Solving problems
Posted: October 3, 2012 Filed under: ink, Montreal, watercolour 4 CommentsWhile I observed and sketched today, these two guys solved all of the world’s problems. I kept expecting them to finish their cigarettes and walk away but they stayed on these benches for the whole time I was there (45 min approx.). Occasionally one of them would get up, make a point about some important issue — hands flying, face reddening — and then sit back down with a sigh. From time to time a third man would join them for a few moments and then be off. When I turned away for a few seconds to pack up my paints they disappeared. Solutions had been found.
A tough bunch
Posted: September 23, 2012 Filed under: market, Montreal, watercolour 14 CommentsMontreal Urban Sketchers are tough — tough as nails. We had our first Sunday Sketching outing today at the Jean Talon Market and we FROZE. There was a cold wind blowing through the alleyways of the market — a wind that went right through sweaters, fleeces, vests and jackets. But our hardy group of nine sketched all morning and some even into the afternoon. The optimists among us were sure the day would warm up, the sensible ones found spots in the sun, and to prove how tough we Canadians really are we all ate our lunch outside on a picnic table instead of taking shelter in a warm café. The day never really did warm up but we were happy to be sketching together and in the end we all admitted that we were looking forward to next month’s INDOOR sketching location.
Super simple
Posted: September 21, 2012 Filed under: ink, Montreal, suburban, watercolour 9 CommentsI haven’t done anything in my tiny Moleskine in a long time. It was my constant companion when I started sketching almost a year ago. These days I have been working on bigger sheets, trying out new paper, working in different ways, so this was like a reunion with an old friend.
Open the book. Put down a few lines. Add a bit of colour. Done.
Six dollar squash
Posted: September 20, 2012 Filed under: ink, market, Montreal, watercolour 7 CommentsIt’s getting to be squash time at the market. This probably should have been titled Six Dollar Pumpkin but it just didn’t have the same ring to it.
Setting up
Posted: September 18, 2012 Filed under: ink, Montreal, watercolour 5 CommentsThe travelling carnival/circus — the kind that sets up in the parking lot of your local mall — has always fascinated me. Flatbed trucks move the tilt-a-whirls, the bumper cars and the carousels from town to town all summer long (at least in my part of the world). But the interesting detail of this subculture — this nomadic group — is not how they set up their amusements and their food carts. For me it’s the residential trailer villages that are behind the scenes at these events. Because if you wander around a bit you will see pots of flowers, colourful awnings, and folding chairs and tables that make this place — even for a short amount of time — home.
An honour
Posted: September 12, 2012 Filed under: watercolour 48 CommentsToday is a very special day for me because I have been invited to be a correspondent on the Urban Sketchers blog. This means that I will be one of 100 sketchers from around the world who post their work (and show their part of the world) on the site. I met and sketched with many of the people who post on the blog this past summer in Santo Domingo at the Urban Sketchers Symposium and I am thrilled and honoured to be posting alongside them. Have a look at the work these people do. You may be astounded at the variety and quality of both the writing and the art. Naturally, I won’t be posting there every day as I do on my own blog but posts that are most relevant to the urban theme will go up there simultaneously.
Not long after I started posting on my own site I had a conversation with Marc Taro Holmes about adding words to my “sketches only” posts. In fact it was on the first day we sketched together at the Redpath Museum. He explained that the storytelling behind the sketches was as important as the sketches themselves and he encouraged me to write. I thank him often for this encouragement.
I have been saving this sketch because I wanted to post it at the same time as my introduction on the Urban Sketchers blog. I painted it at the Byward Market in Ottawa.
To see my intro on Urban Sketchers, click here.
40 Max
Posted: September 11, 2012 Filed under: Montreal, watercolour 10 CommentsTwo days ago my sketching friend Helmut Langeder commented on the blog that once a gallery owner had asked him to remove telephone poles from one of his paintings. Luckily he paints mostly in oil and the poles were easy to take out, although it seems he did it reluctantly. That story reminded me of how much I love painting these utility poles and how few I had done this summer. I painted on the same 240 lb paper as yesterday’s experiment but I think I will have to get rid of this stock that I have had around for too long. There are some weird spots in paper that absorb too much paint, but luckily it’s in the foreground foliage area and not that noticeable.
