Larry D. Marshall's Blog, page 83

Off To The Aquarium Again

My goodness.  It’s the middle of August and we didn’t make it to 60F yesterday.  Seems the arctic is warming faster than the equator, as predicted by scientists, and causing some ‘interesting’ trends around our old planet.  While those around 30-degrees north are experiencing extreme droughts and high temps, those of us closer to 45-degrees north are losing our summers and getting an excess of rainfall as jet stream oscillations are increasing…as predicted.

And so it was yesterday when Fernande, Claudette and I needed a place to sketch.   The Quebec aquarium is an ideal spot for sketchers because it is full of both indoor and outdoor subjects.  And stupid me, in spite of the weather, I still wore shorts.  For the most part, on this day, we remained indoors.

I want to master sketching sea anemones.  I find them quite beautiful.  Members of the Coelenterata, these guys feed themselves with tentacles full of tiny little spears that capture plankton in the water.  They’re a paradox of an animal as they don’t move and yet are in constant motion.  Their foot is forever attached to the substrate and they wave their tentacles constantly, giving this sketcher fits trying to draw the tentacles.  Here’s my meager attempt.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

One of the amazing creatures of the sea is the Nautilus.  No, not the submarine, the animal.  They are Cephalopods, related to octopuses (octupii?) and squids.  And while the octopuses and squids have mostly lost their ‘shells’, the Nautilus seems to want us to know that they went to math school by sporting a shell that follows a beautiful Fibornacci spiral.  It’s truly an animal designed to be drawn.  Here’s mine.  I was cold when I finished.  Darn shorts.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

As we ate lunch we noticed the skies clearing a bit.  Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Claudette wanted to sketch outdoors so we did.  Claudette and Fernande were dressed properly.  Did I mention that I was wearing shorts?

I don’t function well when I’m cold so I knew I couldn’t sketch anything too complex but there are a bunch of really fun playground toys and most look like great subjects for sketches so I tried this one, a little submarine that kids get in and ‘drive’.  It was fun.  I was cold.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

In all, we had a great day.  We’ve got annual passes to the aquarium and we’ll be using them a lot over the next few months.  It’s a great place to draw.  Why don’t you come along?

Sketching The Tourny Fountain

As part of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, the Fontaine de Tourny was placed in front of Quebec’s parliament building.  I’d like to provide you a concise history of this fountain but, its history depends on who you ask.

The fountain gets its name from two identical fountains that sat at each end of the Tourny promenade in Bourdeaux.  Mathurin Moreau was its designer.  That much is certain.  But some reports suggest that the French government gifted the fountain to Quebec.  A more complete story is that a guy named Marc Maison acquired it when the fountains were removed from Bourdeaux and much later sold to Peter Simons, a Quebec entrepreneur.  It was restored given to Quebec for the 400th anniversary.  Most stories in Quebec suggest there were two of these.  A few admit to the existence of five scattered around the world.  The internet has a way of turning up info on such things and the total has climbed to 19 or 20 of them.  I suspect the foundry wanted to get their money’s worth from the molds (grin).

What I do know is that it’s a magnificent fountain, towering some 21-feet in the air.  I was with Claudette and Yvan while drawing this one and we had a great day.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Sketching A Whale Of A Sand Pile

Moleskine watercolor book, Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Fernande and I went to the Quebec Aquarium last Monday.  On my way there I have to transfer from one bus to another, which meant a 10-minute wait.  I quickly sketched a video rental building in a small Moleskine watercolor book I carry.  Not much but it sure made that 10-minutes pass quickly.

Unlike our first visit to the aquarium, it was a beautiful day.  We spent the entire day in the outdoor areas rather than in the actual aquarium buildings.   I love urban ‘hardware’ and so did a couple smallish, sketches of some of the aquarium hardware.  There are examples of this sign everywhere on the grounds, providing directions to visitors.  Simple, easy-peasy to draw, and fun.

Moleskine watercolor book, Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

While wandering around I found this bizarro device.  It seems to have either a generator or transformer on the side of it.  It is about four-feet tall.  There are actually a bunch of these along a stone wall, giving the impression that they were once used as lights.  The technology, whatever it is, is very old and no longer used, I think.  Looks like something you’d see in a steampunk movie.  I had to draw it.

Moleskine watercolor book, Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

It was already getting hot when I started this sketch and there was no shade from which to draw this large pile of sand.  Towards the end I was sweating like crazy and ready to be done.  As soon as the ink was done I headed for shade to do the color.  Hope you like it.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

The Liz Steel Effect

How did people learn to draw/sketch/paint before the internet?  The availability of so much informatoin and access to so many great artists and their art has certainly changed things.  I think, for those willing to take advantage of these riches, it’s significantly eased the learning curve.  I’ve certainly benefited.

