Below are sketches from a recent evening excursion to hear some music at a nearby waterfront park. The summer park concerts have started up and this was the second one I’ve seen at this particular location on the grounds of Stewart Hall in Pointe Claire. These fellows were The London Quartet, singing acapella a variety of songs from Beatles to classical folk, etc.

Below: After the concert, I strolled down the banks to river/lake and did this sketch looking up to the bluff to sketch a tree and part of Stewart Hall. I love how objects are in full shadow and dark at twilight. It’s a lovely dramatic affect.

(Enlarged version here)

Man, what a superb day here, weather-wise. It was like something made to order (cloudless, mid-70’s, light breeze, low humidity–I’ll take it)! And how fortunate that it fell on a major holiday when festivities were held all over the island. Locally, the Pointe Claire Village closed off the main street from noon to 11-ish, hosting a street party. I bought a few burgers and hot dogs from outdoor vendors around lunch time, but didn’t hang around. We were invited to an impromptu dinner in the early evening on another part of the island. We got home within time for me to go down and see the fireworks at 10 pm, though, so I took my sketchbook with me to see if I could capture the scene. I stood at the entrance of St. Joachim church to do the sketch, above. You can see the Jesus statue that I’ve drawn on many occasions (e.g. here). I couldn’t really see what I was drawing very well, but that might have been to my advantage! Once home, I scanned and colorized it before I could forget the color impressions I took mental note of. It turned out better than I thought it would so it’s nice to have a little visual reminder of a part of this year’s Canada Day celebration.

A quick & simple drawing, with a poem to match.

(Larger image here)

There were two banks in the PCV up until a year ago when the other one moved to a new location. Now I go to this place when I need a local atm for quick cash. I sketched this a week or so ago, on a cool evening in June. A few days later I was walking up the block and noticed that the upper story there is a partial facade. The second floor of the building exists only where you see the windows. I’m wondering, then, if there’s a patio up there on the back side.

Since my husband was out of town this past weekend, and I had no commitments to my usual church, I visited a church in the area I’d never been to–Renaissance Church in Kirkland, Quebec. Kirkland is on the western end of the Island of Montreal, which is where we live so I was finally visiting a nearby church vs. trucking into down town Montreal for church (like most, I’m feeling gas-conscience). Renaissance’s roots are Southern Baptist so I thought that I would feel at home being I’m from the South Texas. The church presently meets in the Kirkland Colisee Movie Theater, so I was thinking that the meetings would be fairly large, another church where I could be anonymous and get lost in the crowd (perfect for sketching and observing). Not so. Counting children, there were probably no more than 30 people in attendance. Even with relatively few people, I wasn’t really noticed. The bass player on the worship team saw me sitting alone and came over to chat, but other than that, I had to do the approaching. Well, people were busy with children or adjusting sound or…just plain shy. I understand that. It didn’t bother me really, but I thought it was unusual. Below are pages from my sketchbook of drawings during the service. There’s a little sketch of Sammy’s head I did there. Of course, no dogs were in the service. I was just thinking of her.

It was a long, holiday weekend here in Quebec (Fete Nationale), all the way up to yesterday (Tuesday). I took some time off to give my right arm a break (pain in my elbow, middle finger, and wrist) and some healing time, and to spend time with friends, family, etc. Also, this past Friday afternoon, our beloved Sam (the family dog) passed away unexpectedly. Though she was almost 18 years old, it took us by surprise as she wasn’t bad off. Alas, we miss her very much and remember her most dearly.

As I was doing warm up drawings, I noticed out the window Skunkboy toodling along the fence line. Kind of late (or early) for him to be trekking about, I thought. So he became the inspiration for a little sketch. I felt like experimenting with the digital watercolors with this piece.

It’s so in my core to want to work in a “less is more”, “devil-may care” style, yet I rarely do (except for my quick sketches and roughs). As simple a style as it looks, it’s really not. Simple, minimal line has to pull off a lot of information and energy. Knowing that fine balance of what’s superfluous–what’s enough, what’s too much–is a challenge. The temptation to keep adding more “stuff” is always there along with the anxiety. And amazingly, these simple pieces can be over-worked mentally. Perhaps those who work in a minimalist style like this consistently over come all of that. Makes sense.

Last illustration for this theme/topic, courtesy of Clubhouse Jr. magazine, July ‘08:

Q: What is the best type of food to have a conversation with?

