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| People Sketching at the Millenium Library |
Urban Sketchers
I'm an urban sketcher
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Rainy Day Sketching in the Library
What do you do when it's pouring rain outside? It's a great opportunity to head indoors. I hitched a ride downtown and following some lunch, I sat inside the Millenium Library and did some surreptitious sketching of people at the study desks. I used my LAMY pen and a few watercolor pencils that I had with me. I love the LAMY pen which does have LAMY ink in it. What I like about the LAMY ink is that it moves so easily with water and has subtle variation in the colors once wet. I became engrossed in my sketching and by the time I looked at my watch, it was three minutes before I was to be out on the curb to wait for my ride back home. As I was out on the street, I saw so many people that I would just love to have sketched. I will definitely have to come downtown again when there's better weather for being outdoors.
Monday, 20 May 2013
Rain, rain ... Indoors at Shelmerdines
On Saturday morning, I decided to take my sketching bag to Shelmerdine's. Garden Centers are such nice places to visit this time year. They are filled with an array of fresh and colorful new plants. I arrived early and started outdoors. I'm crazy about willows and decided to go through the willows to the field next door. My first really quick watercolor sketch was of the Shelmerdine building through the willows. It was starting to drizzle so I had to work quickly. You can see where the water was hitting my paper
For my second sketch, I went indoors and found a quiet corner in the store where I had a view of plants through an entranceway. Although I thought I was out of the way, I had to move a few times to let plant shoppers get through with their cart. I drew this sketch with one of my Pitt pens and decided to add a bit of color so I bought a coffee and sat down at one of the tables in their little coffee shop. One of the special experiences about sketching and painting on location is the people you meet. While I was sitting there, I had three people "drop by" and talk to me. The first was another customer, the second was one of the two people working the coffee bar and third was Eileen Korponay who is a local artist that we all know.
The next CAG sketchout is back at the Forks on Monday, May 27. I look forward to going back there.
For my second sketch, I went indoors and found a quiet corner in the store where I had a view of plants through an entranceway. Although I thought I was out of the way, I had to move a few times to let plant shoppers get through with their cart. I drew this sketch with one of my Pitt pens and decided to add a bit of color so I bought a coffee and sat down at one of the tables in their little coffee shop. One of the special experiences about sketching and painting on location is the people you meet. While I was sitting there, I had three people "drop by" and talk to me. The first was another customer, the second was one of the two people working the coffee bar and third was Eileen Korponay who is a local artist that we all know.
The next CAG sketchout is back at the Forks on Monday, May 27. I look forward to going back there.
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| Shelmerdines through the Willows |
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| The plants through an Entrance Way |
Monday, 13 May 2013
Winnipeg ... the windy city
Weather: Windy; up to 50kmph with temperatures reaching 24 degrees
The hope was that I could finally go out plein-air painting with my oils but the strong winds nixed that idea. The Charleswood group had scheduled to meet at the Forks for 10:00am. Angela and I met earlier at the Conservatory given the too windy day for plein-air painting.
The Conservatory had completely changed since were last there; they had a gazebo set up and a zig zag of stone bordered walkways built. There were tulips, hydrangeas and daffodils all set off by the occasional Japanese Maple. I was intrigued by the Japanese maples ... it's difficult to capture the lacy texture and the contrasting greyed red colors with the bright warm reds of their upper leaves.
Angela left at 11:00 so I decided to rush home, make a sandwich and join up with the Charleswood people. I found Ruth, Ginette, Bernice and Susan all sitting inside the Forks in the marketplace painting a display of shoes and mannequins. I was sitting directly in front of where the shop owner was sitting ... he came out and asked what we were doing. He was worried that we was copying his designs. I assured him that we were just a group of artists who liked to sketch and paint in the summertime outdoors.
