Tree shadow and a little video

I think the groundhogs were divided on how much longer it would last, but today it seemed like we might be over the hump of winter. It was cold and clear and bright, in a good way, like winter should be. I had a tiny bit of time before school to sketch my trusty wheelbarrow and its closest friend the oak tree.

Under the bridge

The rail bridge in Ste. Anne de Bellevue figured in a few of my summer paintings but with some fresh snow on the ground this morning I thought I’d tackle it again from my car studio. I left the house with a block of 9″ x 12″ Arches Rough paper. I don’t paint much on rough but I liked it. I just couldn’t figure out why it was buckling so much until I got home and realized it was 90 lb paper — much thinner than what I’m used to working on. My car heater came in handy between washes and once I dried the buckling areas I could easily go back into them. And just as I was almost done, as if on cue, this elderly couple walked right down the road for me.

Ste. Anne in the snow

In yesterday’s post I identified mostly all the colours in my palette but in doing so, realized that I only really used a few of them all the time and most of them little or never. I said I used only  six or seven colours but I didn’t identify what these colours were. That lead to a few questions in the comments part of the post. “So what are those six or seven colours you use frequently?” Rather than put my response in the comments, I thought I’d answer it here instead. Here are the colours and what I use them for most often. Of course I use other colours too but I seem to be refilling these pans most frequently and also where my palette is most caked up. My favorite brands in any of these are Winsor Newton, Holbein, Daniel Smith and M. Graham and what I use depends on what is on sale when I’m shopping.

Burnt Sienna: for making brick (with Alizarin) and for mixing with Ultramarine for beautiful grays
Raw Sienna: a transparent earth tone used for pale underpainting in skies, mixed with purple for shadows
Alizarin Crimson: for mixing darks, for dulling greens, for mixing reds since cadmium is too opaque
Cobalt Blue: these days for making snow shadows and my perfect colour for making any kind of shadows including snow
Ultramarine Blue: diluted for skies, mixed with  Burnt Sienna for grays
Azo Yellow: for making greens because it is a transparent colour, for combining with Alizarin and Ultramarine for a limited palette
Indanthrene Blue: my most recent addition. I love this deep indigo hue for making darks.

My palette

As an adjunct to my post yesterday, I did a sketch of my palette, and below that a diagram of the colours. It was a pretty useful exercise because I realize there are some colours that I’ve never used until I did this sketch today. My palette is an old one from Daniel Smith but I love it and have added some extra pans that are held in with popsicle sticks and a bit of wooden dowel. Do I need those extra colours? Probably not. I do most of my sketches with six or seven basic colours unless I’m painting something really colourful like beach umbrellas or flowers. Will I remove the extra colours? Probably not. The only change I will make is to add Indanthrene Blue which is now living in a temporary home on a mixing tray. You may notice that there are two yellows in the top row that are unidentified. That’s because I forget what they are and never use them, so rather than cause confusion I left them blank. I think the one on the left is cadmium yellow.

Art tools and a little demo

If you haven’t heard of Parka Blogs, check it out. Parka reviews art books, posts his own great sketches (including his most recent trip to Cambodia) and writes about artist’s tools. For me, the most fascinating section is “Art tools and gears” because he interviews different artists about the supplies they use. Don’t you find it fascinating to read about what other artists carry in their sketch kits? I could spend hours examining photos to see the make of a special brush, or the colour of a tube of paint, as if finding out that information would hold the secret to being a better painter. This week Parka posted an interview with me which you can check out here. Thanks Parka! And as an addition to this I’ll do a post tomorrow about my palette of colours.

A couple of nights ago I was an invited guest at the Dollard Artists Association. I love doing these talks because it’s always a great opportunity to talk about Urban Sketchers and hopefully get a few new people to join our USk Montreal Sunday sketching group. It was a good turnout of artists for a cold January night and the giant bouquet of flowers they had for my demo was exactly as I had requested — COLOURFUL! It’s always a bit nerve-wracking to do a demo… So many people watching and so many chances to mess it up but you cross your fingers and hope for the best. Thanks to everyone in the group for a great welcome and for sending me photos of the event.

Hospital to hospital

Some of the best views I’ve found in Montreal are from hospitals, hotels or high rises. Especially if they face the mountain and St. Joseph’s Oratory. In my daily travels through outer suburbia I never see these great vistas. It’s pretty much flat wherever I go to sketch. Today, while we waited together for my father at a short hospital visit, my sister remembered a great panoramic window in a waiting room a few floors up. It had everything she promised. A great view of the shrine, a bit of snow-dusted mountain, another old hospital across the way, and best of all, a free spot at the window ledge.

Breaking the ice

I know that my travel palette is well used (translation: a bit of a mess) but today I couldn’t figure out why it was so dirty until I realized that what I had mistaken for dirt was actually ice crystals forming on the enamel mixing surface. This has happened once before on a really cold day, and as I did last time, I had to take my half-finished sketch home to the warmth of my indoor studio and complete it there. My car studio was well heated but on some really cold days there is just no amount of preheating that will allow me to sketch outdoors.

The corner in winter

This is a larger version of the sketch I did a few days ago of a corner in Lachine. I painted this last year as well but this time I had to add in a figure. Someone is always turning around that corner and that is part of what makes it such an interesting place to sketch.

Sunday at the Redpath

It was surprising and exciting that so many people came out for USk Montreal’s Sunday sketching on the one of the most frigid days of the year.  In fact, I think it was our biggest turnout ever — over 20 people for sure. We’ve had so many of these “polar vortex” days that maybe people are just fed up of staying at home. Whatever the reason, our meeting place at the Redpath museum — Montreal’s version of the Museum of Natural History — is always the perfect sketching spot for the group in winter. The museum seems to encourage sketching. There are even little pieces of carpet that you can sit on if you want to study the shells or the taxidermy animals or the shrunken heads in the glass cabinets. It was also kind of fun that we were interviewed and filmed for Montreal’s La Presse. What a great opportunity to spread the word about Urban Sketchers and hopefully when the video comes out we’ll be able to post the link.

Saturday morning on the counter

Some days I struggle to find something to sketch but today this combo was right in front of me as I finished my morning coffee — all I had to do was grab my brushes and paints.

Tomorrow is Sunday sketching with Urban Sketchers Montreal at the Redpath Museum starting around 11 am.  Everyone is welcome — no membership required — so please come out to join us!