This critter ticks a lot of my boxes on the “Categories” section of my WordPress blog. It’s a rendering of a dog, and it’s in watercolours, and part digital….
May 19, 2025
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Borzoi
By Jack Ruttan in color, digital, dogs, montreal, paintings, parks, pen and ink, self-promotion, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
May 17, 2025
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A Very Good Day
By Jack Ruttan in color, paintings, self-promotion, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
Today was a cool day, for some reasons I won’t go into here….. Here is my Dollarama sketchbook, and (coincidentally) Dollarama Watercolours. 24 perfectly decent tubes for $4.50 Canadian total (plus tax). Probably not as quality as Winsor & Newton, or even some of the other brands at Omer Des Serres, but what does it really matter?
Looking for a cheap metal paint box now. The only ones at the art store are dear, and, according to the website, out of stock!
May 15, 2025
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Parc Mederic Martin
By Jack Ruttan in black and white, brush pen, children, dogs, montreal, parks, pen and ink, ruttan's place, sketches, women
Mederic Martin Park sketch. Brush pen….
April 18, 2025
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Old Watercolours
By Jack Ruttan in Book Reviews, color, comics, heads, montreal, Portraits, ruttan's place, self-promotion, sketches, watercolor, watercolour, women
This sheet of paper happened to be lying around, and I don’t think I’ve put these up before, so here you go.
It’s Good Friday, and I’m sitting in my front room and typing. I’m also reading Julie Doucet’s New York Diaries, and feeling pretty grateful I’m not going through what she did.
Her work was a big inspiration to me, however, when I first came to Montreal. I picked up her free zine at a local copy centre. And later, her comic, published by Drawn and Quarterly. I may try to include links here, but if you’re reading this, you can look it up for yourselves.
April 17, 2025
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Parc Mederic Martin Family
By Jack Ruttan in black and white, children, men, montreal, parks, pencil, ruttan's place, self-promotion, sketches, women
This family was very cute, and ignored me as I sat with my sketchbook and non-alcohol beer in an Adirondack chair that happened to be facing the big swinging bench outside the playground, and by the bike path and tennis courts. I had been visiting my friend in the Rosemont-Maisonneuve hospital, and was walking back from Frontenac Metro with biscuits and soups from Dollarama. And a chocolate bar for Easter for another friend in her care centre.
Originally I was just drawing the mom and child. But then the dad showed up and sat with them, which is why he’s a little more scribbly. They seemed so happy together. The pencil was pretty dull, because a another artist pushed really hard on it to make another drawing earlier in the book. Nice Easter thoughts here…..
April 12, 2025
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Pig and Man
By Jack Ruttan in ballpoint pen, brush pen, color, Coloured Pencils, heads, men, pen and ink, sketches
Coloured pencil, ball point pen, and Pentel Brush Pen.
April 11, 2025
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Carre St. Louis
By Jack Ruttan in Art Criticism, ballpoint pen, black and white, montreal, parks, sketches
Didn’t have my paints with me, but this is a sketch of Carre St. Louis, looking towards the (dry) fountain, from the St. Denis side. Could be worse!
April 2, 2025
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Coen Bro.
By Jack Ruttan in cats, color, digital, men, paintings, Portraits, sketches, Uncategorized, watercolor, watercolour
I’m watching my DVDs again. It helps take my mind off the news, and other things happening around here…..
March 25, 2025
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Train Doodles and More
By Jack Ruttan in ballpoint pen, black and white, brush pen, color, Coloured Pencils, digital, Gouache, heads, paintings, pen and ink, pencil, Portraits, self-promotion, sketches, Uncategorized, watercolor, watercolour, women
It’s a new sketchbook! These things are expensive. I’m thinking I should be like Chester Brown, and not worry about my legacy. Because I’ll be gone, and then people can fight over the old books, if they want to….
March 23, 2025
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Sunday Cat
By Jack Ruttan in brush pen, cats, color, Coloured Pencils, Jack's House of Cats, paintings, pencil, self-promotion, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
Inaugurating a new sketchbook!
March 15, 2025
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March 15 Post
By Jack Ruttan in black and white, heads, machines, montreal, pencil, Portraits, ruttan's place, self-promotion, sketches, women
It’s sometimes very spooky writing these. I drew this in my sketchbook yesterday, based on people I was sitting near, while I was riding on the train to go see my friend in her Care Centre. I scanned the drawing this morning, and retouched it in the other room. The car is still out of perspective.
But there are tools in my computer software to help me draw in perspective. That might cost me more money, I’m not sure. But I was just sitting in my room scratching away with my cheap pencils in my Dollarama sketch book. Not doing anything for the ages….
I have no idea what the symbol on the left hand side means. Why I wrote the number twelve…. but now it resembles Superman’s insignia…. I drew the circles above by tracing around the lid of my cap for my eyeglass cleaner container. Only the cap must have come from an earlier bottle of cleaner, because it doesn’t fit on the current one. Anyways, I’m typing a lot. But mostly to myself.
March 12, 2025
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Cats and Comedy
By Jack Ruttan in brush pen, cats, color, Gouache, men, paintings, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
March 10, 2025
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Chrystia
By Jack Ruttan in ballpoint pen, color, digital, Gouache, heads, paintings, pen and ink, pencil, Portraits, self-promotion, sketches, watercolor, watercolour, women
Instead of doing important drawings for which there is a firm deadline, I watched politics on my big TV instead. Lots of long speeches. I liked Chrystia Freeland’s face, so I drew that in my Dollarama sketchbook, with my amazing Winsor and Newton Series 150 Chinese brush.
I don’t know if it’s actually a Chinese brush, if it’s made in the U.K. But I won’t worry about that. I’ll work on those illustrations today….
March 9, 2025
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Red Gothic Guy in Gouache
By Jack Ruttan in Gouache, heads, men, paintings, ruttan's place, sketches, watercolour
I’m happy that this is posting, because I’m not too thrilled with my digital painting program at the moment. Maybe it’s calmed down now, and recognizes me. I also put my thumb drive in the pocket of my fuzzy sweater, because I wanted to print something at the library. But the library printer only prints text, not graphics. My home printer only works with Windows 7, and needs cleaning. It’s a Samsung CLP something-or-another, and likely they’ve stopped making ink for it.
I think I’ve ticked all the proper boxes at the side. Anyways, I’m doing more paintings, in watercolour with a little bit of digital. I hope it works!