Thanksgiving Time In Canada

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Thanksgiving comes in October here in Canada, the same month as Halloween.  This causes pumpkins and many displays of them to serve double duty.  At the beginning of October displays go up for Thanksgiving.  Hay Bales, pumpkins and such are everywhere.

When I saw this display I had to sketch it.  Great scene, though unfortunately it was placed into a shaded area next to the entrance of our farmers’ market.  This was not the most photogenic placement of a rustic cart so I didn’t draw any of the background.  Hope that’s ok (grin).

Stillman & Birn Beta (8×10), DeAtramentis Document Black, Wing Sung 8009, Daniel Smith watercolors

That was last week.  I walked by this week to find a bunch of additional pumpkins had been added.  Each had a black pumpkin face painted on it.  Happy Halloween everyone!

 

The Unwanted? Weed

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Weed: A plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants.

I’ve always thought that the word “weed” was a symbol of what’s wrong with human logic.  Mostly it says, “If I don’t want it there it must be labelled as undesirable and purged.”  This is our approach to nature, politics, social media, and a host of other things and the notion never yields good results.  The same is true when we spray the heck of out our lawns with poisons just to eliminate dandelions which are more beneficial and beautiful than the grass we’re supposedly protecting.  I bring this up because a “weed” showed up in our backyard.

Chantal has a big patch of day lilies growing next to the steps to our deck.  At this time of year, the flowers are gone but the long strings of foliage are still nice to look at… except for our weed.

Yes, it has encroached upon the garden, invaded our space.  It sits proudly, head up and says “What’cha gonna do about it?”  Well, we’ve adopted it and it’s one of our favorite features in the backyard, if only for its audacity.  I had to draw it – our single Rudbeckia.   Where it came from we do not know.  But it’s here and its our weed and we love her.

Moleskine watercolor book (A5 portrait), DeAtramentis Document black, Wing Sung 8009

Backyard Plants – They’re Always There

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The thing about backyard plants is that they’re always there.  Chantal plants them, tends, them and I always say “I’m going to draw them.”  I never do because they’re always there.  But about this time a year, when the days are getting shorter and cooler, I realize that very soon, they won’t be there.  This happens every year but I’m a very slow learner.

And so I make the point of drawing some flowers.  I can’t possibly draw them all because, like a student waiting until the night of the exam to study, I don’t have enough time because I’ve ignored the task all summer.

The silly thing is that I thoroughly enjoy sitting in the yard with all my concentration directed at a bunch of leaves and flowers I know little about.  Chantal tells me these are anemone flowers.  I know nothing about cultivated plants except they’re fun to draw as long as you don’t have the attitude that they’re “always there.”

Moleskine watercolor book (A5 portrait), DeAtramentis Document black, Wing Sung 8009, Daniel Smith watercolors

Sketching A Classic Yacht

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There are signs of autumn in the air, though most of our trees have yet to change color.  I suppose that disappoints those arriving daily on fancy cruise ships so they can see the fall colors, but I’m grateful.  Our summer started so slowly that we need an equally slow entry into winter for sanity’s sake.

I made another trip to Bassin Louise, the harbor for personal craft in Quebec City.  I confess that I’m not impressed by the modern plastic boats that people are so proud of but give me a classic wooden ship and I feel the need to sketch it.  This sketch didn’t do the old yacht justice but here it is, warts and all.

Stillman & Birn Beta (8×10), DeAtramentis Document black, Wing Sung 8009

Sketching At Vinoble De Bacchus

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The Artistes dans les parcs went to Iles d’Orleans to visit Vinoble de Bacchus for a day of painting en plein air.  Bacchus is the god of wine so it was only fitting that his vineyard was beautiful.  All of the buildings are painted white with blue roofs and the vineyards overlook the St. Lawrence River.  We had a great time.

I wandered around a while, just enjoying the place.  There was a lot to see and I took it all in.  The last time we came I couldn’t walk up/down the hills to the vineyards and so I was enjoying the freedom my rheumatologist has given me.

Eventually, though, I sat down to sketch this building.  I just liked the door.  Do we need more reason than that?  I don’t think so.

Stillman & BIrn Beta (8×10), DeAtramentis black, Daniel Smith watercolors

Then it was time for lunch, a very long lunch.  A big part of the raison d’etre of the Artistes dans les parcs are its social aspects and the vineyard’s ambience and services emphasized this on this day.  They sell yummy cheese plates, serve wine and we could sit outside on a perfect day and talk, and talk, and talk.

While that was happening I did this small sketch of a planter that sat nearby.  Not much of a sketch but I thought I’d throw it in as a remembrance of that fine afternoon.  Thanks Bacchus, for letting us visit your vineyard.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6), DeAtramentis Document Black

Where Have The Alligators Gone?

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The Artistes dans les parcs went back to what is now called Parc des Moulins, but the area used to be the Quebec zoo.  Oh how I wish we still had animals to draw but politics brought the zoo to an end, a needless end.

Anyway, it was a hot day but I set up in the sun at one end of a large impound that used to house the alligators. It’s a pond with small islands for alligator basking and a building at one end so people could look down on the critters.  The islands are now overgrown so while this sketch doesn’t have any alligators, it does have lots of plants.  The mandatory alligator-proof wall is still in place around it and it seemed only fitting that it be included in the scene.

Stillman & Birn Beta (8×10), DeAtramentis Document brn/blk, Wing Sung 8009, Daniel Smith watercolors

The Urban Sketcher View

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I’ve only been an urban sketcher.  Yes, I’ve drawn stuffed animals and a few flowers but mostly I go out somewhere, sit down and draw what’s in front of me, on location.  I like this because I don’t have to make stuff up.  I can see the objects ‘in the flesh’ and from all angles.  Drawing from photos is boring and, somehow incomplete.

