sketching

On Friday we had sun and I was able to park on an adjacent street facing the side of the Moodie Cottage and do this sketch. Around 1975 I lived in the little apartment on the back of the main house. This would have originally  been the summer kitchen and sometime in the 1880’s or so had the Victorian clapboard second storey added. In the 70’s two local potters owned the house and fired up their kiln in the attached garage. It was a pleasure for me to sketch this one-time home of mine and relive the memories.

Below is another stone house in Belleville. It is one a row of three stone cottages on a side street in the city’s west end. Over Christmas I parked in front of this one and did this quick sketch. These were probably a group of workers’ cottages–the local sawmills and iron foundries would have been a source of employment from 1850 on. There is lots of information about the Moodie Cottage given its famous owner, but I can’t find anything on line about these three.  I’ll try the County Archives and let you know. I’ve had the idea of sketching the local historic buildings for a long time and it seems 2016 will be the year. If you know anything about this one, I’d love to hear.

 

These are three historic buildings just off the main street. I’ve been keeping an eye on them and last week had a chance to park in a good spot across the street at a time when they weren’t blocked by parked cars. I did this sketch in pencil in the car and then added ink and paint at home. I was intent on getting the cornices in place and managed to confuse the roof lines, putting the background church a more in the limelight than it really is.

These sketches are of some the places I visited last year. It is the sketches that I did on the spot–standing, sketchbook in hand, or sitting on the curb–which are the most evocative for me. The whole day comes rushing back when I look at them again, the temperature, the company, the conversation, even the smells. In January  a village outside Hoguin Cuba…

In February: Amsterdam…

Boston in June…

Dublin and Enniskillen in September

In November La Gaude in France and Cordoba and Granada in Spain

In the last post, I featured some of the best bags I made in 2015. Today I’m featuring some Kenyan sketches. This is Cliff’s place, a series of buildings like so many all over Africa, crumbling cement block and corrugated tin. We walked every day to Cliff’s because he had milk and fresh eggs and phone cards. As well, the local women had a small market there where we could buy tomatoes, chard, onions and, if we were lucky, fresh samosas made over a small fire. I loved the interaction with the local people and using the local ingredients in our cooking.

This building in Nairobi is a reminder of the colonial past. I’ve just finished reading Circling the Sun which is set in Kenya in this colonial era. Although I found the book mediocre and its story of the self-centred ruling class annoying, I connected with the descriptions of the places I know well, both in Nairobi and in the countryside. The Norfolk Hotel, so much a part of the novel, is still 100 years later, catering to the expat and tourist monied classes with its beautiful architecture and gardens with little regard for the local culture or population. Last year I noticed they had spoiled the lovely verandahs with bullet-proof plastic…

And here are a couple of quick sketches of local people and village life.  It was hard to sketch during the day because of the heat, so a few lines done at the time and then colour added later.

Tomorrow I am leaving for two weeks in the south of Spain and France. It seems good timing just as the November rains and dark skies are descending. I have revised my palette, and have been using it this week just to see how the colours work on their own and together.  I’m using a hand.book sketchbook 8″ tall and 5″ wide and I am liking the format.  I hope I can post some sketches while I am away and stay in touch with you.Meanwhile, Sunday afternoon was another lovely day, so I went back to my spot on my stool by the courthouse and did a second sketch of Bellevue Terrace. I wanted to work on a better colour for the brick and shadows. This time I just concentrated on the doorway and the window above. In spite of the sun, it was a cold afternoon. So, I stayed outside as long as I could with the Terrace, then did a very quick sketch from the car of the view to the east, a multi-arched and buttressed steeple, a roof, some trees and the top of the church building. It was a great way to spend an hour, wedged between Sunday afternoon commitments. I love the way sketching leads you into another mind space altogether. 

I sat in the sun just outside the north wall of the old court house earlier this week to sketch a portion of Bellevue Terrace. Various people came out to chat and give me the history of the building. Apparently it is now carved up into condos instead of being a series of adjoined homes. However, the architecture is in tact, a rarity in my city, and I just love to study the details. I’m finding red brick a bit of a challenge as you can see, especially the shadows. Will keep at it and try not to overwork it. May try this building again this week.

I went to Picton on Friday to attend the Maker’s Hand show. This show of artisans’ work is getting more and more popular. I arrived an hour after opening and had to really search for a parking spot. It is a bustling show with much beautiful work. It’s great to immerse in it and talk to the artisans. From there I found another Victorian house to sketch. It was a dark, overcast day so I parked across the road and sketched from the car. My sketch doesn’t do justice to the beautiful restoration of this late 19th Century home. As I was sketching, the owner came out to see what I was doing and invited me in for a tour. I am always amazed at the wonderful connections which come when I pull out my sketchbook.

I sat in a nook of the archways across the road to sketch this view of the Jamieson Bone building. I have been taking a Craftsy course with Stephanie Bowers and it is really good. She demonstrates how to look at a building and break it into the big shapes, how to find the eye level line and from there to sketch more accurately. I am not sure that it is improving my sketches but it is improving my confidence in the way I approach a sketch, thinking more about the actual composition, the placement on the page and perspective. I’m on my second viewing of the lessons and the concepts are taking root. There are also classes on Craftsy by two of my favourite sketchers, Marc Holmes and Shari Blaukopf and I suggest you have a look at all of them. Each set of lessons, each bird’s-eye view of an artist’s sketching style, actually leads you more into your own sketching style, refines how you see and depict the world.

I was away last week on a short road trip and I sketched as much as I could. Here are the sketches from Toronto, Guelph, and Port Hope. In Toronto I stood on sunny Avenue Road after my visit to the Textile Museum for this elevation view. It was Sunday and the pace, and parking, were much easier. In Guelph I was in a cafe opposite the historic City Hall. A table and a cappuccino make one of the most comfortable ways to sketch. And in Port Hope, I sat on my trusty stool in the parking lot. Each time I measured out the proportions with my pencil and did the pencil and then ink sketch. Paint was added later.