Azur on the Orange line
Posted: February 12, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized 10 CommentsI don’t often get to ride the Montreal subway, but when I do, I look forward to the opportunity to do some people sketching. It’s an unpredictable experience because your model could hop up at any moment and get off the train and oops, there goes the drawing you just started. I was pretty lucky today. I was only on the Orange Line for 15 minutes but the two models I drew sat still for quite a while. I was able to draw one guy twice when he decided to close his eyes and take a little snooze.
Coincidentally, I also ended up on one of the brand new AZUR trains, which just started running last Sunday. So far they are only operating at non-peak hours, so I guess I just happened to get lucky. If you haven’t been on one yet, they’re pretty cool. You can walk from one end of the train to the other because the cars are all open, and as advertised, they are roomier and brighter. The short experience made me long for a free afternoon to spend riding the train and sketching the people.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
Shari — you might just have found a new sketching place for our Montreal winters — the new metros — hah! At least for a little ride…
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I don’t think I am the first one to have discovered this. Reynaldo draws on the metro all the time. We even had one Urban Sketchers sunday on the metro, but I wasn’t there. Were you?
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No I was not there either…
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It is always fun to sketch on the subways. There are usually such great characters and they are usually either sleeping or looking at some digital device. These are great!
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It is really a great place for sketching. And the light was pretty good too, on these new trains.
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Do the people you’re sketching ever object to being sketched, or show discomfort at being scrutinized? Photographers certainly run into this, but I’m curious if you do as well with sketching.
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Hi Kari. I try to be discreet, although I’m not always successful. If someone realizes what I am doing, I usually turn my pad around to show them, and I smile too. That usually gets a smile out of them too. I haven’t had anyone get upset at me, but I know other sketchers who have had unpleasant experiences.
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Hi Shari,
I spent almost an hour perusing the Subway link you put in Friday’s post. I spent the first 18 years of my life on Long Island, NY and went to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan before moving to the Bay Area in 1969. I actually have an opening day ticket for the BART transit system (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from 1972. So I know about subways. In 1983 I moved 2 counties north of San Francisco (I live in Santa Rosa) and in 2008 I voted for the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit system (SMART). See link. So soon (this Fall) we will have our own rail system from which I can sketch from. One of the stations will actually be a few hundred feet from my condo. Lucky me.
http://main.sonomamarintrain.org
Attached is a watercolor I did from a photo of the work they did a while back.
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I live near Sacramento and would love to explore the public transit in Bay Area since I don’t drive easily there. So thanks for the tip, Tim.
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Hi, Shari, I just love your quick sketches and look forward to them everytime you post. I was wondering how quickly do you get one done in this post? 2 minutes or less?
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