Today was the watershed moment!
Every year it takes me a few rounds to get back into the Direct part of Direct Watercolor. Today I sat down to paint, and it just came naturally. I was painting all-in with absolutely no planning or pre-sketching.
Imagine what it might be like if I could paint every day, all year round! I wonder if I should try it for a year? Or how close a person could get to a goal like that :)
Ok then! Enough chit-chat ;) enjoy the little video, and here’s a collection of two and a half days of 30×30 work from the Botanical Garden.
I am painting for #30×30 today!!! But I’m working on a set I post all together, so; here’s a flashback to our trip to the beleaguered town of Baie Saint Paul.
For the second year in a row we joined a group of plein air painters up in the Charlevoix region.
Last year I brought oils, which you can see here; but this year I had #30×30 on my mind, so I brought the watercolors. This was my first serious painting session (other than a few life classes) since last year’s #30×30 marathon.
Every year I feel like – I wonder if I can still paint in watercolor? I suspect that feeling will never go away – even though we don’t say, Do I still know how to ride a bike?
Click the grid for a gallery view!
It was unseasonably warm, which was lovely for painting, but certainly felt strange. I had multiple parka’s and my -30c arctic boots in the car, but this year they didn’t even come out of the trunk.
I was happy for the opportunity, but it felt foreboding. There were a more than a few dinners where we toasted climate change :/
A few days after we left, the area was hit with devastating floods. Two volunteer firefighters lost their lives in a rescue operation. The highway was swept away, meaning the auberge where we stayed would have been cut off from town. You’d have to drive half an hour to the next town up-river, or take the range roads around a big circle.
Of course, there hasn’t been any follow-up in the news, so I’m not sure the situation now. But many people will have walk-away level damage to their homes, some of these being generational farm houses that are built on low lying land.
Sorry for that dour note. But, maybe you’ll be inspired to come visit rural Quebec and enjoy the food and hospitality! They will appreciate the visitors in the coming years.
Day Ten! #30x30DirectWatercolor: Teaser!
For day nine of the marathon, let me show you a sketch I actually did a few days previously.
It was Urban Sketchers Montreal’s monthly meetup, and they’d chosen the Atwater metro as the launching point. This gave us a chance to head to a really neat spot.
Le Manoir Souvenir is a 200 year old house, still standing in an alley off of Rue du Souvenir, which is very easy to find by walking south from the Atwater metro at Cabot Square. Or, you can do what we did and scoot down a pathway that goes behind the Maison Joseph-Wilfrid Antoine-Raymond Masson House. (Say that three times fast!)
Check your google maps for all this – there are map pins for these historic houses. They look like little Rooks. (The castle from a chess set, not the crow type bird :)
Héritage Montréal has this to say about the house:
The house was built in 1830 for Frédéric-Auguste Quesnel, a Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician who represented the riding of Chambly in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1820 to 1834 and who served on the Executive Council of Lower Canada from 1837 to 1841.
Originally built on 240 acres of land, it is one of the first houses in this area, still little affected by the acceleration of urban development during the 19th century.
One of my favorite sketching spots in Montreal is the Caserne Centrale de Pompiers – the old Firefighters Barracks. A quaint little turn-of-the-century structure, featuring three tiny garage doors meant for horse and carriage fire engines.
The old barracks has been converted to a civic history museum, but sadly, it is NOT the place to see old fire engines. I went there one time, at least ten years ago. It’s the kind of pioneer museum that features artifacts of daily life; so plenty of old sewing machines and shoes, plus some of the old English statues that have no where else to go :)
Don’t be confused with the much more interesting Pointe-à-Callière Museum, which is at the opposite end of Place d’Youville. That one is the the Archeology museum, which puts on touring shows (this year was Vikings and Ancient Egypt), and a permanent interactive ‘excavation’ in the basement, showing the fortifications which eventually became the city of Montreal.
The square itself, (Place d’Youville square, as opposed to the shady lane with the same name), has been recently renovated; adding plenty of shade and seating, and some shipping container sheds, which the city uses for cultural events. They’re in most of our parks now, and contain everything from miniature public gyms to tiny art galleries. This is one of the ways emerging artists can get exhibitions in Montreal! As long as you’re under 30 and still ‘struggling’ – not over 50 and as unfortunately ‘undiscovered’! hah!
I have to admit I didn’t go look at any of this :) I’m just here for the sketching! :)
Here are some feel-good doodles instead :)
I bet if you go back into previous years, this is a very normal arc for the marathon. I noodle around with sketches, try something that I’m really not good at :) And then hopefully begin to get back into old reflexes! Here’s today, for the sake of Daily Posting, and we’ll just move on shall we :) :) :)
Day 06: #30x30DirectWatercolor: Also Into the Weeds!
I did two of these back to back – what do you think – did this one get out of control? Or is it better than yesterdays?
Day 05: #30x30DirectWatercolor: Into the Weeds
In the winter I tend to go towards drawing, or oil painting – or digital art. Things I can do in the studio.
Plus – last winter I was taking French immersion, which – while it’s helped me quite a bit – I still find it too difficult to hold a conversation. Reading and writing is one thing (you can take you time), but an in-person exchange goes by too quickly for my brain.
This year’s #30×30 is a perfect tonic for me! I can already feel the benefits of painting every day! Watercolor is the most instinctive medium. I cant think of another artform where you are painting something, trying to imagine what it will look like after the water stops moving! Colors change, pigment moves. You have to have a gut-instinct of what to do when.
I find it super-important to make throw-away sketches. Things where you don’t care about the result. I suppose it’s like a musicians scales. You have to run the keys, and get the feel of the instrument.
Day 04: #30x30DirectWatercolor: A Genteel Man
Mixed up a little batch of Ultramarine Blue Light (Pb29) for this sketch from an internet photo.
I have always had a predilection for Blue/Orange color compositions. I feel it’s a result of growing up in the dusty prairies of Alberta. Most of the time, the only color around is the big blue of the sky and the rusty tones of dry grasses. Alberta’s official colors are the Green and Gold, but there really isn’t that much green :) When I moved to Boston for work, I notice the artists had strong preferences for mossy green and red brick. It’s like you get programmed by what you see as a child. There’s no science behind that! But there you go.
I didn’t manage to get a video made today, so just quickly, here’s a little sketch. (7.5×7″)
This heritage building is at 357 Rue Commune, just across from King Edward Quay < which I always pronounce as ‘KWay‘- and only recently realized is ‘Keey‘, but I can’t help myself ]
This used to be the Harbor Commission – whatever that is? I imagine many busy-busy clerks in brown suits.
The building was recently restored into a private club, with no expenses spared on a lavish interior; including a rooftop garden, and basement spa.
Le Club 357 made the news during the Charbonneau inquiry, which presented recordings of bribery and backroom dealing between city officials and construction contractors. Imagine that! I mean; what else would go on in such a place?
I wonder what will become of this little slice of heaven now. Who will own it? What kind of business will they put there? Surely not condos! Haha!
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Let me leave you with some closeups of the brushwork.
I’m trying to be more conscious of the little whites / gaps left behind when you build a shape. In the last few years I’ve been calling shapes ‘Broken Silhouettes’, to emphasize how they shouldn’t be too perfect.
Many small brushstrokes coming together to make the shape.
Citizen Sketcher 