A day in the Countryside

After a sweltering week the weather cleared and we were treated to a wonderful day perfectly timed as I had planned a day in the countryside around Otterville with my 'sketchy friend' Karen...

Old abandoned houses, barns and derelict tobacco drying sheds were the order of the day.

This is obviously a working barn very well kept and the land around it was like a lawn ! I have to research the quilt like pattern on the wall I saw several places that had these.

Beside the barn was an old water tower that I couldn't resist ..

Further to the left were several tobacco drying houses so I continued my sweep of the area making a triptych of sorts with this rendition..

Back around to the front where my car was parked I decided to attempt an 'close up' of the old farmstead that is rapidly crumbling as Mother Nature takes back what is hers. I have drawn the whole frontal facade previously.

Then time for lunch , this series took about 2 hours.
Then we began the long, slow drive home on the back roads looking for possibilities and found this one.

It seemed like a fitting end to a great day

Enjoy
Alan

Sketching by the Grand River

Yesterday my friend Constance and I spent much of the day sitting by the Grand River sketching the vista before us.

Sunny with a cooling breeze, lots of dog walkers to offer nice comments a grand day out!

First up was a pencil sketch of the old cedars ( Channeling Marianne Coleman ) I was going to add ink but decided against it.

Then I made a new sketch in ink this time and added watercolour to ground it. This was my favourite of  the day.

Something completely different I chose the yellow flowers a few feet from where I sat, I have no idea what they are but they called to have their portrait painted..

Time vanished, it's like being in a time machine when you sit to sketch, 'poof' hours disappear in the blink of an eye. It was time to pack up and head back but not before stopping for a quick sketch of the old bridge that was at the entrance to the old Simms Estate, it was all apple orchards but is now sprouting million dollar homes ...

Yeah the perspective got away from me but it is after all a 'quick sketch' :-)

Photo references and this will help me recreate it

This series was also a challenge for the H.P paper I used, the name of which completely escapes me..
It was imported from England by Constance and is amazing here I used pencil, ink, and watercolour and it handles it all with ease :-)

As soon as I find out the maker I will amend this post!

***EDIT***
The paper is  Saunders Waterford HP 200 lb

Alan

Freezing in Galt ..

.. all in the name of art !

I met up with my friend Roger today for some sketching practice.

I was completely under-dressed and ended up buying a sweatshirt to keep the icy wind at bay. Between that and hiding in doorways we managed to survive for 4 hours :-)

Across from the Melville Cafe

Galt Town Hall

We did manage a stop in at Phidon Pens to get warm, yeah that's it we stopped in to warm up nothing to do with pens, ink and stuff :-)

A morning at Timeless Materials in Waterloo

I spent the morning with the KW Urban Sketchers at Timeless Materials in Waterloo.
So much to see and sketch and we only had TWO HOURS ! 
Still I managed to produce three sketches with various materials;

This old Chestnut canoe in pencil in my Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook

The second was a bunch of old doors (well a selection as there are hundreds!) Drawn in Conte Crayon on Strathmore tinted paper.

Last but not least, with about 20 min left before the 'throwdown' I took on this pile of doorknobs! (Again a selection as there were dozens)

Micron pen in my Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook

A fun morning that went byway too fast ! 

Alan

Farm at dusk - a la Peter Sheeler

Another 'challenge' ..
My interpretation of 'Farm At Dusk' by Peter Sheeler 

Learning that Hot Press paper is a LOT more difficult to work on with watercolour washes than Cold Pressed !

Saunders HP 200 # paper 5" x 7" 
Windsor & Newton Watercolours, 
Micron pen 01,
Signo Gel Pen White,

Urban Sketchers KW

I drove to Dundas this morning to meet up with the US KW gang for a few hours of sketching.

I followed a trail through the woods to the creek and found a cool spot to sit a while ..

I added the condo's as it was supposed to be "Urban Sketching" :-)

Alan