I promised I’d post the rest of my sketches from Yvan’s garden and here they are. We did have a lot of fun that day.
These were in a window box and difficult to draw because they were in the shade. Stillman & Birn Alpha (8×5), Platinum 3776
This small birdfeeder brought delight in the form of black capped chickadees, gold finches, and sparrows. Stillman & Birn Alpha (8×5), Platinum 3776
I don’t even know what this is but it was fun to draw. Stillman & Birn Alpha (8×5), Platinum 3776
I was out walking and took the opportunity to sketch a bit of Quebec City’s port area. This is small portion of it, which is the place where Riviere St. Charles empties into the St. Lawrence River. It’s an ever-changing scene as large ships dock on each side of it for loading and unloading. It’s good to be out in the sunshine again.
Stillman & Birn Alpha (8×5) softcover, Platinum 3776
French explorer Jacques Cartier made a couple trips to what is now called Quebec. On his second visit, in 1535, he and his crew wintered only about 10 minutes from my house, at the confluence of the St. Charles River and the Lairet River. Why he didn’t stop by for coffee is unclear. Maybe the timing wasn’t right. Maybe he knew how bad my French was.
Stillman & Birn Gamma, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black
Our group was sketching Limoilou just before I headed to Ottawa last weekend and decided to draw the monument erected in his honor in spite of his snubbing me when he was here. The monument sits in what is now called Cartier-Brébeuf park in honor of you know who.
Sweet Tooth FIeld Notes, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black
When I finished the sketch I started wandering around, trying to find the other sketchers. I came across Lisette and Hubert who were drawing an old Catholic church that has become Quebec’s clown school.
They still needed a few minutes to finish up so I decided to do a quick sketch of the church chimney. Once they finished up we all met for lunch. All in all, it was a great day as we’re finally getting to sketch outdoors.
We’ve finally gotten a couple days where we could sketch outdoors and we’ve taken advantage of it. A group of us met to wander the alleyways and do some sketching together and we had a lot of fun doing just that. What alleyways may lack in terms of esthetics, they more than make up for in the form of interesting shape complexes and textures. If only there were fewer stairs to draw (grin).
Stillman & Birn Delta, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black
Every gathering of sketchers has periods where we ignore one another because we’re lost in our sketching but eventually we get hungry and we come together. This day was no exception and we gathered at the local coffee shop for food and to chatter away about pens and paper. Then it was back on the streets, or alleyways in this case, in search of something else to draw.
I decided to sketch a sketcher. Yvan was sketching up a storm when I sat down to sketch him and while I don’t do him justice, he was a cooperative model. All in all, it was a wonderful day. We were teased by those couple days of good weather and I’m looking forward to more of them. Yesterday it snowed.
Stillman & Birn Gamma, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black
A week or so ago I walked to Bassin Louise, which is the part of our port area where private owners keep their boats. All winter they (the boats) sit on land, wrapped in their cocoons of blue plastic. When spring does arrive there’s a mad dash to get them in the water so their owners can enjoy them during our all-to-short summer.
During my visit I noticed two things. There were no boats in the water in spite of it being May. In fact, in shaded parts of the port there was still ice in the water. At the time it occurred to me that sailors may be the only people more frustrated with our lack of spring than we sketchers.
It does seem that we’re finally getting hints that winter isn’t going to last forever and I’ve managed a flurry of outdoor sketching activity this week. I decided to head back to Bassin Louise to see how the sailors were doing. When I arrived I saw that a few boats had been put in the water – maybe a dozen of the couple hundred that will eventually fill the harbor. I’m not sure the lock that lets them exit into the St. Lawrence River is functional yet but there were people working on sails, polishing chrome, etc.
While my face is incapable of launching a thousand ships, I thought that maybe my imagination might get one of them moving so I sat down to do a quick sketch of one of the boats moored in the harbor. It’s seen here, heading out into the St. Lawrence.
Stillman & Birn Gamma (9×6) softcover, Platinum 3776, Platinum Carbon Black