Sketching On Ile Aux Grues

Ile aux Grues (Crane Island) is the largest islandof an archipelago in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, near the point where it widens into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  It can only be reached by ferry and then only when the tides are favorable enough to provide enough depth for the ferry.  The few children that live there go to school on an airplane every day, which sounds pretty cool to me.

Last Wednesday, though, it was sketching day and five of us went sailing to Ile aux Grues for a day of sketching.  It was an ideal day.  As we learned late in the day, this included a breeze which kept the mosquitos away from us.

The hike across the island is 1.2 km through oat and corn fields, with church steeples sticking up out of the greenery and everywhere you looked was a sketching subject.  There is just one idyllic scene after the other on the island and it was hard to decide where to stop, until we came to the location of this scene.  All of us wanted to draw it so we spread out to our favorite perch and point of view and set to work.  Next time I do this scene I’ll get closer.  Maybe I’ll also be better