Sketching At Parc Chauveau

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Denis Couture, our fearless leader

I don’t know what it is about French but the names of French organizations are impossible. This includes the Collectif des ateliers libres en arts visuels de Québec, the name of an artist group in Quebec City. They were established to facilitate winter life drawing sessions and that is still their principle activity but they are starting to organize outdoor summer activities as well. This past weekend was the second year that we assembled at Parc Chauveau, a park on the north side of Quebec City. It’s a beautiful place. The St. Charles River runs through it, providing considerable sketching fodder.

Organized by Denis Couture, a really nice guy who teaches drawing and photography at a local college, it was truly a shame that on this day, there were only three of us in attendance. The up side is that the day was a bit more laid back as we could do pretty much what we chose to do.

Our first stop was the river, in a place where a large tower of rock, remnants from long-term erosion, juts up from the river. It seemed fitting that we should draw it. I decided it might be fun to put it in the background and to make Fernande, one of my sketching buddies, the central focus for the scene. This was also the first time I got to use my new Namiki (Pilot?) Falcon. I think I’m in love. More on that later.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6x8), Namiki Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Denis knows the area quite well and he suggested that we climb back up to the road and cross the bridge to the other side of the river where there are rest rooms, picnic tables, and a trailhead for the Parc lineaire trail that runs for 32 km along the St. Charles River. In fact, if I would have followed it for about 16 of those kilometers I would have arrived home.

As we ate lunch Denis suggested that we walk the trail some and that the views from high above the river were wonderful. He was right about that but for my next sketch I plunked my tripod stool down in the middle of the forest, off the trail, and started drawing some unknown plant. For a building guy, I was surprised how much fun this was and how much I wanted to do it. I used a different approach from my usual pen first, watercolor as an afterthought approach. I think I’ll talk about this separately as this post is becoming a bit long.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

In spite of the poor turnout for the event, we had a really great time. The rest of the folks just missed out.

Catching Up On My Walking

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Larry Marshall

Having lost a couple days to rain, I was running a walking deficit for the week. I walk a lot and do so as my old man way of keeping my body from taking on the shape of an eggplant. That translates to walking a couple hours every day. With two days lost and the worldwide sketchcrawl coming up on Saturday, I’ve been living on the streets, hoofing everywhere and anywhere, trying to put in the miles.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9x6), Pilot Prera, Lex Gray

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Lex Gray

This has gotten in the way of my sketching time. I just didn’t feel I could stop to sketch if I was going to get caught up. But I did stop to do this quick sketch. It’s one of the many gables on our train station.

I can skip a day or two without sketching, but when I do I start to feel like something is missing. My solution this time was to sit in the backyard and draw some flowers.

I rarely draw flowers but every time I do I think that I should do it more often. The shapes are endless.

I started this sketch with a rudimentary pencil sketch but most of the shapes were formed directly with watercolors, something I’ve only done once before and, back then, things didn’t go so well. Once done, I added some ink using a refillable Sharpie pen. I did this in a Stillman & Birn Delta series sketchbook. This is my first “ivory” sketchbook. It was fun and provided me with some much needed sketching/meditation time.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8)

Sketching On The Montmorency River

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Larry Marshall

One of the tourist spectacles around Quebec City is Montmorency Falls. The falls themselves are nice but the tourist areas around it are equally nice so it’s fun to go sketching there. To make it even better, I can hop a bus that will take me there, which is what I did this morning.

Yvan and I met very early and headed for the Montmorency Falls area. The falls weren’t our target though. Our quary was rocks. I’m tempted to make a quary/quarry joke here but I won’t.

Suffice it to say that when we got to the falls we crossed the bridge above them and headed north, up the river. It was much cooler than I’d expected and my shorts and t-shirt left me shaking in my boots, almost literally. Yvan was smarter, wore long pants and even brought a windbreaker. Even so, he said he was cold. I was colder. I win…errr…lose.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6x8), Pilot Prera, Lex Gray

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8), Pilot Prera, Lex Gray

But we’re tough sketchers and had fun anyways. I got to break in a new Stillman & Birn sketchbook. This one is a 6×8 spiral-bound Delta series book. It’s the first time I’ve used their ivory paper but I thought I should try it. I think I like the ivory color. It’s probably better for some things than for others but this morning’s subjects seemed to like it just fine. The paper itself goes without saying as it’s one of the best watercolor sketchbook papers in existence. For those who may wonder, the Delta is the equivalent of S&B’s Beta series which is very popular with the watercolor crowd.

Stillman & Birn Delta (6×8), Pilot Prera, Lex Gray

We’re Having A Heat Wave

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Larry Marshall

We’re having a heat wave. In French it’s called a canicule. Regardless of what language you use, it means hot and humid and we’ve certainly got that. I blame myself. I spent so much time whining that I couldn’t go sketching because winter wouldn’t end that, it seems, someone from down south sent us a dose of hot.

Stillman & Birn Alpha, Pilot Prera, Lex Gray ink

In spite of the heat, though, this sketcher marches onward. I was to meet sketching buddy Claudette at Place d’Youville, a busy area just outside the St. Jean Gate into the old city. While I waited for her I did this sketch of the entrance toan Italian restaurant.

When Claudette arrived we headed into the old city to find something to sketch. Our goals were a bit atypical because what to sketch took a back seat to finding a shady, cool place to sit. It wasn’t easy.

Eventually, though, we found ourselves in Carmel Park, a tiny little park (you can easily throw a stone across it) that’s up on a hill within the walled city. Trees gave us shade and our altitude gave us access to a nice breeze that kept us comfortable. Claudette sketched church steeples while I fixated on the back porch of an apartment building that was probably 30-40 feet below me. Mostly I got caught up in the gorgeous flowers, flowers I didn’t do justice to I’m afraid. Nevertheless, we had fun and stayed cool.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Lex Gray

Sketching “Around Back”

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Larry Marshall

I wander my town, sketching the older buildings of our fine city. They remain my favorite sketching subject. I try to avoid the touristy buildings; their spirits have been stolen by the gazillion photographs taken of them annually. I’ve been doing building portraits it for about 2 1/2 years.

It may be, however, that I’ve missed the best subjects because I’ve always drawn the front doors, the facade, the part of the building designed to invite you in. Here in Quebec, however, some of the older areas of the city present challenging and interesting subjects if you walk “around back” where some of the age and development of the city are more visible.

In these neighborhoods you see porches, old garage areas, tiny apartments and sheds, all scrunched together such that no space is underutilized. It’s as though the logic was that ‘Here’s a wall. We only need three more and we can…’ Quebecers refer to it as “rebouter”, which I think translates to “tied together” or something similar. All I know is that it’s in these rear spaces you can find unrenovated structures that must date back to the 1800s.

Claudette and I were out on a sketching adventure when we came across this opportunity. Across from this scene is a nice little park area with lots of shade. Guess where we sat as we drew this scene.

Stillman & BIrn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Lex Gray