Archive for the ‘ruttan’s place’ Category

January 21, 2020 0

New Coloured Pencils

By in color, Coloured Pencils, men, pencil, Portraits, ruttan's place, sketches, women

A generous friend sent me a set of 168 wooden coloured pencils. (Is it “coloured” or “colour”? The last one sounds slightly illiterate.) I’ve taken them out of their packaging, where they were inaccessible, and put them into yogurt containers, where I can reach them and see what I’m drawing with. Some of the pencils […]

January 26, 2018 0

Short Pencil

By in Art Criticism, color, Gouache, ruttan's place, sketches, watercolor, watercolour

I don’t actually prefer a short pencil, I just get a little hysterical when the lead breaks off inside the pencil when I’m trying to sharpen it. I hate that.

July 5, 2017 0

150 Words or Less

By in ruttan's place, writing

For the Canada sesquicentennial celebration, the Atwater Library here in Montreal sponsored a contest where people could write in little stories or memories in about 150 words. I entered three. Didn’t win anything (my pal Joanne Carnegie got a nifty framed certificate as a runner-up), but I enjoyed the challenge of trying to write to […]

December 8, 2016 0

Mystery Package

By in ruttan's place, sketches

You never know what you’re going to find if you go out your front door. Just outside was an Amazon package. I checked the address to make sure it had been delivered to the right place. It had. It’s the day before my birthday. What the heck was this? Opening it up revealed a lot […]

December 8, 2016 0

Heater Cat

By in cats, Jack's House of Cats, ruttan's place

I fancy that Mister Boggedy looks sad on the heater alone, since his sister passed away. He’s not on great terms with Nora the little black and white cat, but both of them seem to treat me as a large, incredibly ugly and inept mother cat.

November 21, 2016 0

First Snow

By in montreal, ruttan's place

My 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 […]

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, […]

November 10, 2016 0

de Rouen and Dufresne

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

A quick study of the corner across from my house in Montreal, Canada.

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.

May 16, 2016 0

Street Corner

By in pencil, ruttan's place, sketches

Should have noted where this was. I think it’s rue Fullum below Ontario. In Montreal, for you strangers.

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 3, 2016 1

Paintings on Whatman paper

By in paintings, ruttan's place, self-promotion

This is a recent painting I did on the Whatman paper. Even though I work hard on adding light, I fancy that it’s somehow brighter, almost sparkly. Here’s the paper stretched and ready to go: Here’s a closeup of the grain. It’s pretty rough, Hot-rolled, as they say (I think). Maybe I’m the only one […]

February 2, 2016 1

J. Whatman Antique Paper

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

In the last post I was writing about painting on simple typing paper, and the (futile) effort of stretching it. Well, today I was stretching some old paper I had inherited from my late Mom’s stash of art materials, which I had taken with me to Montreal back in 1987 from our family home in Calgary. […]