Sketching Through the Maritimes, Part 2

In the summer of 2012 I decided to take a road trip, for 5 weeks, from Toronto to the Maritimes, ending at Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. While on this trip I wanted to chronicle the journey in sketches: no cameras, no computer assisted imagery, just pen, paper, the open road and my skills. Inspired by Shel Silverstein's book, Around The World, and of Walt Stanchfield's philosophical views on drawing, from the books, Drawn To Life, this is my travelogue of a few areas of the Maritimes seen through my eyes and drawn by my hand. Enjoy...

This is what my sketch book looks like at the end of the trip. 

It becomes well worn, wrinkled, beat up, and I earmarked the trip

by adding some travelogue memorabilia.

I usually leave the first page of most sketch pads for a write up or two. 

In this case it was more appropriate to chronicle the journey 

with a little philosophical engagement: as all good journeys do.

Cows living on Cheticamp Island come down to graze by the water.

The good Ol' Crab Shack. Actually its a tourist information centre.

The homes in Grand Etang, Cape Breton are built to contour the landscape. 

This is beautiful Woodstock, New Brunswick. The historic part is more 

interesting to sketch and to hang out in. Historic Woodstock is close to the 

water and I usually stop into the local farmer's market for interesting finds.

I discovered Montmagny, Quebec this trip. What a beautiful city. I intend 

to explore this place more in the future on the drive out to the East Coast. 

I do enjoy Quebec for their appreciation of the arts. It's a wonderful 

place to be for an Artist like me.

Stopping in Ottawa where my sister lives before heading back to Toronto. 

Back in Toronto. Concluded the sketching with a few boats 

down by Harbourfront. What a change from fishing boats...

Managed to do two paintings while on Cape Breton Island. Although 

the main focus was sketching, I couldn't resist using my portable paint set. 

Painting certainly takes longer than sketching. I used a water colour pad 

rated at 90 Ibs. Good general use paper for quick washes. 

Wouldn't recommend this weight for more sustained painting. 

Here I am sketching the falls in Montmagny, Quebec.

Here I am with my son Atticus enjoying a treat in Moncton.

Below are pictures where I'm well camouflaged. Can you find the 

artist in the next two pictures? Most days I would plank (no not planking) myself 

down and get to work. Other days I'd be working in the time frame of minutes.

Sketch Diary of The Maritimes

Hello from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The weather has been awesome-great for sketching and painting outdoors. On my journey to sketch my surroundings, using only an ink pen and a sketchpad, this form of drawing has been more of an artistic diary of things that interest me of the maritimes landscape. Here are the first round of sketches. They're all gestural and drawn on-the-fly.

This sketchpad is durable and the paper holds the ink well without smudging. 

Harbour in Montmagny, Que overlooking the St.Lawrence. 

Cape Breton Highlands viewed from the Cabot Trail.

 Water studies by the beach.

 Cape Breton coastline viewed from the Cabot Trail.

 Drew several fishing boats and piers. This is only a few.

Portable Cotman Water Colour Set

I recently purchased a new portable water colour field set for painting outdoors. 

Decided to try it at my local zoo on some quick animal sketches. Very happy 

with the set. It contains a portable container for storing water, and two water cups 

for cleaning brushes. Has numerous paint trays for mixing, and is supplied

with a brush. The paints are Winsor & Newton, Cotman series. They are

replaceable and several colours can be purchased. The downside is that the 

stopper for the container leaks because it isn't a tight seal. I compensated by adding

a rubber washer (from a plumbing store) to deal with the leak.    

Here are some samples of giraffes done with the set. The art was taken with 

my cameraand I apologize about the picture quality.

Local Daycare Colouring Day Project

A local daycare wanted to participate in the World Colouring Day event. 

I was commissioned to provide art direction for the project. During 

collaboration with the daycare staff, I decided the best art direction for the project 

would be to have the staff caricatured and drawn as their favourite super heros. 

The originals were later reduced to letter size to have the the daycare children 

colour them.

The final project was to be displayed in the daycare for staff, parents, and 

students to view. The result was a great success. The students enjoyed colouring in 

the staff pictures, and the students assisted in displaying them around the daycare.

Each of the staff participated by posing for their caricature. This proved difficult 

during work hours and staff photos were used to finalize the caricatures.

  

The final drawings were done using woodless charcoal and drawn on 

bond paper measuring 19 by 24.

Potting Shed Project

This past summer I embarked on an ambitious project to build a shed in

our backyard. This timely endeavour was necessary storage space.

This was a challenging and exciting project and it was a break from my

usual artistic work. Aside from my artistic abilities I'm an avid hobby carpenter

and woodworker. I have built many things over the years, and this shed proved

the biggest.

It began with a working drawn plan, by-law enquiries, location and foundation

prep. This shed project took me some time to complete, and the exterior

finishing touches was just finished this fall. I took photos to chronicle my progress,

as much as possible. Working around my children and free time meant slow, slow, slow

progression. I believe in educating through modeling so my kids also learned a lot

about construction through using tools through safe supervision and the joy they

experience through learning.Here are some photos showing the natural progression.

The shed is considered a Potting Shed by building enthusiasts because of

its size. It measures 6.5 ft wide by 9 ft length and 12 ft height (from ground to ridge).

It is an on-grade foundation using pier blocks and the base being an 8 inch gravel bed.

This is the foundation of the shed after the gravel was tampered down vigorously.

Leveling was necessary at this point and very challenging. Once leveled

I built the foundation using pressure treated wood to resist moisture and rot.

A huge chunk of time elapsed between the foundation and

the framing. True to plan, I accounted for the door and windows.

The roof pitch was the most challenging at this stage. I wanted

to maximize the storage space inside the shed and not have the pitch

interfere with the tree behind it and the neighbouring property line.

Alas the sheathing goes up and thankfully my father was always

on call to help me when I needed it-especially with the roof.

Board and Batten was the style I wanted for the exterior.

I'm a big fan of this simple concept. I decided to use small boards

and narrow battens to coincide with the size of the shed. I found out,

through research, that there are style guides for board and batten design.

I incorporated the Dutch Door design into the project. It can

take some time aligning both doors, but very interesting design, and

effective if you want air to circulate while maintaining some privacy.

I used red cedar shingles for the roof. This is the

amount typical of one bundle. Hmm, how many

bundles do I need? 5 more bundles! Yikes!

It's an expensive alternative to petroleum products

but it can last a very long time with treatment and much

more pleasant to look at.

The shakes are up and yours truly is cutting the door and window trim.

Yeah! The finished shed. I primed and painted the exterior

to keep it protected. The platform was retrofitted afterwards and

the ramp proved a good idea for moving bikes in and out.

Decorating the shed with bird houses and feeders was

the fun part. No birds living in the bird house yet.

I used plexiglass for the windows to keep them unbreakable.

I insulated the inside because this is often a artist's retreat in the

fall and winter. Bring in a space heater and it gets cozy fast.

The loft space measures 4 ft to the ridge and is an excellent

space saving room to help keep things off the floor.