But the effects of internet sketcher interactions goes far beyond any discussions of art.  Through the sketching groups we get to visit other countries, wander their city streets, learn things about their cultures and perspectives.  Maybe more important, we learn that we’re all more alike than we are different.  It’s truly amazing.

I to tell you about a particular impact that sketches have had on my life that have nothing to do with sketching.  I call it the Liz Steel Effect.

Liz Steel is an Australian architect who happens to be a sketcher extraordinaire and a tea drinker.  I first came to admire Liz because of her great building sketches but her other favorite subject is the British style tea cup.

Until Liz, I never owned one of these beauties.  Until recently I had no idea what ‘bone china’ was.  Nor did I care.  But there were her sketches, a steady stream of wonderful tea cup sketches.

When I finally saw a tea cup and held it in my hands, I just had to buy it.  Then I bought another, and another.  At this point, my growing collection only numbers six, but I’m enjoying them thoroughly.  I’m convinced the tea tastes better.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

And so, when Liz’s part of Sketchbook Skool came up, I had a tea cup to draw when she showed us how.  I could even choose from among four (I’ve since bought two more) which I would draw.  In creating this sketch I learned something else, that’s probably obvious to everyone else.  It’s a whole lot easier to draw something like this when your sketchbook is laying flat on a table than it is with the sketchbook balanced on your knees like more normal method of sketching.  I might have to do it more often (grin).

Nouvelle France In Quebec City

Every August, Quebec holds a festival to celebrate the founding of Nouvelle France in North America.  Lots of people dress in period dress. There’s a large food court serving traditional foods, a parade, fireworks, and a bunch of other activities.  The festival attracts thousands of people who enjoy the ambiance of our old port area and this year was no exception.

It’s also the case that we sketchers took advantage of the sketching opportunities.  I was there on Saturday, along with nine of my betters in the sketching world.  We had a great time, though the crowds are always a bit overwhelming for me.

This year I only took a small, 4×6 Monologue sketchbook but I kept it warm with my pen scratching.  Here are a few of the sketches I did during the day.

I liked the texture and angles of the arm/rifle so I isolated on these in this sketch

I wanted to do a building sketch but with all the people around, finding a subject I could actually see was difficult.  I went to the top stairs of the cathedral and, looking across the courtyard,  sketched the top of the buildings.  The format is too small for that much landscape but it was fun regardless.

 

 

 

Sketching Quebec’s Aquarium

I was supposed to meet sketching buddy Fernande at the Nouvelle-France festival but she wrote to say that it was supposed to rain and that maybe it would be better to go to the aquarium.  I said ok, that I’d meet her there but that I bet it wouldn’t rain.

It rained.  I was wrong – again.  At least I’m consistent.  When I arrived it was raining and Fernande had not yet arrived.  I went to the main aquarium building sat in the corner of the foyer and sketched an outdoor scene through the window.  One of the really great things about our aquarium is that there is a lot to sketch outdoors when weather permits and an equal amount of stuff to sketch indoors if it rains, even if you don’t think it will.

Stillman & Birn Beta (6×8), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Once Fernande arrived we started wandering indoors, looking for sketching opportunities.  Unfortunately, we chose the same day to visit as a convoy of school buses full of kids.  The place was packed, prohibiting us from being able to sketch without being trampled.  After a while we decided that eating lunch was the solution.  And so we did.

Moleskine watercolor notebook (3×5), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

In this case the virtue of patience was rewarded.  The school buses packed up, the crowds thinned out, and we found something to sketch.

By this time, though, I was getting tired so I chose a small subject – a seahorse.

We’re heading back Monday for another session.

 

A Slow-Sketcher Approach To Bird Sketching

If molasses could sketch, it would do so at the same rate as I do.  This is a problem mostly when I try to sketch crowds of people, highway traffic, bee hives, and… BIRDS!

I love birds but gosh they won’t sit still.  Audubon had a solution.  It was called a shotgun, but I’m an urban sketcher and, even if I were so inclined, me thinks the authorities might frown on that method.  So what can a molasses sketcher do?  Ah HA, says I.  A solution I have found.  Here’s what you do:

1) Get a 12″ x 12″ piece of 3/4″ pine.  Home Depot is a good source.
2) Using a scroll saw, cut out the profile of the bird you want to draw.
3) Paint it in suitable colors.  I recommend Sibley’s Field Guide to Birds for color reference.
4) Drill a 1/2″ hole in the bottom edge of the cutout.
5) Shove a 1/2″ dowel into the hole.
6) Go to your garden and shove the 1/2″ dowel into the ground.
7) Get a nice cold drink, a lawn chair with a glass-holder, and sit down in front of your bird.
8) Draw your bird as slowly as you like.  Life is sweet.

