Sketching at Chapeau Mont Royal

The other day Les Amis de la Montagne invited a few sketchers from our drawing group USK:MTL up to the mountain – to attend their annual benefit luncheon Chapeau Mont Royal.It’s a fundraiser in support of the famous mountain park that gives our city its name. But also, an opportunity (or maybe a challenge?) for the glitterati of Montreal to come out on a beautiful sunny day and show off their most extravagant party hats!

Why not combine civic duty with a chance to show off your unique fashion sense? That seems like a perfectly Montreal solution to keeping our park a vital center in city life.

These were sketched as the reception line flew by (we knew each guest would have to briefly stop to shake hands with the greeters – a perfect drawing spot for the sketcher-paparazzi). I’m using only a 0.3mm pencil on the moving subjects, jotting written notes as to colors, then painting with watercolor that afternoon.

We did our best to play along with the theme. I even replaced my ubiquitous baseball cap.  I mean – the most important thing for me is shading my eyes when drawing. Men’s hats right now are experiencing a shrinking brim situation!

So, thanks to Les Amis – and now that we know the score, maybe we’ll be back next year with some fancy millinery arts of our own :)