Newsflash: Weather Responds To Blog Post

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Last Thursday I wrote a blog post titled “Waiting for Spring.” I moaned and groaned that in spite of spring being a month old, it was still too cold to sketch outdoors.

Well guess what happened? On Friday our temperatures increased significantly. We had sun…LOTS of sun. Even the wind died down. So I tucked my sketchbook under my arm and headed out for a weekend of sketching. It was wonderful.

Here’s the first sketch I did. I was out with my buddy Yvan and we’d previously talked about sketching on Rue de la Remparts, which skirts the upper portion of our ‘old’ (founded in 1608) city. So, our first stop was there. I did this sketch in a Stillman & Birn 7×10 Alpha spiral sketchbook. Though I really dislike spiral-bound for storage, I love it for this larger format because I can fold the book back on itself , making it manageable while the book rests on my knees. I used a TWSBI Mini filled with Noodler’s Lexington Gray.

While “warm” by comparison to the previous day, it was still cool and we both ran out of body heat about the same time. So, I snapped the photo above and we headed for something warm to drink. I applied some color later and this was the result.

I suppose some might suggest that the weather changing had nothing to do with my blog post – that it was only a coincidence. I’ll continue to believe otherwise… I think.

Still More Museum Sketching

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Larry Marshall

A late snow storm and associated cold weather has kept us off the streets and in the museums. I met with my buddies Yvan and Claudette on Wednesday and we headed into the Nigeria exhibit at the Musee de la Civilisation. Claudette and Yvan set up to sketch different masks and I wandered, and wandered. For some reason I wasn’t in the mood to do a single object.

Then it occurred to me; I hadn’t sketched any of the museum interior. I looked around and chose this view, because I hadn’t yet sketched the large statue and because Yvan was somewhat visible behind it. I thought the background of display cabinets in the darkened room would balance the large statue nicely. It was done in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon (5.5×8.5) with a Noodler’s Creaper flex pen and Lexington Gray ink. I did the color with watercolor pencils but, when I got home, I went over most of it with a gray wash to highlight the display cabinets and to reflect the dark exhibit room.

Today Yvan and I went back and I did these two objects. Same S&B sketchbook, same tools. Hope you like them.

Quick Sketching On The Bus

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I suffer from motion sickness when I read on the bus. And the first couple times I tried to sketch on a bus, I had the same problem. But I’ve persisted and, it seems, I’m becoming able to do quick sketches on the bus. It’s a bumpy ride on a bus so I’m learning to study the subject as I bounce along, adding lines at the stops.

These are not great sketches, but I’m starting to have fun doing it. Here are four I’ve done recently. All were done in an inexpensive 4×6 notebook I bought from the dollar store, though it cost $2 (grin). I used a Noodler’s Creaper flex pen to do the paper scratching. A waterbrush with a few drops of fountain pen ink added was used for shading/color.

Shapes Are Everything In Sketching

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I continue to sketch at the Musée de la Civilisation here in Quebec City because it’s turned cold again. Mother Nature seems to be reminding us that it’s too soon for spring. We’re supposed to have a big snow storm at the beginning of next week 🙁

But the practice I’m getting at seeing and depicting shape couldn’t be better as the Nigerian artifacts are truly extraordinary when it comes to shape. I’m starting to experiment a bit with technique, trying to do some more quickly than others, some less/more detailed. This is fun to do, though it takes a certain amount of gymnastics on the part of my brain to break out of my penchant for detail and a slow pace. I thought I’d share a few more with you.

I did these first two by creating a rough outline in pencil. I followed this by the addition of color using a waterbrush with a few drops of J. Herbin Lie de thé. Then I added the ink outlines and hatching. These were also done more quickly than my normal snail pace and while not as precise, I like the results of this process.

This one was done in the same quick style but I did it in ink and then added the color, again from the waterbrush/ink pen. It’s a large pestle used for smashing grain, or unruly husbands I suspect.

Finally, I’ve been waiting to do this helmet for a while. It’s something 0f an anomaly in this exhibit as most of the items are created in wood and covered with mud of varying textures. It seems cast in metal and is very detailed. It called out for a detailed sketch and so I went back to my more typical approach. I used a Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray ink. I added some shading using Faber-Castell watercolor pencils. The more I use these the more I love them for adding color as you can get the lines to completely disappear with a waterbrush. Very handy for shading.

All four of these sketches were done in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon (5.5×8.5) and I realized that I’ve never filled this one with just museum sketches this winter. But I’m ready for spring…aren’t you?

Sketching Other People’s Art

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Last Sunday Yvan, Pierre, Celine and I headed to the Musee de L’Amerique Francais because they were launching a new display of art done in Quebec long ago and donated to the Catholic church who kept the collection in their museum. We didn’t know what to expect but since it’s still too cold for outdoor sketching, what the heck, we were going sketch art.

Much of the art in this collection is religious art, not my favorite way to use display space. I find most of it too gawdy and repetitious. But one room was filled with some amazing Quebecois pieces, many that would be considered ‘urban’ art today. I was looking for a new challenge, something different… at least for me.

After looking around, I settled down to sketch a bronze statue of a woman carrying a heavy bucket. I was struck by how well the sculpture captured the physical effort and body/arm positioning to maintain balance with a heavy bucket in one hand.

This was a considerable leap for me as I’m not good at drawing human forms and I had no idea how to make one look like a bronze statue. Still, it was fun. I drew it in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon (5.5×8.5) with a Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray. I used watercolor pencils to fake the bronze look.

There were many paintings that seemed worthy of turning them into a Larry sketch but one in particular caught my eye. It was a painting of a 19th Century seminary courtyard, a courtyard that was actually just next door to the museum. I went outside to look at the real thing and found what a hundred years can do. The basic building layout remained. In fact, on one edge of the courtyard, the end where the artist stood, there exists the remains of an old wall, clearly a very old wall.

Aside from that, everything had been remodeled and updated. The two main buildings had an extra story added to them and all the windows had been modernized. The stairway was gone adn the entries had modern doors. It definitely looked cooler in the 19th Century so I went back indoors where it was warm.

I’d never sketched an oil painting before and converting it to my cartoon sketching style did present some challenges, but it was fun, too. Done in the same S&B sketchbook but with a Lamy Safari as my Prera ran out of ink . I’m not sure I’ll add color to it as I like it au natural.

We’ve vowed to return to sketch some other pieces, particularly some of the sculptures. A great day was had by all, but every sketching day is a great day, isn’t it?