Sketching Together: July 12th

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Larry Marshall

For a while we had regular sketchcrawls in Quebec City. With each one we gained more and more participants because everyone found them so much fun. Well, just like the Terminator, “We’re back!”

Yvan Breton has proposed that we have monthly sketchcrawls on the second Sunday of every month. These will be informal events with time and location suggested but otherwise, it’s up to you to bring your sketching materials and lunch. You’ll get out of these events what you put into them but most people immediately start enjoying the comaraderie of the events and they learn from each other about techniques, tools, and maybe different ways to enjoy sketching.

Women enjoying the ambiance of Parc Jean D’Arc

Kiosk at the west end of Parc Jean D’Arc

Our first event will take place in Parc Jean D’Arc, on the Plains of Abraham, on Sunday, July 12th. We’ll start at 9:30 and finish no later than 4:00, with a lunch break somewhere in between. For more information, Yvan has set up a web page with all the information here. We hope you’ll join us.

Quebec City: 44th Worldwide Sketchcrawl

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Twas that time again and to participate in the 44th Worldwide Sketchcrawl we all gathered at the Jardin Botanique Roger-Van Den Ende de l’Université Laval. French names are often more than a mouthful. This is a large garden run by and adjacent to Laval University. The university gave us the run of the place, a very large place with tons of flowers and other things to sketch. We couldn’t have asked for better weather than we got. Sunny, warm but not stifling hot and the garden provided considerable amounts of shade, though not always in the required spot.

It was difficult to count the participants as we spread out across the landscape. Maybe we should have had a “sketcher hunt” the way kids hunt for Easter eggs as you could walk the trails and find sketchers scrunched down over plants, drawing away, or hiding in the shade while trying to draw an arbor. By my count, however, we set a new sketchcrawl record with 27 participants. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The name of the game was to find some shade, identify something to draw, and then “just do it” as the saying goes. Much sketching was done on this day but we broke for lunch a little after noon and met in a large tent that exists for this purpose. It was fun to see most of the sketchers all in one place and to kibbitz and share sketches. Unfortunately, I took photos of this before everyone arrived but by the time they did I was embroiled in conversation and sketchbook swapping.

Here is evidence of sketching being committed and the perpetrators (click on a photo to see a larger view):

And here is a small sampling of the sketches that were done this Saturday:

This post is getting long enough that I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to post the sketches I did when I wasn’t taking photos of sketchers (grin). By the end of the day I think we’d all learned and/or remembered a few important things. These are:

1) Sketching is fun.

2) Sketching with other people is funner.

3) The shade moves quickly in Quebec City this time of year.

4) Anticipation – we’re all looking forward to the next sketchcrawl.

Quebec Sketchcrawl: Musee De La Civilisation

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Saturday, January 25th is the date for the 42nd Worldwide Sketchcrawl. It’s very cold in Quebec City this time of year so we’ll be having our sketchcrawl indoors at the Musée de la Civilisation. We’ll be at the museum from 10h to 16h, breaking for lunch at mid-day. Bring a lunch or buy it at the museum but we’ll gather at the museum cafeteria around 12:30.

Participation, of course, is free. Normally, entrance to the museum is only available from 10h to 12h but the museum has generously offered free admission to all participants regardless of your time of arrival. Just let them know that you’re with the sketching group. Coat check is also free.

It should be a great day as there’s plenty to tempt you to put pen to paper. While a bit bizarre, the Haiti In Extremis exhibit offers some macabre sketching possibilities.

The newly refurbished and expanded Native American exhibit is also full of goodies to sketch, from snowshoes, utensils, weapons, carvings, paintings, mannikins all waiting for interest a sketcher.

There is a large computer games exhibit and while it’s mostly a bunch of boxes on which you can play video games, there are a number of possibilities for sketching as well, including a full-sized sculpture of the lead character for the Assassin’s Creed III video game.

There are also a lot of interior architecture possibilities as the building itself has a lobby area that is an architect’s dream. I still need to do some sketching there.

Of course the star of the show right now is the Paris: 1899-1914 exhibit. Here you’ll find a room filled with old camera and movie projector equipment and ongoing movies from the period.

There are a lot of sculptures, busts, and vases if that’s your preference. You’ll also find a number of early vehicles, including a steam-powered car.

The exhibit also holds a lot of very large posters as well as floor-to-ceiling projections of photos, taken in Paris in the 1900s. I did this sketch from one of those.

