BirdBrain Designs

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.