Old pole, new pole, and some rust in between

A girl in a tank top. A dog with his head out the car window, ears flapping in the breeze. A runner in shorts. Half a dozen office workers strolling and eating ice cream on a lunch break. A man on a racing bike. These are just a few of the sights that passed me by as I was sketching from my car today. I know we were all thinking the same thing. Well, actually I’m not sure what the dog was thinking but I’m pretty sure all the people were feeling pretty joyful. As for me, it didn’t matter that my drawing felt as rusty as the rods holding the old pole and the new pole together. I was smiling anyway. Spring is on the way.

Join me at the Sketchbook Revival Online Workshop

It’s a pleasure this year to have the time to set up my studio camera and participate in some fun online events. In previous years I’ve had college teaching commitments, but one event that I finally said yes to is the 4th Annual Sketchbook Revival, hosted by Karen Abend. It’s free, and takes place from March 18 to March 30. Sessions are led by accomplished artists, illustrators, painters, mixed media artists, designers, educators, and art therapists from all over the world. I’m leading a session called “The Urban Vignette in Ink and Watercolour.”

The best part about the online workshop is that it’s easy to participate. You’ll be able to watch the sessions from the comfort of your own home, according to your own schedule and without spending a penny – it’s completely free! There are two workshops per day, which adds up to more than two dozen fresh and creative ideas for your sketchbooks. Here’s the link to sign up. Hope to see you there!

Red Wings

I’ve been admiring the patina on these boots all week. And their position on the floor. I have a feeling they were removed and left there, casually discarded, yet they seem ready to go at any moment. Just waiting for the feet that will take them somewhere. Sketched in an Etchr Perfect Sketchbook, using mostly Burnt Sienna, Carbazole Violet and Prussian Blue.

Last year’s blooms

It’s definitely not spring in Montreal yet, but this time last year I was teaching my last workshop before the pandemic, in South Carolina, and of course enjoying the spring blooms. In my previous life as a college teacher, I escaped to Georgia and South Carolina during my spring break many times. It wasn’t a break from teaching, because I often taught sketching workshops there, but it was a wonderful escape from the March weather in Montreal. This week I’m a little nostalgic for the balmy air of Savannah, so I painted some azaleas from a previous trip.

Heather and Joey’s Window

Last evening I travelled all the way to the Outer Hebrides, via WindowSwap, and landed in South Uist, Scotland where I looked through Heather and Joey’s window. On a ridiculously cold day in Montreal (-18°C, but feels like -30°C) it was wonderful to look out of someone else’s window and watch the clouds move across the sky. And because this is actually from someone’s home, a fly crawled across the window but didn’t stay long enough for me to capture it.

Three cedars, in ink

The falling snow is magical today. Big fat snowflakes that weigh down the branches of my cedars. I considered doing this sketch just in fountain pen, but a brush pen is so useful for the large dark areas. If you’re interested in seeing some of the other ways I play with ink (and wash), I just released a new free demo on my teaching site called “Ink and Wash Ideas for Sketchers“. You’ll find a dozen ways to get your hands dirty, and maybe something will inspire you to get out your dip pen and draw.

The common thistle, and other wildflowers

The snow continues to fall in Montreal, but today I took a little trip back to summer in Charlevoix. I sketched this page of wildflowers, on location in the garden of our hosts, surrounded by bees and the calls of chickadees. Back on that day in July we recorded a little video while I sketched the thistles. Have a look if you are in need of a few minutes of summer too.

Canada Malting Silos sketch

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, here is the final sketch from my Instagram live session with @artofalvin. It was so much fun to sketch and chat with him this morning, even though I was hardly awake and hadn’t had nearly enough coffee. If you’re interested in seeing the process, go to Alvin’s IGTV to watch. I sketched this one in my Etchr Perfect Sketchbook.

Canada Malting Silos

Canada Malting Silos were built in 1905 to store barley. The St. Henri complex has been abandoned since 1989, but it’s a popular destination for graffiti artists, photographers who take shots of the cavernous interior spaces, and of course sketchers. Tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 24) I’ll be drawing the building, and its famous pink house, live on Instagram with @artofalvin at 8am EST. If you want to draw along with us, follow Alvin on Instagram and tune in when he goes live. I’ll be there, and we’ll both be drawing the south side of the complex, from the same image, which you can find here. I also did a watercolour of the east facade last week. It’s a building that can be painted from many viewpoints, but it’s a little hard to access from across the Lachine Canal in the winter because of the deep snow. I’ll be going there to paint in on location as soon as the snow melts.

Later in the week, I’ll also be spending a few minutes discussing Ackerman pens with Charles Ackerman and Rob Sketcherman on USkTalks live on Youtube. If that’s of interest, you can tune in on the Urban Sketchers YouTube channel. That starts at 10am EST on Sunday, February 28th. We’ll be followed by a Elisa Monti, a sketcher from Genoa who will be talking about her reportage of giant cruise ships. I caught a quick glimpse of her amazing sketches during our sound check this morning, and I can’t wait to see more!!

Log cabin

This seems to be the winter for painting scenes again and again. The scenes that are close to home that I spot while skiing or walking the dog, like the stream in Angell Woods, or this log cabin at the Morgan Arboretum. You might never look twice at it during the summer because it would be shaded and half hidden under the trees. But in the winter, on a sunny day, after an overnight snowfall, it’s a beacon in the woods. Painted wet-in-wet on Arches rough bright white paper, 140 lb bright.