A (very old) crabapple in Le Vieux Séminaire
Posted: June 7, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized 27 CommentsI feel very fortunate to have spent a few hours sketching in the tranquil garden of Le Vieux Séminaire in Old Montreal. The last time this historical building was open to visitors was in 1967, but because of Montreal’s 375th anniversary this summer, the Sulpician priests have decided to open it to the public again. You can book a guided tour which includes a historical exhibit and a visit to the garden out back where I found this crabapple that seemed almost as ancient as the building itself. At the end of the tour I settled myself on a shady bench to practice some tree drawing in preparation for my workshop Trees in the City at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in July.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
Beautiful! What a nice old tree!
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Yes, it was an amazing tree. Thanks Marie.
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Lovely – I love how you can feel it’s age! And the small flowers at the building are delightful bits of color along that gray side!
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I tried to convey the weight of those old branches. Thanks for writing!
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I wish I were taking your workshop. Actually I’m not going to be in Chicago. I hope you will share your techniques here after the Symposium!
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I will try to share some of my notes on the blog when I return. If I forget, feel free to remind me.
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A venerable old tree indeed and so befitting it’s surroundings! Thanks to your inspiring work, I decided to take my watercolors a little more seriously these days and laid out a full fresh palette in an orderly manner (harkening back to workshops I took years ago). Do you ever use frisket to reserve the whites? This is still something I’m struggling with and probably the reason I’d lost hope of ever being a bona fide watercolorist. But when I see how your work glows, I am so drawn back to this medium.
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Hi Gayle, Glad to hear that you are taking out your paints. In answer to your question about frisket, I don’t generally use it. If the whites are large, I paint around them. If they are tiny, I add some Titanium whites at the end like I did on the Bleeding Hearts from the a few weeks ago. I have never been good with frisket. It seems too messy for me.
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How wonderful to be able to visit the site. To think of history and years gone by, how fortunate that you have had a chance to visit and paint there. I have always love how you use watercolor and document what you see in the way that you do. Your way of painting, sketching, use of shadows, highlights and mixing pigments always evokes a sigh.
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I do feel fortunate to have been able to visit the site, even for a short time. And thanks so much for your kind comments. They are much appreciated.
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This tree looks like it has been reaching out its branches for so long. I love the elegant, twisting limbs. You did this so nicely!!
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Thanks Joan. It was so nice to see you on Sunday at the gardens.
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beautiful!
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Thanks Katie!
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I love this entire scene, but especially the tree. I grew up in an old house (in an even older neighborhood) that had a crabapple tree in the backyard. I never see crabapples anymore. My brother and I used to have some pretty brutal wars under that tree… the bitter fruit made great ammunition!
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I think everyone who had a crabapple tree used the apples for wars. I seem to remember some in my neighbourhood too. They were the best when just starting to rot.
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Looks like a lovely place to be and your sketch is a fitting tribute to that wonderful old tree. A Shari masterpiece I think, even by your high standards. Guessing we’re going to be seeing a few more trees too before Chicago.
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It was a lovely place to be — almost on my own in that huge space. I would have loved to spend all day there, in fact. And yes, I am drawing lots of trees these days!
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Oh so beautifully captured!!
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Thanks!
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Stunning picture.
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Thanks so much!
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When you have two large areas to cover like thiss; the tree and background building, which do you normally paint first?
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Hi Ann, The tree was so dominant in this that I worked on it quite a lot first. I really wanted the background to be secondary and quite neutral so I worked on that at the end.
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Thank you. I struggle with which to tackle first. And often end up with no POI because both end up overworked.
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It’s like a bonsai gone wild. I love it.
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Quite a remarkable talent you got there!
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