The Fur Trade
Posted: September 16, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized 53 CommentsDoes this ever happen to you? You start a drawing (and this only applies when you draw with ink, not pencil) and realize that you made a big mistake that you can’t fix? When I was drawing The Fur Trade Museum in Lachine today I put the roof line too high. You can see it in the foliage, running parallel to the new roof line. It was really tempting to turn the page and start over but that would leave an unfinished sketch in my book (which I hate), so I decided to plod on, hoping that I could somehow disguise the line or hide it in the foliage. I’m happy I continued even though there was no way to mask that line. What would you have done?
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
Thanks Shari for sharing this now solved dilemma. I might have been tempted to add an electric line 😉 but find your solution way more elegant.
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Now why didn’t I think of that Nathalie? Especially since I love drawing power lines!
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Oh, I do it every second or third sketch. Usually I turn the page and then use it for fragments and small portraits or for training – like drawing parallel lines while sitting on a bus 🙂
I love the way you draw the walls!
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Well you do go straight to ink Julia and your sketches always look great. I guess I haven’t seen those fragments yet.
I do love drawing that stonework!
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If you had not mentioned it, I’d have never seen the line, I paint over bad ink lines all the time.
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It’s funny how little you see it now but when I first realized it was wrong it seemed like such a disaster.
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Hi Shari I’m enjoying your works very much. I teach drawing and watercolor painting in Ottawa, and your sketches are really great. As far as the one posted today, you did the right thing. The line doesn’t bother one at all, and when you’re sketching in ink, these things usually happen, but they get incorporated into the background. Keep up the good work!! Janet
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Thanks so much Janet. Glad you enjoy the work.
If you are ever in Montreal you should join us for our monthly Urban Sketchers outings. We have a great group and we’ve been going to some interesting places to draw, although I haven’t been able to attend the last few. We always love visiting sketchers.
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IF I could paint as you do, I would’ve started over or called you for advice! Love your daily art in my inbox!
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Thanks Judith!
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I agree with capt Elaine, I would have never noticed it……but of course your eye will probably continue to be drawn there. So I say look at the glass half full…the sketch has so many amazing qualities!
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Hi Lyn. It’s great to hear from you. Yes, I think this line is way more obvious to me than anyone else but I really loved reading all the replies.
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I really like the sketch, Shari — line or no line. I was taught that if you draw a line in the ‘wrong’ place… simply draw another line : ) My ‘mistakes’ tend to free me from the pressure of having to do something ‘perfectly’ …and that’s always a good thing.
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That is so true Anna. I guess I did the right thing according to your teacher. I’ll have to remember that for next time.
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It’s nice to know I’m not the only one! I like Julia’s solution.
It’s still a lovely drawing and “the line” works nicely with the windows on the right.
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Thanks! I did have some great solutions offered to me here. I am so appreciative of all the comments.
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It’s a beautiful sketch and like everyone has mentioned, I never notice the line as my eyes were drawn to the museum and the trees. I’m glad you didn’t start over!
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Thanks so much Janet. Yes, as I replied to someone else who commented, it seemed like a big problem when I did it but now it seems to be quite hidden in the foliage and nowhere near as obvious as I thought.
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Pretend it’s a power line.
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Thanks Kristine. Good suggestion offered by you and Nathalie. Wished I had seen such an obvious solution.
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I would suggest you rip it out of your sketch book immediately and send it to me. John
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You always make me smile John.
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I like it as is. I also hate to leave the sketch unfinished and keep adding and thinking over and sometimes it gets better than I imagine. I, probably, will add white to green leaves, to cover the line, watercolor white or any acrylic.
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Glad you agree about the unfinished sketch. Usually when I keep working at it the problem seems to work itself out so it’s probably better to stick with it than give up.
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fantastic sketch Shari. I would’ve (and have) done the same as you. I look at the parts i like and try and think about how i was feeling when i was sketching. I can then usually look back and see the just good stuff. 🙂
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It’s great to hear from you Genine. Hope all is well with you!
Glad to hear that you do the same.
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Shari, It’s a great sketch! – and most of us, would not have even noticed if you had not mentioned it! Next time, don’t tell us, and see how many write to ask if that “line belongs there.” Believe me, I understand about how we are always our own worst critics!
