sketching

I haven’t been sketching for ages and I have missed it. November and December were filled with sewing leather bags and other creations. I’m pretty well done now and so have had a chance to get out my paints. On Saturday I parked across from one of my favourite buildings, The Riverboat. It is a two storey stone structure with great verandahs built in 1832 on a hill rising out of town.

I signed up for Liz Steele’s marvellous class months ago with great anticipation. But what a busy time I’ve had since then between travelling and sewing! Lesson seven will arrive in my inbox tomorrow, but I will be beginning lesson one. Luckily we have access to the lessons for a good while and I’ll be able to take my time learning from each exercise. I hope to post some of my attempts.

Liz is known for her sketches of tea cups and she has access to many great cafes. In my town we have limited choices, but we are lucky to have one stellar spot. I was at L’Auberge de France for lunch yesterday–a little bit of the south of France on our main street–and arrived early so that i could sketch my cappuccino in their signature yellow china. Afterward I sat in my car on the edge of the river and quickly sketched the city hall in the mist. So much more fun than battling the xmas crowds at the mall!

It was a very cool Friday morning when I went to meet a friend in Port Hope. While I was waiting, I sat on a steel chair outside a cafe and sketched the buildings across the street. I was wearing my arm warmers for the first time this season and still was shivering. However, this building pulled me in; I was struck by its perfect symmetry, six brick columns encasing ten casement windows. I’ve said before that this is what keeps me sketching old buildings, actually seeing such history and design when you look up. The street-side windows reveal the sorry state of small town downtowns–and Port Hope is surviving much better than many–but the glories are still there if you just look up.

I wrote about this sketch the day I did it, over a week ago–and was delighted when I read Liz Steele’s description of her workshop in Brazil to hear her express much the same sentiments…

Trusting your own personal response to a building is far more important when sketching architecture than achieving absolutely accurate proportions or perfect perspective. I don’t think so much about the bricks and mortar as I do the skill that designed and put it all together. The act of sketching becomes more than just observing an inanimate object – it generates an exciting personal connection with the mind (and often genius) of the original creator and even the culture of a different era.

I am thrilled that Liz is offering an online course, Sketching Now Foundations. I know there is a danger to doing too many courses–and Sketchbook Skool Storytelling starts this Friday–but I’ve long been hoping that Liz would offer an online course and I can’t wait. It is her set of lessons in Sketchbook Skool that I refer to most often. I like her approach and her subject matter.

Here is another sketch from that day in Port Hope, a set of row houses dating from 1845.

Last Friday we were in Kingston for the Writersfest (highly recommended!) and I had time to sit in the park and sketch the City Hall, one of my favourite buildings. This day, so unlike the week before, was warm and sunny and outside sketching was perfect. Kingston has many tourists and on such a beautiful day many stopped to talk and even photograph the sketch. 

We have been having some cool sunny weather so I have been out on my bike with my sketching equipment. I was on my way to the waterfront when I saw this old beauty. This is the side view. I was able to set my stool up on the grassy shoulder of the side street and sketch away. I am still working on shadows. I need to do them in stages rather than a dark blob. I took a workshop with Marc Holmes in  Montreal last year and he talked about building washes in layers of tea, milk and honey. Recently he included a ‘cheat sheet‘ explaining this process which he invited blog readers to share. It’s worth downloading and checking out for sure.

Below is a quick cartoony sketch of the waterfront. I’ve decided this Fabriano sketchbook is not for me. I don’t like its size and the quality of the paper does not take washes well. But I’m sticking with it until I finish the last page–and it is encouraging me to experiment because I really don’t care how many pages I use at a time. I’m already eyeing the large Moleskine that I used for the Quebec trip. I have two trips coming in October and it will be in my travel sketching kit for sure.And finally, today’s sketch. After going to the market, I sat on the bench in front of City Hall and did a quick sketch of a corner of the Jamieson Bone building. It is a lovely stone and yellow brick structure with wonderful details. Given my city’s record of knocking down historic buildings, we are very very lucky it is still standing for us to admire.

We stopped in Madoc on our way to the cottage, just long enough for me to do this sketch and to have a take-out latte in the wonderful café. I worked in Madoc in the high school for five years, but it wasn’t until I started to sketch the buildings that I really came to understand the history of the place. This church, built in 1874, is a tribute to the dignity and hard work of the early inhabitants of the area. I love the symmetry and the charming details in the arches and peaks. And those clocks are still working!

Friday night we had a terrific storm. The sky was yellow and lavender against the black pines as lightening stalked the lake for over an hour. The power was off for much longer than that–but the next two days were glorious and I was able to get out in the kayak to do some sketching.

This week my friend, MB, and I cycled and sketched in a corner of Prince Edward County. It was about 35 kms to North Beach and back and we followed up with a delicious lunch. Since I am doing Liz Steel’s class this week in SBS, I was delighted that they had run out of cappuccino saucers in the Tall Poppy café (which was full of cyclists) and instead gave MB and me a tea saucer. I could not resist doing the homework assignment on the spot. 

On the way home I did a few preliminary sketches of one of my favourite churches. I like it because it has lots of symmetrical architectural detail but it is not ornate or elaborate. It was built in 1878 and as I sketch I like to think of the people who designed and built it and those who attended it when it was new. So…I had to go back and have another coffee and finish the sketch. There is tons to learn sketching this building…and that is reason enough to go back for more delicious coffee and more sketches. (Did I say they make amazing lemon squares?)

I often end the day with a cycle along the waterfront. It is a wonderful way to unwind and put things in perspective. We are having some perfect summer weather and so tonight I took along my water brush and paints and stopped to do a quick sketch of the city from my vantage point across the river. I will try this view a few times and take more time and add more detail. I will also be sure take my stool so I am not sitting on the grass! This first basic sketch is what Liz Steel calls ‘the overall configuration’, just getting a sense where everything is and how each building relates to the others. Liz’s class in SBS semester 2 btw was very inspiring!

I have spent the last three days in a great rug hooking workshop. I’ll write about it tomorrow.