This was such a fun freelance gig. I did illustrations and writing for NEWS EXTRA, a newspaper tabloid sold at supermarkets and gas stations. It pretended to come out of Florida, but was actually published from an office in the Notre Dame de Grace neighbourhood of Montreal. Every other week or so I brought in […]
Archive for the ‘montreal’ Category
Housing Clinic
By Jack Ruttan in ballpoint pen, black and white, montreal, pen and ink, sketchesSketches taken during a visit to Arnold Bennett’s housing clinic in Montreal. He does good work with people who have apartment problems.
Mount Royal Sketches
By Jack Ruttan in color, montreal, paintings, parks, sketches, watercolor, watercolourYesterday, I went to a friend’s place just over Mount Royal, Not far from the Côte-des-Neiges Cemetery gates. And it was such a nice day I sketched this elaborate monument just inside the gates. Got to the other side of the “mountain.” That’s the part I call the “front” because it faces what used to […]
First Snow
By Jack Ruttan in montreal, ruttan's placeMy nice neighbour Sylvie is trying to coax a little declawed cat out from under a front porch around the corner. Unfortunately, she’s doing this by rapping with spoon on a closed can of cat food. I think she’d do better with opening the can, leaving it a little distance away from the gap under […]
A Montreal Moment
By Jack Ruttan in montreal, ruttan's placeI have a middle-aged neighbor named Michel, who lives across the way here on rue de Rouen. Yesterday afternoon, when I was lugging my bike down my front stairs, he beckoned to me, and crossed the street, wanting to talk. I was headed off to Expozine, the November book, comics and alternative art fair. But […]
Shrine to Leonard Cohen
By Jack Ruttan in montreal, ruttan's placeComing back from Expozine, the November book and alternative art fair, I thought I’d take a detour and visit Leonard Cohen’s house at the corner of Boulevard Saint Laurent and rue Marie Anne in Montreal. My friend used to have an apartment around the corner, so I knew this place well. Never saw Mr. Cohen, […]
Remember the Days In the Old Schoolyard
By Jack Ruttan in color, montreal, paintings, ruttan's place, sketches, watercolor, watercolourKids in the schoolyard facing my balcony are playing in the leaves. I couldn’t resist sketching them. They move too fast, so this is mainly imagination, but I hope I’ve captured a hint of the colours and fun.
Dig Pigs
By Jack Ruttan in ballpoint pen, comics, montreal, watercolor, watercolourThis morning I was annoyed at all the construction noise outside, so drawing this felt like a good way to get rid of my frustrations. The title “Dig Pigs” is from graffiti I saw on one of this city’s ubiquitous “ROAD CLOSED” signs. It made me laugh.
Colour Pictures
By Jack Ruttan in color, montreal, paintings, sketches, watercolor, watercolourTwo-Two-Two-Oh, rue Parthanais
By Jack Ruttan in black and white, montreal, pencil, sketchesDrat, forgot the little fruit juice bottle full of water, so this is pencil only. This is the artists’ co-op on Parthenais street. Someone trusted me enough to let me watch their bike as I sketched this. Glad they weren’t away for too long.
New Paintings
By Jack Ruttan in color, Jack's House of Cats, montreal, paintings, watercolor, watercolourIt’s been a while, but here are some new paintings for “Jack’s House of Cats.” Both of them are re-imagined a little. I snapped the Hotel Kent in the early 90s, when the sign was still up. But in this, I tried to picture what it was like in its “heyday.” The Bain Morgan is […]
Iffy Paper
By Jack Ruttan in color, Jack's House of Cats, montreal, paintings, ruttan's place, watercolor, watercolourFound this sheet of sort of cardboard-y paper in my files. After my recent 1941 Whatman experience, I wondered whether this was one of my better types of paper (it was stored away, and did have “deckled” (ie. neatly torn) edges). It might have been Arches Cold Rolled, or some such thing. So I stretched […]
New Animation Studio
By Jack Ruttan in color, Coloured Pencils, heads, men, montreal, pencil, Portraits, self-promotion, sketchesThrilled by the news that a new animation studio is opening up in Montreal (a side-effect, I think, of the low dollar making it more tempting for foreign operations to invest here. Not to mention the high number of talented artistic types in this city). In honour of that fact, I’ve done this amazing, highly-detailed […]
Blue Metropolis
By Jack Ruttan in montreal, sketches, watercolor, watercolour, writingGene Luen Yang Finally getting around to this. The Blue Metropolis Book Fest is Montreal’s premiere English language lit bash, taking place in April. This year I attended a couple of events, mainly centred around graphic novels and their creators. It was great seeing Gene Luen Yang, who gave a workshop on graphic storytelling, and […]