I hope you had a pleasant Labor Day weekend. I know I did. : ) I’m posting a few sketches I did the last few weeks, just so they see the light of day. Below is from a moment I sat in front of a depanneur (convenience store) in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and drew the adjacent corner.

The photo below shows the sketch and corner:

I included a photo (below) of my art supplies. That paint set is probably several decades old at least. It came to me from my grandmother after she passed in the early 90′s. And I remember seeing them in a drawer at her home for many years before that. I like the sentimental aspect of using them. I can remember her fondly while I paint. I carry the set and water in a backpack, which I drag around with me when I go on outings. I also have books and other stuff in there, just in case I want to simply sit and read instead.

If you would like to see my sketchers and sketchblogs, check out the Urban Sketchers site. There are lists of people from all over the world who are being sketchers of their environments.

Yesterday evening, I bicycled over to Beaconsfield to sketch and listen to the last of the summer concerts in the park, featuring a Montreal-based Celtic band called Celtic Mindwarp. At a picnic table near the water, I set out my pens and watercolors and sketched.

Below: Initially, I had a lot of lights and shadows as the sun was setting. But I quickly lost all of that as it dropped behind clouds and trees. I was rapidly losing my light! I felt I had to work really fast, or completely lose the moment. I’m still working out what watercolors to bring with me. I tried a new set up, but, again, the paper is absorbent and not made to take water. That was a little frustrating. Then I realized that I didn’t have a black. When I was making my watercolor paint box, I had tons of tubes of color, but no black. I had placed a block of what I THOUGHT was black in the box, but it turned out to be an indigo blue. Frustration again. Oh. But the music! Fan-tastico!

Below: Accompanying photo showing sketch. The colors are really that saturated. But I can’t pull that off with the materials I have.

Below: Then I turned and faced the water and sketched. I also couldn’t simulate the pale blues, oranges, yellows, & pink hues in the sky. Even the camera failed to pick it up.

Below: Accompanying photo.

And some video. Such a talented bunch, these guys!

I’m getting a backlog of these now. I still have sketches from Sunday that I want to post. I hope to get those up at some point.

And I encourage you to get out there and enjoy the summer before it’s gone. Go sketching yourself…or take a book, music, food, a drink (or just yourself!)–whatever helps you relax–and enjoy the last of August!

I went on a sketch outing this past Sunday afternoon, and this time I took watercolors and colored pencils with me so I could colorize my ink drawings on the spot. I wasn’t sure how it would go, as I’m not used to using washes or pencils when out sketching, the watercolors are an ancient set, but (sort of) usable, and I’m not using a sketchbook with paper suitable for watercolor. Despite that, I went…And had a pretty good time at it! I also took photos of the sketch and object of my sketching. So below is the first sketch from Sunday.

First, Centennial Park in Beaconsfield, QC. I’ve done a lot of sketching here in the past, and even some using watercolor. It was an over-cast day and looked like it wanted to rain almost all day but held off until the evening.  I think that kept most parks and the usually crowded outdoor places devoid of people, as there were only a few other people in the park. I was feeling particularly impatient drawing, evidenced by not caring to get details accurate (blocks under bench, bench legs right, etc.). I discuss that with myself in my sketchbook notes. I speculate it was due to too much coffee from my late morning breakfast. Four cups, was it…? Then I decided to try and draw the folks at a nearby table setting up for a picnic. I picked a photo that was taken prior to my finishing the page as this photo was the best of the batch. I added the third man (seen in white) as well as leaves on the first guy. And I thought I’d add this photo since I found it humorous. You get’m, Squirrel-Boy! More sketches to come. Stay tuned. : P