Archive for the ‘montreal’ Category

November 14, 2016 1

A Montreal Moment

By in montreal, ruttan's place

I 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 […]

November 13, 2016 0

Shrine to Leonard Cohen

By in montreal, ruttan's place

Coming 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, […]

October 19, 2016 0

Remember the Days In the Old Schoolyard

By in color, montreal, paintings, ruttan's place, sketches, watercolor, watercolour

Kids 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.

August 15, 2016 0

Dig Pigs

By in ballpoint pen, comics, montreal, watercolor, watercolour

This 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.

August 10, 2016 0

Colour Pictures

By in color, montreal, paintings, sketches, watercolor, watercolour

July 13, 2016 0

Two-Two-Two-Oh, rue Parthanais

By in black and white, montreal, pencil, sketches

Drat, 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.

March 4, 2016 0

New Paintings

By in color, Jack's House of Cats, montreal, paintings, watercolor, watercolour

It’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 […]

March 4, 2016 0

Iffy Paper

By in color, Jack's House of Cats, montreal, paintings, ruttan's place, watercolor, watercolour

Found 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 […]

February 15, 2016 0

New Animation Studio

By in color, Coloured Pencils, heads, men, montreal, pencil, Portraits, self-promotion, sketches

Thrilled 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 […]

October 7, 2015 0

Blue Metropolis

By in montreal, sketches, watercolor, watercolour, writing

Gene 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 […]

September 30, 2015 0

Buildings

By in montreal, pencil, sketches

Pencil sketches from old photos of mine of architecture. One is the Frank Lloyd Wright-styled fire station on Notre Dame Street East (now covered in scaffolding), and the other is on Sherbrooke Street E., near the old Library. I can go on Google street view and find out exactly, which is interesting.

September 24, 2015 0

Centre Sportif Jean-Claude Malepart

By in black and white, montreal, paintings, parks, pencil, sketches, watercolor, watercolour

This is pronounced “Mallapar,” (actually, more like Maly-par, sez a franco friend) for you non French-speakers. (I am almost a non-French speaker, by the way, despite spending all this time in Montreal). But in my anglo heart, I still see it as “Male-Part.” I’m sure he was a worthy gentleman, but I’m happy they didn’t […]

September 9, 2015 0

The Great Antonio

By in montreal, pen and ink, ruttan's place, sketches

Today, a park in Montreal got a bench in it dedicated to the Great Antonio. He’s a former Montreal strongman you can read about here. Meanwhile, here are some items from my flickr feed to do with him. A drawing I did of him, the way he looked sitting in the Metro in the 1980s-2000s […]

August 26, 2015 0

Parc Médéric-Martin Wading Pool

By in montreal, paintings, parks, sketches, watercolor, watercolour

I hope I haven’t already put this up. It’s from last year, and the pool has been totally renovated, so it doesn’t look like this anymore.