After lunch, a few went home and Susan and I chose to stay until 3:00pm. We tried doing the shoes as they were such interesting shapes and colors. Of course, the somewhat bored sales girl kept rearranging the shoes on us. That's what makes sketching and painting from life fun. At the end of our session, I took our water containers and headed outside to empty them. I could see that the security guard out on his smoke break was about to say something to me and I thought, "Oh no .. what am I doing wrong". All he wanted to do was compliment us on the work we had been doing. He said that he had been standing on the second level and was watching us from there. Now isn't that interesting ... he was watching us watching other people that we were trying to sketch.
It was a good day even if I didn't get to paint with my plein-air gear. It was interesting listening to some of the conversation today ... there was some talk of goals for the summer. One person wanted to "paint looser"; another person felt they need to paint less loose. It's a good idea to think about what you want to accomplish when you start a new project or a new phase of your work.
The hope was that I could finally go out plein-air painting with my oils but the strong winds nixed that idea. The Charleswood group had scheduled to meet at the Forks for 10:00am. Angela and I met earlier at the Conservatory given the too windy day for plein-air painting.
The Conservatory had completely changed since were last there; they had a gazebo set up and a zig zag of stone bordered walkways built. There were tulips, hydrangeas and daffodils all set off by the occasional Japanese Maple. I was intrigued by the Japanese maples ... it's difficult to capture the lacy texture and the contrasting greyed red colors with the bright warm reds of their upper leaves.
Angela left at 11:00 so I decided to rush home, make a sandwich and join up with the Charleswood people. I found Ruth, Ginette, Bernice and Susan all sitting inside the Forks in the marketplace painting a display of shoes and mannequins. I was sitting directly in front of where the shop owner was sitting ... he came out and asked what we were doing. He was worried that we was copying his designs. I assured him that we were just a group of artists who liked to sketch and paint in the summertime outdoors.
After lunch, a few went home and Susan and I chose to stay until 3:00pm. We tried doing the shoes as they were such interesting shapes and colors. Of course, the somewhat bored sales girl kept rearranging the shoes on us. That's what makes sketching and painting from life fun. At the end of our session, I took our water containers and headed outside to empty them. I could see that the security guard out on his smoke break was about to say something to me and I thought, "Oh no .. what am I doing wrong". All he wanted to do was compliment us on the work we had been doing. He said that he had been standing on the second level and was watching us from there. Now isn't that interesting ... he was watching us watching other people that we were trying to sketch.
It was a good day even if I didn't get to paint with my plein-air gear. It was interesting listening to some of the conversation today ... there was some talk of goals for the summer. One person wanted to "paint looser"; another person felt they need to paint less loose. It's a good idea to think about what you want to accomplish when you start a new project or a new phase of your work.
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| The Charleswood Group at the Forks |
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| Japanese Maples at the Conservatory |
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| Shoes --- Same but different |
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| Sketch of outside of buildings at The Forks |
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| Shaft of sunlight through the courtyard |
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Still cold so back to the Conservatory
Weather: Overcast with temperatures around 0 degrees
Well, apparently we've made the record books with the unseasonably cold April we had. They're predicting temperatures to be hovering around 20 degrees for Monday andTuesday which will be absolutely wonderful. Because of the cooler temperatures, we chose to abandon our plan to go to LaBarriere Park and go back to the Assiniboine Park Conservatory.
We had less time today so I chose to do some "quasi contour" drawings of flowers. I say quasi contour, because in contour drawing you are supposed to keep your pen on the paper and do a continuous drawing. I did lift my pen at times but they had the spirit of contour drawing in that I do drew long continuous lines. I'm not one who would generally gravitate towards doing paintings of flowers, but it's a lot of fun to draw them ... the fluid and graceful lines of the stems and leaves and sometimes chaotic jumble is very appealing and of course the colors are bright and vivid!
I particularly like the daffodils as they make me think of young children happy and smiling. The tulips are also good subjects particularly when you can draw them at their different stages; from the tight, smooth buds to the overblown look they have when they are almost finished their bloom. Today, the staff were pulling a number of the tulip pots and throwing them into a garbage can. Even in the garbage can, they were lovely. Unfortunately, they don't have the space to keep them so out they go into a compost heap somewhere.
