Larry D. Marshall's Blog, page 86

Long Walk – Little Sketches

We had a rain day that prevented me from taking my daily walk so when I was greeted with sun the next morning I decided to double my walking efforts.

It was a great day for walking and I was thoroughly enjoying myself.  Rather than spending a long time on a single sketch, I did a couple of small, quicker sketches, just to feed the urban sketcher in me.

Looking down from the bike path into Parc Brebeuf

These are both around four inches in size and done with my Pilot Penmanship, a very fine pen.   I don’t think the watercolor was an improvement, but that’s often the case.  I really do need to practice doing watercolors.

Along the St. Charles River

 

 

Pencil Before Ink: Another Approach

In my last blog post I admitted that I often commit the deadly sin of using a pencil in advance of my fountain pens.  This is a sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t thing but I suggested that there are two ways/reasons why I use a pencil.  In that post I showed one of those reasons, where I simply drew some blobs to give me some indication of the location of the various objects tht make up a scene.  The reason is that by doing this I can draw any of the objects while knowing how it relates to the other objects as the preliminary pencil work, that represent my thinking about those relationships, has already been done.

The other reason that causes me to do some basic pencil work before moving on to ink arises when I draw man-made objects, like buildings, cars, etc.  I could just start drawing, of course, but I prefer to analyze these objects separate from the actual drawing.  I want to spend time ‘seeing’ the relative sizes, locations and orientations and I want to do it with a higher level of precision than the example in the previous blog post.

Take a look at this preliminary pencil sketch.  You’ll notice that there is no detail.  It’s mostly about boxes but those boxes represent the windows and door of the building.  While drawing those boxes I paid close attention to their relative alignment and sizes.  I didn’t fuss over whether the lines were straight or the corners square as I was more interested in whether the two windows on the left were the same size (the third window is different) and to ensure that the windows would be lined up with one another when I drew them.  Notice that I also drew a few lines to represent the front of a car.  Here I was only interested in the windshield and hood angles, where the car sat relative to the bottom left window, and where the curb line met the front of the car.

Is this necessary?  Of course not.  In fact, Marc Taro Holmes just did a great blog post on using ink dots to organize a drawing.  I’ve used that method myself.  Still do.  But by using a pencil,  I end up with boxes that I can look at, compare to the building I was sketching, and, for me, it provides better visualization of how the sketch will look when finished.

Regardless of how you do it, the important thing, I think is that you do this sort of organizational step before you start your actual drawing.  Too many sketches are less than they could be simply because the drawing step was started too soon, leaving the sketcher to discover, major misalignments, a lack of space for a particular object, and other dilemmas that are easily avoided.

Another advantage of pencil use it that a pencil is a tool separate from my actual drawing tool.  By using it, it’s easier for my feeble brain to understand that I’m ‘organizing’, and not ‘drawing.’  It causes me to take the time to actually see the organization of my subject and causes me to organize it on the page.  Often, if I work directly with pen, I’m inclined to skip this step or rush through it too quickly.  Give it a try.  It might work for you in the same way.

In any case, here’s the result after I add ink.  Once again, the pencil lines are so light (I increased the contrast for the post) that there was no need for an eraser of any kind.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Noodler’s Lexington Gray

 

Quick Sketching My River

Yesterday was the day before the official beginning of summer and so, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I headed out on a long walk and sketching session.  The sun was shining and I was whistling a happy tune.  Ok…ok… so I wandered into writing the opening for a musical.  Suffice it to say, it was a nice day.

But as I walked I noticed the clouds moving in.  I noticed the winds pick up.  I noticed my happy tune whistling had stopped.  I decided to sit on a fake log chair along my river and sketch a bit.  I also noticed that I was bordering on being cold and that I would need clips to keep the sketchbook paper from rattling in the wind.  So much for a summer day.

I’ve received a couple emails asking me what, exactly, I do with a pencil as a precursor to my ink drawing so I decided to try to illustrate the couple ways I use one.  Here is one of them.

This sketch was to be a large-scale, for me, urban nature sketch so I started with a very lightly drawn bunch of scribbles just to locate the various bushes, river, and building.  I shot a photo of the pencil layout with my cell phone and later manipulated the heck out of it to get the lines dark enough so you can see them….kinda.  This pencil work took 20-30 seconds.

You’ll notice that there’s no detail, not much more than vague lines that locate the various components.  All I’m thinking about is location and size of the various shapes and their relationship to one another.  By identifying these things I’m then free to concentrate on any part of the sketch without having to think about whether that part will connect to other parts.  For instance, because I know where both sides of the river will be in my sketch, I can draw the foreground plants, knowing where they should hide the river.

So out came the pens.  I started drawing the foreground using my TWSBI Mini filled with Platinum Carbon Black.  The rest of the sketch was done with a Pilot Prera and Noodler’s Lexington Gray.  No eraser was abused in the creation of this sketch.  Those light pencil lines just disappear behind ink and color.

