Here’s my “Cover Image” for the Spring edition of Roses and Wildflowers! Enjoy, and follow the links!
Roses and Wildflowers — Spring 2025
By Jack Ruttan in paintings, self-promotion, watercolorCoreopsis, and Roses and Wildflowers
By Jack Ruttan in brush pen, collaboration, color, digital, heads, machines, men, paintings, self-promotion, watercolor, watercolour, women, writingSo much scary stuff in the world today! Sometimes it feels like we’re living in a post-apocalyptic science fiction story.
Well, one of the things I’ve been doing to help deal with that feeling has been doing work for the online journals of a few of my friends down south. Please visit the link below to read Coreopsis, and Roses and Wildflowers, and subscribe to them, if you like!
Borzoi
By Jack Ruttan in color, digital, dogs, montreal, paintings, parks, pen and ink, self-promotion, sketches, watercolor, watercolourA 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!
Parc Mederic Martin
By Jack Ruttan in black and white, brush pen, children, dogs, montreal, parks, pen and ink, ruttan's place, sketches, womenOld 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.
Parc Mederic Martin Family
By Jack Ruttan in black and white, children, men, montreal, parks, pencil, ruttan's place, self-promotion, sketches, womenThis 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…..
Pig and Man
By Jack Ruttan in ballpoint pen, brush pen, color, Coloured Pencils, heads, men, pen and ink, sketchesCarre St. Louis
By Jack Ruttan in Art Criticism, ballpoint pen, black and white, montreal, parks, sketchesCoen Bro.
By Jack Ruttan in cats, color, digital, men, paintings, Portraits, sketches, Uncategorized, watercolor, watercolourTrain 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, womenSunday Cat
By Jack Ruttan in brush pen, cats, color, Coloured Pencils, Jack's House of Cats, paintings, pencil, self-promotion, sketches, watercolor, watercolourMarch 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.