I look forward to the prospect of improved weather as I expect it will finally be time to get out my plein air painting gear and my oil paints. If I don't get out and get some practice in, I will feel somewhat awkward at my summer workshop.
Well, apparently we've made the record books with the unseasonably cold April we had. They're predicting temperatures to be hovering around 20 degrees for Monday andTuesday which will be absolutely wonderful. Because of the cooler temperatures, we chose to abandon our plan to go to LaBarriere Park and go back to the Assiniboine Park Conservatory.
We had less time today so I chose to do some "quasi contour" drawings of flowers. I say quasi contour, because in contour drawing you are supposed to keep your pen on the paper and do a continuous drawing. I did lift my pen at times but they had the spirit of contour drawing in that I do drew long continuous lines. I'm not one who would generally gravitate towards doing paintings of flowers, but it's a lot of fun to draw them ... the fluid and graceful lines of the stems and leaves and sometimes chaotic jumble is very appealing and of course the colors are bright and vivid!
I particularly like the daffodils as they make me think of young children happy and smiling. The tulips are also good subjects particularly when you can draw them at their different stages; from the tight, smooth buds to the overblown look they have when they are almost finished their bloom. Today, the staff were pulling a number of the tulip pots and throwing them into a garbage can. Even in the garbage can, they were lovely. Unfortunately, they don't have the space to keep them so out they go into a compost heap somewhere.
I look forward to the prospect of improved weather as I expect it will finally be time to get out my plein air painting gear and my oil paints. If I don't get out and get some practice in, I will feel somewhat awkward at my summer workshop.
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| A quick ink/watercolor sketch |
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| Their time is over! |
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Happy faces of the daffodils |
Monday, 29 April 2013
Assiniboine Park Conservatory - Spring flowers everywhere!
Weather: Forecast is for rain, temperature 8 degrees
Given the forecast for rain today, we decided to go indoors. The Assiniboine Park Conservatory is always a great place to go. Right now, it is filled with tulips, primulas, daffodils and other spring flowers. They also had a nice wooden wheelbarrow overflowing with potted plants in the entrance.
We both sketched and painted with watercolor today. We started at 9:00am when the Conservatory opens and painted until noon. This is the longest we've been out yet and it was nice to have more time to paint. The staff were fantastic. They were very conscious of what we were painting and tried to stay away from those areas even though they were busy trying to pull plants out.
At the start of our painting session, it was extremely quiet with no one about except one young woman preparing for a "workshop" that morning. It got quite busy mid-morning with several groups wandering and admiring the flowers. We also had one person taking photographs, including some of us ... darn, too bad my hair was such a mess! Oh well ... as my husband always says, you're an artist and musician meaning it doesn't matter what you look like.
Below are a few photographs of our subject matter and some of our sketches. It was a very productive morning. Our next outing will be LaBarriere Park Thursday morning.
Given the forecast for rain today, we decided to go indoors. The Assiniboine Park Conservatory is always a great place to go. Right now, it is filled with tulips, primulas, daffodils and other spring flowers. They also had a nice wooden wheelbarrow overflowing with potted plants in the entrance.
We both sketched and painted with watercolor today. We started at 9:00am when the Conservatory opens and painted until noon. This is the longest we've been out yet and it was nice to have more time to paint. The staff were fantastic. They were very conscious of what we were painting and tried to stay away from those areas even though they were busy trying to pull plants out.
At the start of our painting session, it was extremely quiet with no one about except one young woman preparing for a "workshop" that morning. It got quite busy mid-morning with several groups wandering and admiring the flowers. We also had one person taking photographs, including some of us ... darn, too bad my hair was such a mess! Oh well ... as my husband always says, you're an artist and musician meaning it doesn't matter what you look like.