I mentioned I had a couple of these spots (three to be exact) and since I’d planned on posting them anyway, what better place than for Illustration Friday? So, another joke/riddle with the punchline/answer. Now, these aren’t MY jokes. This one was sent into Clubhouse Jr. magazine by a kid who’s six. I don’t think it’s too bad. What do you think?

Question: Why does a rat never take a bath?

Well, this is right up my alley, kinda. I frequently get a job to do a few spot drawings to compliment jokes and riddles that kids send in to a kiddo magazine. And there are three that’ll be coming out in this July’s ClubHouse Jr. magazine. So below is one them, with the answer/punchline.

Q: What kind of bird can lift heavy objects?

(A larger version is here.)

Located at 329 Lakeshore/Bord-du-Lac in the Pointe Claire Village is a little shop called “DONGHEE” (no web presence, I see).  This used to be a Hello Kitty shop for the longest time but they’re obviously gone.  Never been in this place.  I’m not big on jewelry (Heck, I rarely wear my wedding ring, but that’s primarily because it’s too tight/small. Funny how they can shrink like that.) so doubt I’d go in to check it out, but I’m surprised to find some of these shops here that I wasn’t aware of.  This is only 1/2 of this building, housing three stores.  I’ll get the others at some point.

And as for other tidbits of information, I was sitting on the white bench in front of the Jean Butler store I sketched here, so it’s right across the street.  Not a comfortable bench so don’t go loving it and buying it.  Of course a cushion would fix that so never mind.  I had an hour to kill before bicycling up to the yacht club to meet my husband for dinner so I picked this spot and and building to try sketching.  I’m starting to feel limited in where I can perch myself.  One commenter on this post (Jack) asked if I was using a portable stool and that’s got me thinking that might be a good idea.  I’ve seen those backpack combos with stools/seats.  I saw one at a garage sale in Corpus two years ago for a few bucks and have kicked myself ever since for not buying it.  Sometimes I forget I can go out and buy one retail, but my garage sale mentality has a block in recalling that.  Heh.

(Enlarged version here.)

Per request (Jazz), this building is at 270 Lakeshore/Bord-Du-Lac in the Pointe Claire Village. It’s a little scrap-booking shop, filled with nifty paper, pens…papers…Scrap-booking stuff. I waited until late evening to draw this as the best view is from a cafe parking lot across the street. Once the patrons and cars were gone, I could sit on a bench that was outside the cafe and draw. I was rapidly losing my light, hence the streetlights shown to be on. Again, I never notice the details of a building–or anything–until I sketch it. I like the lattice work at the base. And they still have Christmas lights hanging on the balcony railing. I’m not sure who lives upstairs but they were home as the lights were on brightly once it was dusk.

There’s a sign behind that bush that says this building is part of the West Island Heritage Bicycle Trail. The sign reads:

“Maison Albert Mitchell

In 1908 Albert Mitchell, a successful entrepreneur, purchased lot 85 on which a house already stood. In 1915, he gave it the appearance it has today. It’s architectural style is inspired by the Neo-Greek designs very popular for commercial buildings at the end of the last century. This building features a gabled street front facade, extended by an open veranda, and topped by a balcony leading to the upper floor. The ornamentation includes a facade adorned with a cornice forming a large pediment in the center of which is a half-window. This structure is one of the rare examples of Neo-Greek style-inspired architecture found in Pointe Claire. Albert Mitchell, the owner, used to rent this home. Dr. Alexandre Bourgeau lived and ran his practice here from 1924-1930.”

More info and a photo can be found here.

Have you ever forgotten where you buried your bone?

(An enlarged version is here.)

I’ve been slow to pursue my announced goal of sketching the buildings in the Pointe Claire Village. Oddly, even though it’s late spring and a time to be outdoors, I’ve just felt blase, hence the lack of posts. But it looked so inviting this morning. And being aware that thunderstorms were predicted for this afternoon, I made a sandwich and went into The Village center to eat and sketch. I picked the left side of this building catercorner from where I was sitting at the corner of Ste-Anne & Bord-du-Lac (St. Anne & Lakeshore). My notes emphasize how I would never have noticed the many drainpipes had I not chose to sit there and sketch the place, having to scrutinize it’s nooks and crannies. Other notes say that the lower windows on the left display photos and a brief history of some of the historic buildings in The Village. And the sign for the hair salon, Costas, looks patriotic in it’s color selection and style of lettering. That gets lost in the details of the building. I might sketch the sign alone sometime.

