Ferry Dock Sketching

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I use any excuse to take the ferry from Quebec City to Levis, which is on the other side of the St. Lawrence River from us. I do it because 1) I like boats, 2) my bus pass makes it free, and 3) did I mention that I like boats?

On this day, I did it because Yvan wanted to sketch the ferry station, which is an old train station that’s been sort of messed up by neglect and its conversion into a ferry dock. But they’re planning on tearing it down and he wanted a sketch of it. Seemed like a plan to me.

But when I got there, something about sketching the station just didn’t turn my crank that morning so I found an alternative, this building that was probably a hotel at some point and may still be. I like the way the cliff jutted up above, dwarfing what is actually a very large building.

It was done in a Stillman & Birn Zeta (5×8) sketchbook with Pilot Preras and Platinum Carbon Black and Noodler’s Lexington gray inks. Hope you like it. It was sure fun.

A Red Flag Will Stop A Sketcher Every Time

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Larry Marshall

As an urban sketcher, with a penchant for the mundane, I couldn’t pass up this scene. The railroad track in the background feeds into the train station here in Quebec City. A passenger train was headed inbound. The track in the foreground is a seldom-used track that allows a connection between a huge cargo facility on one side of a river and another one on the other side. Not much traffic but they’re not interested in any at all when the passenger trains come and go (only a few times a day).

And so, they clip this flag to the track, to let anyone thinking of taking their train engine for a spin, not to do it. The bright red flag created an interesting scene, at least to me. Done in my Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7) with a Pilot Prera, PCB ink, W&N artist watercolors and limited skill.

40th Worldwide Sketchcrawl – Quebec Style

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Last weekend was the 40th Worldwide Sketchcrawl and a group of sketchers in Quebec City participated. We were blessed with great weather, had a great turnout, and we had a great time… except I lost my entire watercolor kit.

Daniel Potvin (blue shirt) and Vincent (tan shirt), one of his students.

Our numbers increased significantly this time around for the simple reason that Daniel Potvin, an enthusiastic sketcher, who happens to teach animation at Université Laval, brought some of his students – a group of very talented folks.

We met just inside the St. Jean Gate, in Artillery Park. Both of these are tourist hotspots so there were lots of people around.

Yvan did welcoming duties while sketching the St. Jean gate.

Yvan took up station and offered a welcome to everyone as they arrived. We agreed to meet for lunch at 12:15 and so we each went our own way to hunt down the ideal sketching subject. I was looking for shade. (Note to self. Next time do a formal group photo as the group has gotten too large to cover them all with a snapshot.)

group

Celine and Pierre sketching the Kent Gate

With lots of sketching behind us, we broke for lunch and gathered under a large shade tree. Some brought lunches, some went foraging at the many food vendors in the area. We talked, shared sketchbooks, ate and generally had a mini-sketching party. It was great!

Natalie sketching the Kent Gate tower.

Eventually, we decided that we should sketch some more and so we did. I was pretty beat by that time and I suspect others were as well but heck, it was a great day and so we sketched.

Claudette sketching on Rue d’Auteuil.

In the end, it was a big success, we got to meet and talk with some new sketchers and we all took home great sketches to remind us the day.

One complete failure on my part was that I got no good photos of the spread of sketches, laid out during lunch. The problem was that they were part in the sun and part in the shade, with leaf shadows all over them. I’ll have to do better next time. This time around, you should be able to see (real soon) at least some of those sketches on the Worldwide Sketchcrawl site.

Couldn’t resist this. It was at least 15-feet high and part of summer festival. S&B Zeta (5×8)

Somewhere, between the old city and home, my entire watercolor kit fell out of my sketching bag and I lost it. Anyone who finds a green case with a watercolor palette, some Escoda travel brushes, water bottle and misc….it’s mine (grin). Here are the sketches I did during the event.

This is a Celtic Cross in Artillery Park. 3x5 and done with a Pilot Prera.

This is a Celtic Cross in Artillery Park. 3×5 and done with a Pilot Prera.

Church next to Kent Gate. S&B Zeta (5x8), Pilot Prera.

Church next to Kent Gate. S&B Zeta (5×8), Pilot Prera.

Urban Sketcher Communes With Nature

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I had a wonderful time last Saturday. I was invited to the house of long-time friend, Pierre Therrien, along with two other sketching buddies, one of them being Pierre’s constant companion and main squeeze, Celine.

I picked Yvan up and we headed to Pierre’s house, which is just south of the North Pole, I think. We drove and drove and drove. Pierre lives in a forest. His home looks out on gorgeous forested landscape areas and is near Jacques Cartier River, a very sketch-ogenic river. It is a sketcher’s dream.

We spent the first hour chatting about everything and anything and spent some time drooling over his art library. Then we decided that maybe sketching time was wasting away so we headed outside and broke out the pointy devices. Yvan, Celine and Pierre set up in front of the house to draw the ‘paysage’ that splays out in front of it and ends with a backdrop of the Laurentian mountains which, to a Rocky Mountain guy like myself, have always more resembled hills than mountains. Everything’s relative, I guess, and so are mountains.

But I’m an urban sketcher so I started wandering around. I found myself in a far corner of a field, looking back at Pierre’s house. Photo is courtesy of Yvan. You can see that I was very comfy as I had a full chair rather than my stool.

All alone was I, except for the curious ants, too many biting flies and a Theridid spider. I tried to strike up a conversation with the spider but she didn’t say much. She just glared at me for plunking my chair down so close to her web.

Here’s the view I had and the partially completed sketch:

I had decided to try out my new Uniball UM-151 (.28mm) pen on Stillman & Birn Alpha paper and I’ve concluded that it’s a wonderful combination. I’m going to be ordering some more of them ‘real soon.’

After lunch I returned to my perch, with the addition of a portable umbrella that shaded me from what was now a very hot sun. I completed the ink sketch and added color, using a waterbrush and W&N artist colors. I’m a hack watercolorists but I’ve got to get back to using real brushes. Here’s the finished sketch:

Sketching On A Summer Morning

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Larry Marshall

It’s fun to be out sketching early in the morning. Quebec City wakes up slowly and if you are out walking at 7AM, you’re mostly alone. Of course this morning I met up with my buddy Yvan and we found ourselves on Rue des Remparts, a great sketching street that skirts the upper portion of the old city. We chose a scene, that was really the backyard and garage areas of several houses. The location also provided a nice shade tree under which I could sit.

The sketch was done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7) sketchbooks using a Pilot Prera and Platinum Carbon Black. W&N artist watercolors and a a waterbrush were used to add color. Before it was done I was wishing I’d brought my real brushes along.