I worked quickly and admit this is not my best work as, quite frankly, I was getting cold.  Yes, that’s right – cold – in middle of June.  Who’da thunk it.  Total time for this sketch was 23 minutes.  I kept track so I could report that as well.   I’m sure glad that tomorrow will be summer.  I’m getting tired of the cold.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera and TWSBI MIni

 

Transient Subjects

As a street sketcher I’m often faced with “subject leaves” syndrome.  It could be a car that drives away when I’m drawing it.  I can be a truck parking in front of a store front I’m drawing.  But the most common example comes from people, those exasperating objects that just won’t sit still.

This is the result of subject leaves syndrome.  I was sitting in a food court, waiting for my lunch partner.  I decided to draw this guy on his cell phone and his buddy, sitting bored on the other side of the table.  I began by capturing the cell phone arm as that was the most important part.  I’d mostly captured the outline of the guy when the phone descended from his ear, the other guy became animated, and they both got up and walked away.  I sort of faked a chair under the guy and that was all I could do – my subject was gone.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Sharpie refillable pen

 

Pentel Kerry Mechanical Pencil: A Sketcher’s Review

If you hang out on Facebook sketching groups you get the impression that if  you use a pencil as a precursor to a pen drawing you will be struck down by the art gods, or at least chastised by them.  The fact that most of the great artists used them is not pertinent to the case made by Facebook artists.

But I use one… sometimes.  I enjoy being able to quickly sketch in some organizational lines, locating major objects, and their relative sizes.  It’s during this time that I actually think about what I’m seeing.  I evaluate angles.  I look at the relationship of one object to another.  Where do they intersect, how do three points on the drawing create a locating triangle, curve, or box.  These light marks help me to engage my brain.  Necessary?  The marks, maybe not.  The brain engagement, most certainly.

I use 2H lead for this so the lines are very light but they’re enough for me to ‘see’ whether I’ve got the proportions right, or at least close.  If necessary, and it generally isn’t, I’ll use a kneaded eraser after I’ve done the ink sketch to remove these guidelines.  I don’t carry a regular eraser as I don’t seem to need one.  If I did, I’d use it proudly.

Today, though, I’m not here to discuss technique but rather to talk about a truly wonderful mechanical pencil, the Pentel Kerry mechanical pencil.  This isn’t your average $3-5 mechanical pencil.  The Pentel Kerry is a high-dollar ($20) pencil.  You can get one, in a variety of colors, from Jet Pens, one of the best suppliers of pointy devices on the planet.

Why buy an expensive mechanical pencil when there are so many cheap ones?  I could get all philosophical about this but, for me, it was to solve a problem.  In addition to enjoying my sketching more when I use quality tools, I am a street sketcher and that means I carry my pens clipped inside a bag.  This means that two things happen.  Sometimes the lead guard, that thin tube that sticks out of mechanical pencils, snags in the bag fabric.  It can poke into waterbrushes I have in the same pocket where I clip my pens/pencil.  I’ve even had one guard bend.

So, I went looking for a solution and found one.  The Pentel Kerry is a beauty.  It caps and posts just like a fountain pen and so the lead and its guard are covered.  When posted, there is a mechanism in the cap that advances the lead.  If you use a pencil’s eraser regularly, however, you may not like this pencil as it’s hard to get the cap off to use it.  Until writing this review and doing a detailed search, I just assumed it didn’t have an eraser but it’s there if you can grab the cap with very strong and pointy fingers, or your teeth, to expose the eraser.  Not only is there not much to grab but you have to work against the spring action associated with the lead advance mechanism.  As I don’t use it, that doesn’t bother me.

So, problem solved… my lead guard is now covered with its cap.  Beyond that, this pencil is just a joy to use and to behold.  Spending a bit more on a pencil gains more than improved function.  It just looks cool.  I do find the grip and balance to be comfortable which means that posting its metal cap makes it slightly tail-heavy, allowing for a light touch.  It can be bought for .5 or .7mm leads and in half a dozen colors.  I chose red as it’s easy to find in my bag as I don’t use any red fountain pens.

Is $20 too much to spend for a pencil?  I don’t think so, but then I don’t buy my coffee at Starbucks so maybe I have more money than some to spend on my art supplies (grin).

 

Baseball Doodling

My Blue Jays are in FIRST PLACE in the AL East.  I have to say that now for two reasons.  The first is that they’ve been on the other end of the scale for the past couple years.  The second is that they’re in a slump right now so I thought it important to say it before things change.  I guess that makes me a pessimist.  Cubs fans will understand.

But one thing is certain.  Baseball season brings the TV into my life – the couch potato existence that is modern life for so many.  I only watch Blue Jays games but still, it’s a big time committment.  And so I compensate, some.  Instead of beer and chips, I sit  armed with pointy devices and sketchbooks.  I doodle.  Maybe this is why I don’t like hockey.  You can’t doodle while watching a hockey game.

Anyways, it occurs to me regularly that the internet is great for budding artists as we get to see all the great art done by our betters.  But the downside is that this sets the bar a bit high.  I sometimes feel more sketchers should post their doodles, failed sketches, etc. to indicate the real world rather than the internet world.

