I was scanning things to improve the post below, and this page looked cool, and unpublished. So here it is. Now back to scanning.
September 23, 2015
0
Pilgrims and Spies
By Jack Ruttan in cats, color, Coloured Pencils, heads, men, paintings, pencil, ruttan's place, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
Morning sketches, to clear my head, and chase away the nightly terrors. I’m on my front balcony, the sun just peeping over the buildings and trees. These are just things I’ve done yesterday and today. The usual things I’ve seen, either real or on TV, and faces, of course. Out of my head, and from magazines.
I’m sometimes concerned that people will think I’m a spy or a voyeur up here with my subnotebook and little camera. That’s maybe partly right, but I’m not working for any flag or cause, and no one’s paying me.
Thinking of the people at the Hadj, for one thing. I’m pretty much an atheist now, but my experience with religious mass events makes me think how happy they must be.
(apologies for the quality of the images. It gets bright out here, and I was working on my tiny computer!)
September 9, 2015
0
The Great Antonio
By Jack Ruttan in montreal, pen and ink, ruttan's place, sketchesToday, 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 selling pictures of himself pulling his bus, and posing with Merv Griffin and Michael Jackson.
And secondly, one of those cards themselves. RIP Antonio!
September 2, 2015
0
Hangin’ With Mr. B.
By Jack Ruttan in cats, Gouache, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
It’s Mr. Boggedy again!
September 2, 2015
0
Wednesday Sketches
By Jack Ruttan in color, horses, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
August 28, 2015
0
Léon and Emma
By Jack Ruttan in color, heads, paintings, sketches, watercolor, watercolour, women
This is Léon and Emma from MADAME BOVARY. Plus, a lot of attempts at watercolour “colour wheels,” and a Big Suit man.
August 26, 2015
0
Parc Médéric-Martin Wading Pool
By Jack Ruttan 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.
August 13, 2015
0
Men at Work
By Jack Ruttan in machines, men, montreal, pen and ink, pencil, ruttan's place, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
One woman, too. They’ve been tearing up the schoolyard across the street from me. I’m being driven a little snakey by the roaring of trucks, the constant beep-beep-beep, and the dust.
So, I’m consoling myself by drawing the occasional picture of things. They’ll be here all August, so there is probably more to come.
August 10, 2015
0
Prefontaine Metro Station, Montréal
By Jack Ruttan in montreal, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
July 29, 2015
0
Back at the Comic Jam
By Jack Ruttan in collaboration, color, pen and ink, Rick Gagnon, sketches, watercolor, watercolourHadn’t been to the Montreal Monthly Comic Jam for a while. My pal Rick Gagnon invited me over, so I decided to make the effort.
Pleasant seeing Rick again. He embellished a couple of drawings of mine.
The watercolour is especially great, because he did this (using my paints) in very low light, where it’s hard to tell the colours apart.
Absolutely no one can interpret my drawings as well as Rick.
July 26, 2015
0
Watercolour Clematis
By Jack Ruttan in color, sketches, watercolor, watercolour
Painted clematis spilling over the newel post, while sitting on my friend’s porch.
July 21, 2015
0
Morning Face
By Jack Ruttan in sketches
Just some anonymous imaginary person, painted on the little computer.
June 25, 2015
0
Digital Painting of a Building
By Jack Ruttan in digital, montreal, sketches
I assure you, these are hard for me to do. Trying to retain a bit of the handmade charm of the drawing, while the machine wants everything straight and boring. Also, choosing colours is difficult in this medium. In watercolours there are only a few tints, which you get used to. Still, even though this isn’t a terribly accurate drawing of the real place (just down the street from here), it’s convincing enough for me.
Later, I can put a grumpy person walking by in front, as per usual.
June 25, 2015
0
Review of The Penguin Book of Crime Stories, Vol II.
By Jack Ruttan in Book ReviewsI’ve read The Penguin Book of Crime Stories, Volume 2, Peter Robinson ed. Easy book to get through – reading story after story is like munching potato chips.
I’ve now got the idea that a crime story is about conflict, but taken to the level that most of us rarely aspire to. We can hate a boss, but very few of us will execute a plan to slit his throat, and then dispose of the evidence. In real life we may sit and fume, but the fictional version where violent and decisive action is taken is satisfying.
Of course, in fiction at least, crime doesn’t pay (except in those cases when it does).
Through reading these stories we can play at being the perpetrator, or the sleuth. These are plot-driven stories, so the action is straightforward. This is unlike the literary tale where, for instance, someone is crying at the end, and the reader has to review all that went before to put together the pieces and find out what has changed. Hence the crime story’s quick read, and a general sense of satisfaction at the conclusion of each tale. Justice has been arrived at. Or a clever plan has been executed.
Reading crime books and stories as I’ve been (thanks to a friend with a big and often-updated library), I’m finding elements of formula. Too many of them take the same tropes and play them over, again and again. I might try writing something like one of these. It will take a bit of research to create the characters I have in mind. Doing suspense looks like fun, and then there are the twisty plots, which I am less fond of.