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.
Beautiful sketches and thanks for passing along that ‘cheat sheet’, too!
jill in Ontario
I think the shadows are wonderful. And thank you for sharing the tea, milk honey design – such a help!!