I am always interested in what we miss when we try to focus on what we see. For example, when you take a photo you will always feel a bit disappointed after the exposure, because it’s never representing what you perceived when you took it.
– Peter Doig
The Montreal Urban Sketchers gathered together (my guess is that we were 20-25) at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts today. Some sketchers went off to paint the surrounding architecture from the amazing windows (remember that it is still too cold to paint outside in Montreal at the moment), others went to the Inuit section and painted fabulous Inuit art! Some of us went straight to the Peter Doig Exhibit, artist extraordinaire. What was fascinating for me today was to try and emulate his technique… after three tries, I was still very far from his mastery, but still I was starting to get it. This got me thinking too! Can you really comprehend an artist’s point of view without trying to recreate what he does? Is this why so many painters rely on the Masters to guide them and show them the way? So this is my rendering of one of his posters of the Owl and then of his Bateau Rouge. Because of the museum’s reasonable restrictions on water-based paintings, I drew with a fountain pen what I was looking at… I might follow through later on and put in dabs of colour. For now, this is what I have.
Les sketchers urbains se sont rencontrés aujourd’hui, environ 20-25 personnes,au Musée des Beaux Arts de Montréal. Certains ont choisi de peindre l’architecture extérieure vue des immenses fenêtres du musée (il faut se rappeler qu’à Montréal en ce moment il fait toujours trop froid pour peindre dehors), d’autres ont choisi de peindre la section d’art Inuit, et certains d’entre nous ont décidé d’aller voir l’exposition de Peter Doig, peintre extraordinaire! Aujourd’hui j’ai essayé de peindre comme lui et après trois essais, j’ai commencé à comprendre sa technique ou au moins sa façon de faire — et quand même très très loin de sa maîtrise. Est-ce que quelqu’un peut réellement comprendre un artiste s’il n’essaie pas de le reproduire? À cause des règlements du Musée concernant l’usage d’eau, j’en ai profité pour dessiner à la plume fontaine -)
Paper: Handbook Travelogue
Fountain Pen: Pilot Prera F
Ink: Noodlers’ Lexington Gray
Painting to see : Peindre pour voir 