So, for your amusement, and my embarrassment, here are some of my baseball doodles.  All are done either from something that flashes by on the TV screen or from memory of someone’s style I’ve seen on the internet.  You’ll notice that I play with a lot of techniques and approaches, just to see how it feels to draw in different ways.  No high art was committed in the creation of this blog post.

What’s not to like about little stuffed animals?

A look at minimalist building sketching

Looking here at quick-sketching approaches

I was trying out a new mechanical pencil, quickly creating these fictitious pieces of architecture

Here I was playing with my new refillable Sharpie pen

Playing with a little 4-color palette

Felt like drawing some ellipses in pencil

I hope you enjoyed sitting on the sofa with me.  Go Blue Jays!

While Walking Through The Park One Day

The Plains of Abraham, in Quebec City, is a large area where a guy once had a farm.  Then the Brits climbed the cliffs, shot it out with the French and among other things, they built a large fort to protect the area from those big bad Americans that would soon invade.

They never did but the result is that this large, partially wooded, and well-developed park area is now labelled Battlefield Park on the signs but everyone who lives here calls the area the Plains of Abraham.  It’s our oasis – a place to sit under a tree and have a picnic.  It’s a place to walk through a forest, although it’s really a managed clump of trees by forest standards.  Our art museum is in the middle of the Plains.  When the likes of Paul McCartney comes to town, the Plains are where he sings Let It Be.  Oh, and the Plains plays a significant role in my mystery novel, Her Book of Shadows.

It’s also a place where I go when I’m in the mood to sketch some nature, though more often than not I turn to my favorite subjects, man-made objects.  This sketch is something of a mix but I couldn’t resist this small scene.  After I did the sketch I went to the garden to sketch, but all I did was sit and enjoy the sun on my face and the large array of tulips that were blooming.  Life is sweet.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Noodler’s Lex Gray

Halloween door sketching

A week or so ago I posted a sketch of a fancy door in Quebec City.  A comment from a long-time friend, Pat Roberson, asking for more door sketches has resulted in this one.

A week ago I saw this door but I was on my way to St. Vallier to sketch with friends and so couldn’t sketch it.  It’s not one of the old, classic Quebec City doors, but Pat is such a fan of Halloween, and apparently doors, that I just had to go back and sketch this aperture into the bright orange house with black trim.  Hope you like it, Pat.

Stillman & Birn Alpha (9×6), Pilot Prera, Noodler’s Lexington Gray

Refillable Fine-Line Sharpie Pen

 

In a recent blog post, I mentioned that I used a disposable Sharpie pen to do the sketch.  This is a very cheap, but effective drawing tool.  I paid $2.50 for a pack of two of them from the local drug store.  The ink is waterproof and line width is roughly equivalent to a Micron 03, maybe a wee bit finer.

 

I like the pen but I hate the very notion of disposable pens.  We’re burying out planet in plastic and much of it can be traced to disposable products that replace perfectly good refillable products.  We were talking pens on Facebook and one of the Singapore Urban Sketchers mentioned that there is a refillable version of the Sharpie pen and that it is available from Jet Pens.  A few minutes later I had one winging its way to me.

It does increase the initial cost as this beautiful metal-body pen is $5.00.  But refills are cheap and you’ll be throwing away a lot less plastic and feel good about yourself.  That aside, this is a beautiful way to point a fine, felt pen at paper.

 

 

Quebec City’s Harbor Is Busy Again

For the last couple weeks, all the pleasure boats that have spent the winter in their cocoons have been carried, one-by-one, down a ramp and plunked into Bassin Louise, the protected harbor for pleasure boats in Quebec City.  There is a lock that allows boats to come and go in spite of the significant tides of the St. Lawrence River and just outside those locks is where all the tugboats are, that serve the larger ship traffic along the St. Lawrence and/or are loaded/unloaded in Quebec City.

I walked down to this area today and there was a spring (pun intended) in my step.  I have to say it…I just have to.  No way I can avoid it.  It’s just got to come out.  IT WAS WARM, WARM, WARM today.  I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt as I skipped along the St. Charles River.  I was a happy sketcher.  Did I mention that it’s finally WARM in Quebec City?

There was only one glitch in the day.  I sat down to draw a small tugboat that I hadn’t seen before.  Most of our tugs are what one might call ‘ocean tugs’  – really big, really powerful tugboats.  This one was much smaller.  It was cute.  When I was a kid I had a book whose main character was L’il Toot.  He was a brightly colored tugboat with big eyes on the front of his cabin. This tugboat reminded me of him.  But when I opened my sketching bag I found that I’d forgotten to stuff my sketchbook into it.  I did have a small Strathmore “Drawing” book, however, so I did this quick sketch of my tugboat as it poked its head above the harbor wall.  Did I mention that it was WARM today?  In spite of the lack of a real sketchbook, this was a great day.

Strathmore 4×6 “Drawing” book, Uniball Signo UM-151 pen