It’s still awkward for me to sketch out in public like that. I feel quite self-conscious during the exercise so it’s sometimes difficult for me to entirely relax. I’m assuming if I get back into a more consistent sketching groove, much of that will dissipate.

Some samples of greeting cards I did came in the mail today. That’s always exciting, to see how they turned out in print. I was pleased with this one as it’s the first time I did it entirely on my lap top. the line work and colors came out well. I’m liking it, yeah. And I enjoyed creating this piece though it went through a LOT of revisions. I’m particularly pleased in how the inside copy flows meshes with the front. I think this is on of my favorites to date.

(copyright RSVP/Ronnie Sellers)

Front copy:

“Being a teenager has it’s advantages.  It’s that special time of life…

Inside copy:

…when you can still blame your parents for pretty much EVERYTHING!  Happy Birthday”

My husband and I are fans of the show “The Dog Whisperer”. It seems that many of the stories start out with the owners saying what a cute little fluff ball their now monster-of-a-canine was as a puppy. This guy, above, looks lovable now, but just you wait until he spots a cat, or the vacuum is turned on or he goes for car’s tires while on a walk. Then the owner can only reminisce about their once cute baby puppy!

I worry whenever the cat doesn’t come when I call.

(Enlarged version here.)

I went out yesterday evening to finally make some headway on a project I wanted to do two years ago: sketch the buildings in the Pointe Claire Village. The idea intimidates me, which is why it’s taken me two summers to even make an attempt. Drawing buildings is difficult for me in many respects. For starters I don’t feel like I draw them well so I have to do some psychological gymnastics to convince myself that it’s okay to just sketch them without judgement. So, as I said, last evening I went and sat across from the building you see sketched above, a home decor shop called Lois Butler. It’s been there as long as I’ve been in The Village area (2000) so that’s doing pretty good, consider many businesses have come and gone. I failed to get this accurate, making the shop too narrow, so a bench on the other side of the entrance door is missing, and that whole area is off. Ah well.

So while I’m sitting there, I decide to take notes of what’s going on around me and other various thoughts: A woman walking by and asking me if I’m sketching (and her dog, Molly, coming up to say hello); How the aroma from the nearby Italian restaurant is making me hungry. But the most interesting thing going on around me while I’m sketching concerns a car that parked in front of me.

The couple pulled up, parked and got out to go the the Italian restaurant. A man and his son approached them and he yelled, “Neat car! Neat car!” to them. I couldn’t hear the remainder of the conversation, but the man brought his son over to it to peer into the window. He kept saying to his son, “Don’t touch!” as he pointed out various gadgets and gizmos. Finally the man’s wife came up and he said to her, “Honey! Look it’s an Audi R8! With only 250 K on it!” She looked at me and we both shrugged. Once they left, a group of three young men came over to linger over the vehicle; then an older gentleman, a jogger, and other people passing by. Finally, a group of teens driving by slowed down so one could take a video of the car.

As I was leaving, I went to take a closer look at this thing that was causing such a stir. So there’s an engine you can see visibly in the back seat. And it’s only a two-seater. It’s a race car? So where is someone going to be able to enjoy that off a race track? Your speed limits here only go to 100 K and that’s on the highway. And people pay over $100,000 for something like this? Ah. They pay to have a head-turning car; one where guys will shout out, “Neat car!”, take videos and gather around to gawk at. I apparently live in a different world.

“Wide” reminded me of a time when I was younger (”..so much younger than to-daay-ay-ay…”) and on a lengthy, self-contained, solo bicycle ride in the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. I was cycling along the Mississippi river on the Wisconsin side between Prairie du Chien, going through towns like La Cross, Trempealeau, and then crossing into Minnesota at Red Wing. I camped out twice along the Great River Road route and remember taking special notice that the Mighty Mississippi was REALLY wide at certain points; Surprisingly wide.  No rivers I’d seen up to that point were even near that wide, but the Mississippi at points was one, two and even four miles across.  I know there are rivers that have areas much wider than that (the St. Lawrence, for starters), but perhaps it was my circumstances:  the fact that I was on a bicycle, where your muscles personally experience every hill and dale; where you’re see and feel your surroundings and the elements unlike you would if you were in comfortable, enclosed vehicle going rapidly by.

Good memories.