Painting local

Another rainy day in Charlevoix, but this time I’m prepared. Yesterday I made a couple of stops at some interesting local producers.

Papeterie Saint-Gilles is well known in this area for its beautiful handmade cotton papers. It’s a popular attraction in this area, located in Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive, right across from the Musée Maritime where I sketched yesterday, and very close to the water. I bought a few samples of the paper to try. These tomatoes are sketched on the smoother version (closest to a cold press paper) and if the rain lets up I’ll go out later to try the rough sheet. I clipped the paper into my sketchbook for now, but I’ll probably use photo corners to give the sheet a permanent home in the book. It’s very nice 100% cotton paper that holds the colour really well. If you manage to get to this area, you can watch them producing it when you visit.

The tomatoes come from La Ferme des Quatre-Temps in Port-au-Persil. This is another well-known stop as you make your way through Charlevoix. During the week the farm stand has local produce that you can buy using the honour system, but if you want more choice, the kiosk is open on Friday afternoons. I bought two sizes of tomatoes but the big heirloom ones were so huge they didn’t fit on the page. I’ll paint those too, if we don’t end up eating them first.


14 Comments on “Painting local”

  1. Iona says:

    Yummo! Love the colours in the shadows too. Good enough to eat. I must try this, I have lots of different tomatoes. Are these papers available in retail shops anywhere?

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  2. Shari, the produce as well as your sketch, look delicious.

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  3. loisajay says:

    These tomatoes look edible right from the page! Beautiful painting, Shari.

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  4. villa.urbana@gmail.com says:

    Your work is so rich, and  you are so fortunate to have beautiful workshops there in Montreal.  I am not aware of Papeterie Saint-Gilles but I have been buying from St. Armand, also in Montreal.  Lovely, lovely paper. Thank you,Mercedes Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: The SketchbookSent: July 30, 2020 10:52To: villa.urbana@gmail.comSubject: [New post] Painting local Shari Blaukopf posted: " Another rainy day in Charlevoix, but this time I’m prepared. Yesterday I made a couple of stops at some interesting local producers. Papeterie Saint-Gilles is well known in this area for its beautiful handmade cotton papers. It’s a popular attraction"

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  5. Sketch and fruit all look delicious.
    Having tried many times to paint tomatoes, I can appreciate your skill in capturing their succulence. Time for me to try again, armed with the knowledge gained from the Light, Colour, Shadow course.

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  6. Liliane Partikian says:

    Your tomatoes pop right off the page, I feel like I can just pick them up.
    Hope the rain stops soon.

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  7. Judy Sopher says:

    Really lovely. Would never have thought of painting tomatoes. Nice variety of colors.

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  8. Chris Rusk says:

    Delicious colour. Your tomatoes look like precious jewels – so rich and translucent!

    I haven’t been to Papeterie Saint-Gilles for almost 25 years – glad to see they are still creating beautiful papers.

    Beautiful pigment, stellar painting and a worthy surface to receive it all – gorgeous work! You made my day 🌞

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  9. Donna says:

    Thank you for the delicious looking painting! Your colors are always right on!

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  10. Bernadette says:

    Lucious!

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  11. The shadows are so good with your tomatoes. I hope the rain clears. I do admire how you make the best of any situation when sketching.

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  12. Ginny says:

    I love this! It belongs framed and hung in a kitchen! The tomatoes just glow!

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  13. joantav says:

    I hope the heirlooms last long enough to be painted. This one is lovely with the assortment of colors and the wonderful shadows. I’m glad you were prepared…and had some new paper to check out.

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