painful to manage if you try to balance it on your knee while sitting on a stool, which is my typical approach. I do wish they’d produce a portrait format sketchbook with their watercolor paper. Heck, what I really wish is that Stillman & Birn would produce a thin (30pages?) 3×5 sketchbook with their Epsilon paper. Then I’d be a very happy sketcher.

This is a Celtic Cross in Artillery Park. 3x5 and done with a Pilot Prera.

This is a Celtic Cross in Artillery Park. Done with a Pilot Prera.

Anyways, I’ve started doing small pen & ink watercolors again and I’m really enjoying it. I thought I’d share some with you. All of these were done in the tiny Moleskine. I’ll mention the pen used in captions.

Factory building along the Riviere St. Charles. Sakura Micron 01.

Lamp on Plains of Abraham. Uniball Signo UM-151 “brown-black” .28

Cast metal fountain on Plains of Abraham. Pilot Prera, Platinum Carbon Black.

Large light inside the Kent Gate. Pilot Prera.

Cartier-Brebeuf Park. Pilot Prera

Pilot Prera w/Platinum Carbon Black

A Red Flag Will Stop A Sketcher Every Time

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Larry Marshall

As an urban sketcher, with a penchant for the mundane, I couldn’t pass up this scene. The railroad track in the background feeds into the train station here in Quebec City. A passenger train was headed inbound. The track in the foreground is a seldom-used track that allows a connection between a huge cargo facility on one side of a river and another one on the other side. Not much traffic but they’re not interested in any at all when the passenger trains come and go (only a few times a day).

And so, they clip this flag to the track, to let anyone thinking of taking their train engine for a spin, not to do it. The bright red flag created an interesting scene, at least to me. Done in my Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7) with a Pilot Prera, PCB ink, W&N artist watercolors and limited skill.

Sketching On A Summer Morning

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Larry Marshall

It’s fun to be out sketching early in the morning. Quebec City wakes up slowly and if you are out walking at 7AM, you’re mostly alone. Of course this morning I met up with my buddy Yvan and we found ourselves on Rue des Remparts, a great sketching street that skirts the upper portion of the old city. We chose a scene, that was really the backyard and garage areas of several houses. The location also provided a nice shade tree under which I could sit.

The sketch was done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7) sketchbooks using a Pilot Prera and Platinum Carbon Black. W&N artist watercolors and a a waterbrush were used to add color. Before it was done I was wishing I’d brought my real brushes along.