Tag Archives: Quebec Aquarium

Sketching Landscapes At The Quebec Aquarium

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The grounds of the Quebec Aquarium are great for a sketcher.  Whoever designed them had esthetics in mind as well as the ability to accommodate families with kids running all over the place.  And so it’s a fun place to do small landscape sketches.  With winter looming in front of us, I’ve spent most of my aquarium time doing those kinds of sketches.

rocks at Quebec aquarium

Monologue sketchbook (4×5), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon ink

Claudette and I were at the aquarium this week (last week?).  While waiting for it to open I quickly sketched a grouping of large rocks that sit near the entrance.  I’m still trying to get a handle on drawing rocks.

trees at aquarium

Monologue sketchbook (4×5), Hero 578, Platinum Carbon Black

Later I made this little sketch out the window of the cafeteria.  I was drawing trees but more, I was playing with my Hero 578 “fude” pen.  I still haven’t tapped the expressiveness of this pen and should use it a lot more.

But I spent most of my time drawing this scene.  It took me the best part of two hours to complete it.  This included a chat with the security guard, another with a grounds-keeper and a couple visitors stopped to comment.  The weather was ideal, as were the social interactions.

main waterfall at the aquarium

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Sketching At The Quebec Aquarium

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Claudette, Fernande and I headed to the Quebec Aquarium because predictions were for rain.  This is an ideal sketching venue when weather is suspect because there are both indoor and outdoor sketching available.  As it turned out, the weather was pretty nice so we all stayed outdoors.

I started my day with a sketch of the largest building complex.  It was a nice building scene and I could sit in the shade of a large ash tree.  I had fun sketching the tall, large-leaf plants I was looking over from my tripod stool view.

Quebec Aquarium building complex

Stillman & Birn Alpha 10×7, Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

We met for lunch at a picnic bench in the kid’s playground and compared sketches.  Then we talked about their sketching sessions while I was in Ottawa and I told them about my sketching in Ottawa.  I really enjoy this part of urban sketching.  There’s just nothing like the camaraderie among sketchers.

We split up again and I did a bit of wandering.  There are several ponds on the grounds and I found a water lily that grew in just the right spot for me to sketch and so I sat down and did just that.

water lily

Moleskine watercolor book (5×3), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black