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So true Peggy. We are our own worst critics.
As I have said in many of the replies to this, it seemed like a very big problem when I did it but now I hardly see it.
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I would have thought it was an antenna or powerline above the house. I really like how you did the stonework and other details, which totally draw the eye away from the unwanted line. Overcoming obstacles is an art in itself.
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Thanks Pat. Yes, so many people have said powerline…
Great idea that I wish I had thought of myself.
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Shari – The drawing looks pretty good to me! I would never have known about the roof. Keep on trucking……. Carol Koffler
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 22:04:53 +0000 To: ckoffler@sympatico.ca
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Thanks Carol!
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When art goes wrong, it’s really just taking on a life of its own. The beauty of sketching is that even though mistakes can and will be made, the final image still evokes memories so uniquely different than a photograph ever could. When I sketch buildings, I know that mistakes will be made, bit unless they are so outright obvious that a degree of believable accuracy is lost, I just soldier on and work toward the overall image.
BTW, roofline aside, this is a beautiful sketch, and those lines running along the roof, the shingles on those rooftop window vestibules, and the stone work on the building’s facade are just incredible.
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Jason, my favorite thing about posting my work is getting all these great comments, especially from this post. You are so right about the beauty of sketching and the memories that the sketches evoke. Thanks for writing.
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I would probably have done the same as you… hidden it with darker tones on my drawing… except that it wouldn’t have happened to me because I would never do my first sketch in pen… not sure if that means you are confident or foolhardy… or just in a hurry all the time?
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I don’t always go straight to pen but yes, time is a factor these days. I have had some great advice and comments in reply to this. I think most people seem to agree that soldiering on is the best way to go. Thanks for adding to the discussion Ross.
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It really is not a problem, but if I did it (and I do, often), I might have tried to invent a branch of that foreground tree that came down a bit in front of the roof line. But it may have made it worse. The thing about drawing for me is that I never learn anything from my “successes.” It is my mistakes that make me want to do better.
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I thought about that solution Lee but I thought that it may have made it worse. You are so right about the successes and the failures. I guess that is why I draw every day. Because yesterday’s wasn’t quite right. I am reading a really interesting book now about Giacometti. Wow, that guy was really hard on himself. It’s called “A Giacometti Portrait” and it’s by James Lord. Have you read it? A small book but well worth reading for the process.
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magnificent as always-having studied architectual drawing long ago, I always admire the casual way that your sketches turn out-like there was barely an effort.
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Thanks so much for the encouragement Gail.
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Glad you plodded along! I think I would have given up and turned the page or ripped it out. Try, try again…..
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I never rip things out of the book but it really bothers me if one of the pages is unfinished or messed up. Thanks!
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Believe me even though I am still learning I don’t give up easily. But sometimes its just too messed up to save. One line you are awesome!
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I agree, plod along. In fact , extend the line and add couple more to indicate power lines. Actually, it is hardly noticeable. Leaving it as is can be a reminder to start lower. 🙂 I like the treatment of the tree.
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Yes, plod along is good advice. In drawing and in life : )
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Well, since you asked, Just draw another line and press on, never give up on a drawing, often the final result is surprisingly pleasing. Like I should be giving you advice.
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Draw another line and press on. I love that advice Don! Hope you are well!
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Same thing. I do it all the time. Your original roof line looks like a power line now, but it seems to disappear behind the tree….I would add on the edge of the image.
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Great to hear from you Jim. That seems to be the consensus. Keep calm and carry on!
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There is nothing wrong with a ‘wrong’ line – it is just part of the progress. Best to accept it and allow the drawing to grow around it!
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Thanks Anna. I love that idea, of having the drawing grow around it!
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My husband walked by the computer and said, “That looks familiar.” We’ve never been to Lachine. However, we have a pen and ink of a cottage called Fontainbleu, maison forestier. I bought it in Barbizon France when I was 14. He was referring to the similarity in the architecture and style of the gables.
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I looked up the building Amy. It is indeed in the same style, same time period presumably, similar stone, etc. But an ocean apart!
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