Sketching At Quebec City Hall

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Quebec’s city hall is a gorgeous building that spans a hillside, the south end being somewhere around 20-25 meters higher than the north end. It was built back before humanity decided that what a building looked like was unimportant as it was made operational at the end of the 19th Century. It’s got pointy roofs with lots of gables, turrets and a very fancy entrance.

It’s also got a relatively new open area along the south wall, with a shallow pool and fountain and a whole bunch of inviting chair and table sets that, I’m sure were put there for sketchers, though it seems that downtown employees and tourists alike use them when they eat lunch. That’s ok. We sketchers are willing to share.

It was a sunny and, for this time of year, warm day as I arrived downtown. I decided to sit and look around, my sketching equivalent of a dog circling before lying down. I noticed the decorations over some of the windows and decided they would be my target. They were beautiful. They were challenging. What more could a sketcher ask for?

I was trying a new ink, Noodler’s Red/Black. I had filled a Lamy Safari with it and while it’s not my favorite pen, it was handy as a test bed. Red/Black is a washable ink, and each ink has it’s own properties when it comes to how ink lines will respond to water so there’s always a step into the unknown when you add water.

For the second time I made the mistake of trying to do this step with a waterbrush and, more than a little bit, lost control over the washed ink. Real brushes are the only way to go for this if you want to maintain any semblance of control – I’m not a fan of so-called “happy accidents.” But it was a fun afternoon and I hope to repeated it soon, but with more control over the water.

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×9), Lamy Safari, Noodler’s Red/Black

A Bad Sketching Day

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Does it ever happen to you? You agree to meet people for a sketching session and when you arrive you’re just not inspired to sketch? It doesn’t happen to me very often but when it does, the results aren’t pretty (grin).

Stillman & Birn Beta (9x12), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Stillman & Birn Beta (9×12), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

And so it was when I agreed to meet five of my sketching buddies at the Latin Park, or whatever they call the place where there are a bunch of statues of famous South American folks. The smiling faces and upbeat attitudes that always come with sketchers were there and the day was gorgeous, as it’s still considerably warmer than it should be this time of year. But, for some reason, I just wasn’t in the mood to sketch.

I sat down to draw this guy, or this hunk of stone that looks like a guy. I worked faster than normal, mostly because of my disinterest, I think. The drawing result wasn’t horrible but I decided to try something different with the watercolor and made a mess of it.

From there I started sketching one of the most boring buildings in Quebec, the bus station, which is also an expansion to the train station, one of the most beautiful buildings in Quebec. I’d only just begun when everyone finished their first sketches, so we headed into the Dept. of Justice, the back of which looks out on the park, and we found toilets, coffee, and then returned to the park to eat lunch. That was fun and we talked about film festivals, the weather and sketching.

Everyone decided to do some more sketching so I went back to my bus station sketch. Why do we build such bland, soulless structures? As I look around Quebec it’s easy to see that there was a time when people cared about the esthetics of the world around them. Now it’s all just glass boxes full of cubicles. So sad.

Stillman & Birn Beta (9×12), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

After I finished that sketch I did a couple quick sketches of statue pieces but it just wasn’t an inspiring day for me. Still, any sketching day beats a non-sketching day.

Relaxing At Mt Herman Cemetery

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×9), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

One of my favorite places in Quebec City is the Mt Herman Cemetery. It’s an old English cemetery that dates back at least to 1800 and is situated on a heavily forested, rolling hill landscape. People go to Mt Herman to read, meditate, walk around, have picnics, let their kids see a bit of nature. Of course, some come for a longer stay, which is the raison d’etre of a cemetery.

Me, I go there to sketch and to enjoy the quiet of the place, and that’s what I was doing about a week ago. During my time there I did a couple sketches. Nothing special, and not much to say about them except that both subjects were crafted during the 1860s. We do live our history here in Quebec.

Stillman & BIrn Beta (6x9), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Stillman & BIrn Beta (6×9), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Even So, The Sketchcrawl Was A Success

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Steps in the garden at Bois du Coulonge; Stillman & Birn Beta (6×9), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Sometimes luck is on your side; sometimes it’s not. I’m still not sure which of these occurred yesterday, when we held our second Croquistes de Quebec sketchcrawl. The day before the event the weather reports were suggesting 20-30mm of rain for the day – not exactly what you want to hear as an organizer of an outdoor event. But when Sunday morning arrived, the report had been downgraded to 1mm of rain. It was windy and it had cooled significantly from the nice temps we’d had all week. Things, shall we say, were not looking good.