Below are a few photographs of our subject matter and some of our sketches. It was a very productive morning. Our next outing will be LaBarriere Park Thursday morning.
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| A profusion of flowers and color |
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| Paperwhites surrounded by Pansies |
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Tulips and Columbines Wheelbarrow overflowing with flowers  |
Thursday, 25 April 2013
Urban Bloggers Manifesto
For anyone who has not visited UrbanSketchers.org, I am going to "publish" their manifesto as it is written on their website. I realized that this is quite important to anyone participating or even just looking at this blog to know what guides those of us who get a thrill out of drawing outdoors. Here it is .....
1. We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation. 2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel. 3. Our drawings are a record of time and place. 4. We are truthful to the scenes we witness. 5. We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles. 6. We support each other and draw together. 7. We share our drawings online. 8. We show the world, one drawing at a time.
USK Manifesto
1. We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation. 2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel. 3. Our drawings are a record of time and place. 4. We are truthful to the scenes we witness. 5. We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles. 6. We support each other and draw together. 7. We share our drawings online. 8. We show the world, one drawing at a time. Beaver Dam Creek - The Creek Adventure Continues
Weather: Sunny skies with some cloud; temperature at 8:00am approximately -2 degrees
It was Angela's pick today for our "creek sketchout". She chose to take us to Beaver Dam Creek and park which is located off of Roblin Blvd at Berkeley. She had scouted it out a few days earlier and had the good fortune to have a deer walk right in front of her as she was sketching.
We both went out with our rubber boots on today but we still had cold feet when we were standing on snow areas. Along the creek, there is still quite a bit of snow. This may be the last time we get to see snow as the temperatures are expected to hit well above zero all weekend.
We walked along the creek in both directions as has become our norm, we found two locations to sketch. We liked this creek as it is very narrow and had quite high banks as it approached the Assiniboine River. The tree shadows coming down the very steep snow covered banks created slate blue patterns. After finishing our sketch here, we stopped in the clearing where we started and took time to look at the interesting pattern of the snow on the emerging grassy area. Also, the snow had a very crystal like pattern to it. I chose to do a quick watercolor painting of this grassy area while Angela walked further down the creek to do her second sketch. While I was looking at the grass, I spotted a little purple figure in the grass. This little guy was just the right scale for the sketches I'm creating. I will have to give him a name and bring him along on the next trip out.
Our next planned outing in this coming Monday in Assiniboine Forest only this time we will enter from the eastern end off of Shaftesbury Blvd.
It was Angela's pick today for our "creek sketchout". She chose to take us to Beaver Dam Creek and park which is located off of Roblin Blvd at Berkeley. She had scouted it out a few days earlier and had the good fortune to have a deer walk right in front of her as she was sketching.
We both went out with our rubber boots on today but we still had cold feet when we were standing on snow areas. Along the creek, there is still quite a bit of snow. This may be the last time we get to see snow as the temperatures are expected to hit well above zero all weekend.
We walked along the creek in both directions as has become our norm, we found two locations to sketch. We liked this creek as it is very narrow and had quite high banks as it approached the Assiniboine River. The tree shadows coming down the very steep snow covered banks created slate blue patterns. After finishing our sketch here, we stopped in the clearing where we started and took time to look at the interesting pattern of the snow on the emerging grassy area. Also, the snow had a very crystal like pattern to it. I chose to do a quick watercolor painting of this grassy area while Angela walked further down the creek to do her second sketch. While I was looking at the grass, I spotted a little purple figure in the grass. This little guy was just the right scale for the sketches I'm creating. I will have to give him a name and bring him along on the next trip out.
Our next planned outing in this coming Monday in Assiniboine Forest only this time we will enter from the eastern end off of Shaftesbury Blvd.
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| Intersting shadow patterns |
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| Lumps of snow scattered across the grass |
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| Closeup of the crystallized snow |
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| My new purple friend in the landscape |
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| Ink and Watercolor |
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| View looking south towards Roblin Blvd |
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