And, of course, a Paris exhibit wouldn’t be complete without pieces that represent the cabaret scene of the era. Lots of great stuff to sketch in that part of the exhibit.

In short, you won’t want to miss this sketchcrawl as we’re going to have a ball. I hope you’ll join us. And from the organizers, Yvan Breton and Celine Poulin:

———————EN FRANÇAIS———————

Bonjour chers croquistes,

La prochaine sortie de croquis du 42^e Sketchcrawl à Québec aura lieu au chaud du Musée de la Civilisation samedi le 25 janvierprochain.

Nous nous retrouverons à partir de 10h (accès gratuit).

Pour plus d’information, voir l’annonce à la page suivante :

http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=11293

Au plaisir de faire du croquis en votre compagnie.

Yvan Breton et Céline Poulin

41st Worldwide Sketchcrawl – Quebec City

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Larry Marshall

This is the second year that we’ve done the October worldwide sketchcrawl. It’s a challenge for us because, by this time of year, it’s generally pretty darn cold. Last year I learned a new French word – frissoner – which means to shiver. So, only the intrepid among us are up for outdoor sketching in October.

This year was a bit different and our weather on Saturday was really pretty nice… for us. You can see that we’re not wearing shorts and t-shirts,

but Robert and Celine are merrily sketching a large building that sits high on a cliff above the Farmer’s Market, the site of our sketchcrawl. Celine even manages to sketch while wearing these,

which is something I’ve never managed to do. We made up for a lack of temperature with an abundance of laughter, talking, and sketching. It was a great day and by my count, we had 14-15 people in attendance. I remember, during the planning of our first sketchcrawl (June 2012), we wondered whether anyone would show up at all. We’ve come a long way.

I did get to do some sketching and had great fun doing it but the most fun was talking with several of the newcomers to our ranks who were interested in my use of watercolor pencils (Faber-Castell Albrecht-Durer) and wondered what sketchbooks I used (Stillman & Birn). We chatted about sketching in general, about having sketchcrawls more regularly, where to sketch during the Quebec winter, and a lot of other things. This was a sharp contrast to my more typical loner stalking of sketching subjects in Quebec City.

Gilles Charron was one of the guys at his first sketchcrawl. He’s been a watercolorist for a while and lamented that he should have been drawing more. He made up for lost time, though, doing these two sketches during the event. Aren’t they great?

Yvan Breton and Celine Poulin organized the event and a big thank you is launched in their direction. I don’t have a photo of Yvan at this event but his art speaks volumes about his talent. I do have a photo of both Celine and her artistic talent.

I think I’ll skip posting my own sketches from the day as this post is filling up fast. Maybe I’ll post them tomorrow. For now, I leave you with a look at the art and faces of some of my friends

and some of the sketches they did during our sketchcrawl. Thanks to all the participants; you made the day very special.

The 40th Worldwide Sketchcrawl On July 13th

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Larry Marshall

The 40th Worldwide Sketchcrawl has been scheduled for Quebec City. I hope you can make it to this event, which is anticipated to be our best ever, and with good reason. We’re going to meet near the St. Jean Gate into the old city and sketch in the rue D’auteuil – Artillery Park area. Lots of people to sketch, lots of great architecture, and some really nice park areas if you want to sketch trees or just sit and enjoy the ambiance.

DATE: Saturday, July 13, 2013
TIME: 10:00 to about 15:30
LOCATION: rue D’Auteuil – Artillery Park near the St-Jean Gate
COST: Free unless it rains as we’ll all run for the Artillery Park museum (see below) which costs $4.

DETAILS:

We’ll meet near the St. Jean Gate and begin sketching at 10AM. Around mid-day, we’ll break for lunch, have fun seeing everyone’s sketches, and have the inevitable sketching discussions. Those who arrive late and those who remain with us for the afternoon will sketch until around 15:30, when we can once again enjoy each other’s sketches.

This is a sketch I did of the Artillery Park Museum entrance, which is just inside the St. Jean Gate.

The weather will be beautiful, I just know it will … but otherwise we will gather in the Artillery Park Museum. We’ll have to pay the $4 entry fee but they have agreed to allow us to sketch the museum holdings.

Celine Poulin and Yvan Breton are the organizers and we all hope to see you out sketching with us! Please invite your friends, and feel free to circulate this invitation!