After hiatus of a couple of weeks, met with my friend Rick Gagnon, but at a different bar this time. Different vibe, too. Above are his inks over an old man I drew. Below is a whiffle jet of mine, which I drew in pencil on the back of a printed sheet of paper (because Rick had the sketchbook), and then fooled around with in photoshop.
Tags: black and white, collaboration, Gagnon Fridays, planes, Richard Gagnon, sketches
Pretty busy with work, which is mainly finding work. Did this sketch this morning, in tribute to one of the purple-haired ladies in UFO, the old British TV series. Will try to do a better one, sometime.
Tags: colour, Film & TV, sketches, watercolour
Sorry. Between twittering, reading, and work, I haven’t had much time to draw and blog. Here are some faces; partly for a project. Hope it gets off the ground!
Tags: black and white, sketches
I’m running a watercolour workshop later this spring, or early summer, the dates and details are yet to be confirmed. But the place will be the Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore, at 211 Bernard West, in Mile End. This is my first try for a poster for the workshop. It will be going up in black and white, though I thought that since it was advertising watercolours, it should have watercolour.
I want to introduce artists of all abilities to methods and tricks which will help them create the pictures they want to do in watercolour. Whether it’s splashy abstracts and blots, or controlled, realistic and detailed. Mostly I want it to be fun, rather than intimidating. More on this in posts to come!
Tags: watercolour, workshop
I’ve seen this cat every morning for years now, when I walk up rue Chapleau to the corner store at Hochelaga to get a banana or a beer. His owner called him “The King” once, so he’s the King of the block. Getting on in years now (think he’s about 16-18 years old), but still a happy, friendly cat. Click his pic for a few more of him, from this morning.
Tags: Animals, cats, montreal, photos, ruttan's place
A car that’s sort of a 1950s Cadillac, though not exactly, and a guy from the street. I was working hard today. Had time to sketch these on the sunny deck.
The women are back playing baseball in the diamond near here. They’re loud, but not unwelcome.
Tags: black and white, montreal, ruttan's place, sketches
Feeling nostalgic today, or at least watching all of the people getting into cars with flowers for mom. And my own Mom, so long gone (died in 1979), but always with me. Her paintings on the wall, some of her brushes and paints which I still use. Very few photos of her. I was rummaging through the paper photos and slides I have from years past. Lots of boring pictures of airplanes, buildings, and monuments. I was looking for faces, like the one above, of my Mom, Irene Ruttan, on the coast of Oregon, sometime in the 1970s.
It’s hard to get the people you care about to stand still for a moment and snap them. We’re too busy running through life. For a while, looking at the photo above for the first time in a long time, I hardly recognised that face. But it came back to me, or at least merged with the memories I have of her. Not all of them happy. I so wish she was around with me at the moment, to share with me, and help me through challenges. She’s given me so much already.
Sadly, my weekly meet with R. Gagnon was not to be. So I was flying solo. Still, Rick had his effect, because he’s been lending me these great Criterion DVDs of films such as this one, the 1954 French gangster film Touchez pas au grisbi (“Hands off the loot”), from which I drew this very serious pic of star Jean Gabin.
Tags: black and white, Film & TV, Gagnon Fridays, sketches
Two Quebec personalities from the glory days of Montreal. Maurice Duplessis (right corner), Quebec’s frightening Premier from times of yore, is laughing at a joke from the Mayor, Camillien Houde. What project is this about? Wouldn’t you like to know!
Tags: black and white, montreal, sketches, wash
This person I’m doing work for was very impressed with the maple trees along my street. So I thought I’d post a snap. All of this yellow-green is blossoms, which will fall soon, and carpet the sidewalk. Already I can hear the vroom of the street vacuum buggies prowling the sidewalks to pick it up. But it’s pretty where it is.
Also: Nora the small cat ™ has been in a very good mood, but has taken over my work chair:
(click for more in the set).
She also likes to climb inside the file cabinet, and get inextricably entwined there. So, I have to keep the drawers closed.
Tags: Animals, cats, montreal, photos, ruttan's place
I usually do this in the morning. Nothing interesting drawn. But tonight I’ve got Lou Reed lyrics put into the mouths of people drawn walking down the street. “What good a war without killing?” and “life’s like Sanskrit read to a pony.” You have to hear them in the proper Lou Reed deep voice, which will help.
And below, an animal called a “gryllus” (anything with legs and only a head — no body), but I can’t find the citation for the name. All I get is the genus for cricket.
Tags: Animals, black and white, dogs, sketches
A little scattered, and nervous, but getting things done. I think these reflect my state of mind.
I think everything will be okay, but have no idea at the moment how that will come about.
Tags: black and white, colour, sketches, watercolour
Fear of a pandemic grips the planet. Economic collapse has put millions out of work. Outside the window of the Cock and Bull Bar, an angry throng marches down the street for May Day, carrying red and black flags, shouting for justice and revolution. I feel suddenly like I’m in Paris, 1968.
I tried to nod at what my friend Rick was saying, and look sympathetic, but it wasn’t working.
So, he inked for me my pencil drawing of the lovely Illeana Douglas. This helped:
Next he did a couple of cowboys, slightly mirroring the mood at the table:
I think that’s Warren Oates and Jake Busey.
Things were better. Then another friend Marr showed up (yay!), and we finished our beers, and headed to a much more expensive bar. There, an artist friend of ours who has shown up in these pages, Jeff Leblanc, was having a birthday celebration:
That’s him with the always sympathetic Eric Theriault, who is nodding and trying to look interested.
Because this is a sketch blog, and this is how I roll, I drew a sketch of Jeff:
He would do the same for me. Only it would take about 2 hours, and be much better.
Beers here cost about as much as a whole pitcher at the other place. But I bought a pint in honour of Jeff, blowing my weekend savings. Rick meanwhile had onion rings, which he photographed lovingly:
Later that night as I was heading home on my bike via rue Rene Levesque, I happened upon the protesters. They had camped in front of the government building, and were apparently having a tam-tam party.
I, meanwhile, remain optimistic about things, despite bouts of panic. For no reason at all, here’s a picture of my cat, Mr. Boggedy, looking silly:
Tags: black and white, collaboration, Gagnon Fridays, Jeff Leblanc, Marr, Montreal Comic Jam, photos, Richard Gagnon, sketches
