Sketchcrawl Sketches And Then Some

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Larry Marshall

We held our fall sketchcrawl last Saturday and I reported on it on Monday. The post was getting so packed with graphics that I decided not to post the sketches I did during the sketchcrawl.

I did do a couple, however. Being a fan of mundane urban accessories, I decided to draw one of a dying breed of accessory, the phone booth. It was convenient as it was situated at the meeting place for the sketchcrawl so I could sketch and still meet people as they arrived. I learned this trick from my buddy Yvan. I did it in a Stillman & Birn Zeta (6×9) using a Pilot Prera and Platinum Carbon Black ink. I found that I’d forgotten my watercolors so I did the color with Faber-Castell “Albrecht-Durer watercolor pencils. I like these as a substitute for watercolors because I can completely eliminate the lines made by the pencil.

In front of the Farmer’s Market was a large pile of pumpkins, stacked on hay bales. I drew a portion of those in my Singapore special toned-brown sketchbook that was sent to me by Patrick Ng. I’m still learning how to work with this paper but I’m really enjoying it. I used the Pilot Prera and watercolor pencils on this one as well.

I thought I’d throw in a couple other sketches I’ve done recently. The garage sits at the end of a little park I sit in while waiting for a study group I run to convene. I don’t think I ever posted it. It was done in a 3×5 Moleskine watercolor book.

When I was doing that sketch, they were tearing up the street in front of the park. By the next week they were ready to re-pave it and they’d just finished laying new curbing along its length. To do that, it seems, they had to remove the fire hydrant, which was hanging from a mechanized shovel. I’m a fire hydrant afficionado and this was akin to a bird-watcher seeing a rare bird. I had to sketch this and so I did, in my Stillman & Birn Zeta (6×9) with my Pilot Prera. This was the tenth fire hydrant sketch I’ve done and certainly the most unique.

Hope you enjoy these. I sure had fun creating them. — Larry

Tea Time In Quebec City

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I became officially old last Sunday. The significance of this is that my bus pass is now less expensive and I’ll pay $2 less for a ticket to a Capitales baseball game.

But, we had a wild celebration of the event anyway. I was served a nice brunch, prepared by my wife and daughter. We talked about lots of stuff, most of it not too important. And then my wife suggested we go for a walk. Maybe 65 steps, she said, in celebration. We concluded that 6500 steps might be a somewhat more reasonable length for a celebratory walk.

And so we set out for our 6500 step walk. We had a great time, though it was a bit windy and one hat nearly ran away on us. But we passed by the art store, where I bought a tube of Quin. Gold and we continued onward…step…step…step.

We decided to stop and have a pot of tea at Camelia Sinensis, our favorite tea house. The life of a sketcher’s wife is hard. As the tea arrived I said, “I should draw that”, pointing at the tea service. She patiently agreed and spent the next ten minutes watching me quickly sketch the service. The pot only left the tray once as I sketched it and as she refilled her cup. I’m sure she was thinking “what I put up with…sheez” and at the same time I was thinking, “I’d better hurry up before she thinks I’m ignoring her.” Such is wedded bliss.

So here it is, my more than a little bit wonky sketch of a Camelia Sinensis tea service. My first day of being old was a good one and, by the way, we made 9300 steps during that walk.

White-Face, Nigeria Style

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Some of the Nigerian masks are coated with a kaolin clay, making them very white. In places the clay has worn off and so some of the wood shows through, giving the masks an interesting texture/coloring. I was only semi-successful in capturing that look in this mask.

Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook, Pilot Prera and Lamy Safari, both filled with Noodler’s Lexington Gray. Brown and black watercolor pencils provided some color but I really needed a cream pencil for this one.

Spring Sketching Has Begun…Almost

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Larry Marshall

On Good Friday I met with Claudette and Yvan at the Musee de la Civilisation to sketch but we were facing a day that seemed enticingly warm. When I type that I have to chuckle. I’m an Arizona guy so for me to say that a high temperature around 40F is warm is, well, an exaggeration that comes from a brain that’s spent the last few months without sketching outdoors.

We sketched indoors and packed up around noon. I did this sketch during that session. I sort of screwed up the eyes somewhat but it was fun doing this sketch anyway. With a rock wall for a beard and hat, what’s not to like? It was done in an S&B Epsilon (5.5×8.5), with a Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray ink.

Then, Yvan and I headed downtown where one of his friends was sitting in a window, sketching people on the street who were willing to pose for ten minutes. That was fun to watch, for a while, but I got cold just standing around and I decided it was time to head home. And so I did.

When I arrived home my wife and daughter were out shopping so I decided I’d wander the neighborhood and see if I could sketch something outdoors. After all, it WAS 42F!!

I’ve walked by this building many times and have said “I’ve got to sketch that” an equal number of times. It was built in 1927 but today was the day it was going to be sketched. Besides, I wanted to try out my new Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook. I used my Pilot Prera/Lex Gray combo and, because I had my museum stuff with me, I used watercolor pencils to do the color. I was uncomfortably cold towards the end but clearly spring sketching is about to begin and I’m getting excited. Sorry that much of the light blue in the sky and in the snow got lost in the scanning process.

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?