Monologue A6 sketchbook (4×6), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

The Willingness To Learn

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“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” ― Albert Einstein

It’s said that we old folks don’t learn as quickly as young kids.  Our brains are pretty firmly wired, it’s said, while kid brains are just gathering steam when it comes to wiring.  Whether that’s true or not is above my pay grade.

What I do know is that a kid’s willingness to learn, and to be thrilled by the activity, is boundless.  Watch any kid learning to walk.  How many adults in the same situation, after having fallen a gazillion times without moving three feet, would say “It’s too hard” and sat down on the floor, asking for the TV remote.

I’m writing this because I just witnessed the cutest example of a child’s joy from learning.  A tiny tot, probably no more than a couple years old, was walking along the sidewalk.  She proudly made her way along, expending a great deal of energy to maintain her position ahead of mom.  You could tell she was working hard.  Heck, her poor legs were soooo short.

She got to a place where the sidewalk had been cracked and lifted by a large tree root.  Her side of the sidewalk was three to four inches below where she needed to go.  Undaunted, she carefully put her left foot on the higher level and stepped up to the higher level.  Then she stopped.  I guess she was thinking because the next thing she did was jump.

That’s right.  Standing in place she just jumped up, coming down in exactly the same place.  She took a step and jumped again.  Another second of pause and this time, apparently realizing she needed to do something more than just jump upward, she took a step and leaped up and forward.  When she came down she immediately looked up at her mother with a big smile on her face.  Next time she’d be ready for the cracks in the road.  She needed no class, no teacher.  All she needed was desire and a bit of persistence.

I think this is how we learn art, or should.  We’ve got to jump, then jump again.  Are you jumping?

Group Sketching Without The Group

Can you have a group sketching event without a group?  I wonder.  This was attempted, it seems, last Saturday in Quebec City.  According to the published schedule of Collectif des ateliers libres en arts visuals de Québec, a local portrait group, we were all supposed to meet on Terrace Dufferin at 10AM.  I was there.  Yvan was there.  But nobody else showed up, not even the guy who was supposed to coordinate the event.

So, our group was small, but our will was mighty.  It was a very hot day, one of the few we’ve had thus far but Yvan and I found some shade, sketched and enjoyed each other’s company.

I need practice drawing stuff where I have to look up and so I did a sketch of the old postal building that sits at the end of Terrace Dufferin, with a bit of an information kiosk in the foreground.  It’s an odd view and only part of the building but it turned my crank so I put it to paper.  All in all, we had fun, though this is tourist season and we sort of got overrun.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

One of the really fun things about being a street sketcher is the audience, particularly the kids.  Kids are curious about anyone who draws.  They relate to it.  Kids are also afraid to engage with adults so they have to be invited, with smiles and words.  I smile.  I say hi.  And before you know it, we’re engaged in conversation and they are a breath of fresh air.  Unlike adults, they don’t tell you you’re sooo talented.  They don’t tell you about how they’d like to do art but they don’t have the time/patience/ability.  Instead, they tell you that they draw too.  They ask you if you like it.  They want to know how the paint thing (waterbrush) works.  Maybe I like them because I think about art on this level.  I don’t know.  I share with you a photo of me interacting with some kids on this day.  I didn’t know Yvan had taken this photo but I’m grateful that he did.

photo: Yvan Breton

Sketcher Gets Rained In

On Thursday, I headed out for a sketch walk and it was kinda cool.  There hasn’t been much summer in July for us.  I was sort of wishing I’d grabbed a jacket but I figured the walking would warm me up.  Then it started to rain and I decided otherwise.

Monologue (4×6), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

Following a short run while wishing I had my raingear, I ended up in a small coffee/tea place on 1st Avenue.  I was the only one in the place.  It was not the most arto-genic place I’ve been in but it was dry so I ordered a coffee and took a seat near a window, which didn’t provide a very inspiring view either.  Sigh.

Monologue (4×6), Pilot Falcon, Platinum Carbon Black

I drew this teapot that was sitting in the window.  I drank some coffee and followed up with a poor sketch of this funny-looking lamp.  When the coffee was gone and the rain had let up, I decided to head home.  There’s always tomorrow.