But, intrepid sketchers that we are, Yvan and I arrived at Parc Parc du Bois de Coulonge bright and early with smiles on our faces, though our collars were turned up and hats pulled down tight onto our heads. We started sketching, hoping beyond hope that someone else would show up. I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that we were doubtful.

Agathe drawing a Hosta plant.

But alas, there are other ~~crazy~~ dedicated sketchers in Quebec City and soon, Agathe showed up. She’s a passionate sketcher that did a great sketch of me sketching. I wish I had it to share with you. Later she became interested in drawing some of the plants in the park.

Guylaine, trying to keep warm

A bit later Guylaine arrived and began drawing a building that’s right out of one of Disney’s animation movies, with more gables and turrets resting on its small footprint than any building deserves. I think she was the really smart one among us as the building houses a coffee shop and she got to sit at a table while she drew.

Yvan, my mentor, doing what he’s always doing – drawing

It was cold, however, and very windy. Rain seemed just around the corner, though it didn’t actually rain until Yvan and I were heading home late in the afternoon. The two women had had enough by lunch time and left but since we had established both a morning and an afternoon meeting time, for those who couldn’t make it in the morning, Yvan and I felt compelled to stay. We headed to the afternoon meeting place, and while our spirits were cold, they had yet to be dampened, at least not literally.

Yvan decided he was going to draw the grand building at the head of the large garden/fountain/open area that is the heart of the park. Being of more modest abilities and energy, I decided to draw what is now the information center. It used to be the hub building for three greenhouses that splayed out in three directions but had been removed. I found the building fascinating, particularly from my perch on a hill above it. I still need to draw some of the garden behind it.

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×9), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

One thing Yvan did during the day was accumulate drawings of the lamps and fixtures within the park. I thought I’d share it with you to give you some indication of this guy’s talent. These are his “quick sketches,” each taking him only 2-3 minutes.

In the end, the bad weather reports and the cold reality diminished our numbers and was unlucky. On other hand, four of us had a great time getting together to sketch. Overall I think we were lucky because we all went home happy and dry. Besides, it’s supposed to warm up tomorrow and I’ll be out sketching.

Sketching Marais Du Nord, Quebec

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Larry Marshall

Marais du nord is one of my favorite places in the Quebec City area. It’s only a few kilometers out of town but when you go there, you leave the hectic, noisy city behind and enter the world of chittering squirrels, bird noises and, most of all, the silence and peace that comes from being close to nature.

Marais du nord (north marsh) is situated within and around a large expanse of marshland between Lac Delage and Lac St. Charles and is maintained by a consortium of concerned citizens who decided that too much of the land around the lakes was being bought up and developed. They took on the Herculean effort of convincing the government to give them money and developed the “park” (I’m not sure whether park or reserve is the better word) to maintain the marshland and to provide hiking trails, bridges, overlooks and benches for people wanting to get away from the city for a while. A lot of Quebec kids are getting to see nature up close because of Marais du nord.

Chantal and I headed there for the day, mostly to clear our heads with a bit of hiking, lunch in the woods, and maybe, just maybe, to find some mushrooms to sketch. She has a “mushroom book” in which she sketches mushrooms and the mushroom diversity at Marais du nord is extraordinary.

It was a glorious day, though it was cut a bit short by threatening clouds that dumped a few tons of water on us as we sat in the car. Sometimes things do work out and we guessed right this time. Nevertheless, we got some hiking done and found some of those mushrooms.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Namiki Falcon, DeAtramentis Document Black

Because this was a hiking trip, the notion that I would spend a couple hours doing a landscape was out of the question. Chantal is patient but there are limits. There were mushrooms to find, afterall. I saw this lack of time as an opportunity to force myself to put into practice some of the stuff that Marc Taro Holmes is trying to teach those of us taking his Craftsy Travel Sketching in Mixed Media course.

I’ve been doing a bunch of quick, single-line sketches, trying to capture a scene quickly and simplifying by elimination of details. My typical sketching style makes it hard for me to capture a chunk of nature quickly; nature is just too darn complex. So I decided to see if I could grab a scene quickly. I didn’t use the single-line approach but worked VERY loose and quick, for me, and in 10-12 minutes I’d done this drawing. This was nothing short of a miracle for me as I can burn an hour drawing a single tree. The bridge would have taken another hour. I did several of these quick sketches during the day and I was generally pleased with the results. Maybe Marc’s right and that by the time I’ve finished up a few dozen of those single-line sketches I’ll have figured it out.

10-12 minute sketch in Stillman & Birn Beta (9×12), Namiki Falcon & Kuretake #13 brush pen.