But there’s a downside to urban sketching.  You’re always faced with cluttered, complex landscapes.  Drawn verbatim, you end up with confused, messy sketches.  Everyone says “simplify,” but in my opinion, this is the hardest thing to do in art.  What to leave out, what to leave in.  Where should the border of the sketch be>  How do you treat those edges?  Do you zoom in or out to capture a subject?  Too many decisions… too many choices.

I went with Yvan to draw boats.  Specifically we wanted to draw some of the tugboats that are moored in the Quebec City harbor.  I found a place out of the wind and set up to draw a tugboat on the other side of the harbor.  I had this view.

I’m not a master of composition but even I know this is a cluttered view and that having a big rope cutting across a drawing with no reason isn’t a good idea.  So, “simplify” is what I’m told so that’s what I do.

Even so, it was going to be hard to make that tugboat the star of my sketch if I drew it from that far away.  So, the solution was to zoom in, forcing the tugboat onto center stage.  I also decided to greatly simplify the background.  And I started to draw my tugboat.

I was happy with this result but zooming in did present a new problem.  If the boat is drawn that large, don’tcha want to see a lot of detail?  Of course, but because the boat is actually so far away, you can’t see the details.  Some details are faked as a set of textural marks.  Others are left out completely.  It’s a balance I guess.  A balance that makes me realize just how much I still need to learn about sketching.

Gaining Inspiration And Trying Stuff

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I do more sketching ‘off camera’ than I post on my blog.  I do these for a variety of reasons.  Most are done quickly for the simple reason that I need to draw something.  Sometimes I do them to try out a new pen or paint.  Sometimes they’re done to practice a technique, like the little gouache paintings I did a couple days ago (horrible by the way).

But sometimes, quite often actually, I draw something inspired by something I see on the internet.  Most I try to mimic the style of the artist in an attempt to walk a mile in their shoes.  Mostly this fails in a ways similar to me trying to walk in high heels, but these are also some of my favorite things to do as there’s absolutely no pretense that I’m creating something “from” myself.  It’s sort of an out of body experience.

I thought I’d share with you a bit of that stuff, with apologies to their real authors, the internet sketchers who share their work so we can appreciate, enjoy and maybe learn from them.  This first sheet is from a Canson XL multi-media (7×10) pad that sits next to my laptop.  It’s full of stuff like this.

The top right is from a set of fire hydrants drawn by Arlene from the Artist’s Journal Workshop.  She did a sketch of several very colorful hydrants and when I saw the yellow one with a lime green top I had to draw it.  I decided, however, to extend its top a bit, give it a head tilt of personality and I added a pair of eyes.  I was having fun.

I’m sad to say that I can’t remember who did the geranium plant but it was a very freehand version of one and so I followed suit.  Leaves and flowers randomly stuck on the page as I tried to turn a piece of paper real estate into a geranium.

The little landscape came from the background of one of those pesky ads that precede a YouTube video, with a lot of ‘it could look like this’ thrown in for good measure.

Lastly the lonely girl.  She was was from another commercial and standing on a street.

Erik Davis posted a sketch similar to this, saying he was trying something different.  I thought that a good idea so I followed suit.  It’s about 3×4.

If you’ve taken any of Liz Steel’s great courses you know that there are lots of things to copy and/or mimic.  While you’re supposed to be doing it ‘your way’, I often try to do it Liz’s way.  I’m rarely successful because her style is so much more loose and quick than my own.  It always feels good to me, however, so I’ll continue doing it.

This time it’s a sketch slightly in advance of her Watercolor on Location course that starts Sept 4th.  I’m signed up for it so I have access to the introductory lessons.  Liz’s sketch is somewhat more complete than mine.  Hers is also a LOT bigger than mine (mine is about 4×5).

Walking in the shoes of another artist is probably not for everyone but I find it very informative.  It makes me appreciate even more how special their art work is and I think I learn quite a lot from doing it.  Doing this also causes one to understand that you  can’t precisely walk in another artist’s shoes.  It’s more like walking in high heels if you’re an old man.  But give it a try.  You might like it.

 

 

Cap Rouge Marina Sketching

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We were at the Cap Rouge Marina last Sunday and it was a wonderful day, though a bit on the warm side.  I relish the heat, partly because I’m from Arizona and partly because I know that all too soon we’ll be back in heavy coats and complaining about winter.

I was in the mood to draw rocks and found a bunch of them on the other side of the mouth of the river that flows into the marina and out into the St. Lawrence.

When I finished I walked down to where some other people were sketching and I started sketching a sailboat that was moored on the ‘flats’, which turns into a giant grassland at low tide.  I’d just gotten started when it was announced that it was time to gather for lunch.  I share it in its unfinished state as I never got back to it.  By the time lunch was over the boat was laying on its side in a sea of grass, waiting for the tide to come back in.

After lunch I walked to the other side of the marina and drew this scene, that is looking across the marina.  By then it was blisteringly hot and I cooked on my tripod stool for the duration of the drawing.  It was an end of a great day and, once again, I owe Denise a big thank you for organizing the event.

Stillman & Birn Beta (8×10), DeAtramentis Document brn/blk, Daniel Smith watercolors

Are You Afraid Of Clowns?

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Many people are afraid of clowns for some reason.  They might be scared to death if they walk down rue St. Paul in the old port area of Quebec City because, between two buildings there is a humongous inflatable clown head scrunged between the two walls.  I think it’s cute but it could also be scary, depending upon your point of view.  I had to draw it.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (4×6), DeAtramentis Document Black, Wing Sung 8009, Platinum brush pen