I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the river
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.
Blue moon you saw me standing alone Without a dream in my heart Without a love of my own Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for You heard me saying a prayer for Someone I really could care for And then there suddenly appeared before me The only one my arms will ever hold I heard… — Billie Holiday
Not a drawing of a blue moon but of a small hand-crafted wood lamp that actually prevented me from watching the moon last night by shedding its warm soft glow on the outside window. I will check her out tonight so hoping for clear skies.
Paper: Moleskine Sketchbook 5″x8″
Fountain Pen: Pilot Falcon SEF
Ink: De Atramentis Document Black
Location: Rigaud, Québec, Canada
“If creativity is a habit, then the best creativity is the result of good work habits. They are the nuts and bolts of dreaming.” (Twyla Tharp)
Today is the full moon and it promises to be a beautiful night as the skies are clear out here on Rigaud Mountain. We put up our Christmas decorations today and this is one of our little trees that is standing on a small table.
I drew this in my favourite “drawing” paper which are Moleskine Sketchbooks… the paper is just fabulous for drawing, especially with my favourite fountain pen of all times, the Platinum 3776 EF. The paper has some type of glaze on top of it which makes drawing on it as if I was drawing with butter… hum… so cool -) However as it is fabulous for drawing, it is not as fabulous for painting! When you put watercolour paints on it, the paint stays “on” the paper instead of being absorbed… and sometimes you just have to scrub it in, which gives it a grungy look, which I sometimes like. An artist in Scotland, Will Freeborn, specializes in painting in Moleskines.
Paper: Moleskine Skethchbook
Fountain Pen: Platinum 3776 EF
Ink: DeAtramentis Document Black
Location: Rigaud, Québec, Canada
Why do you paint? For exactly the same reason I breathe. — E.E. Cummings from Brainpickings.org
These Inktober themes are really challenging me as I usually am more of an Urban Sketcher, meaning that I try to paint what I see in my environment and not through the computer screen, nor photographs and oh my, certainly not from my imagination! Well, not anymore as these themes have to be found within me and then drawn or painted as I see fit… they are never close to what I had in mind, but I think that the correlation between my imagination and my pen is improving.
I drew in pencil first, as I do not have the courage for now to go straight to ink pen as I usually do, and then I went over with my Hero 573 Fube Nib Fountain Pen. I originally thought to keep this in a monochromatic black theme, but I got carried away as usual… some buildings in the distance, a road and this “crooked” person stealing an innocent bystander.
Paper: Stillman & Birn Zeta Series sketchbook #20
Pen: Hero 573 Fube Nib with De Atramentis Document Black Ink
Location: Rigaud, Québec, Canada from my imagination
#Inktober 8 Crooked Theme
There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to be see beyond the usual — become clairvoyant. We reach then into reality. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. — The Art Spirit by Robert Henri
As Fall is approaching here, the leaves are turning a golden hue with some bursts of oranges and deep purple… it is already starting here. The peak of the season is usually near October 15th here in southern Québec, and this date varies with the latitude that you are living in. A book that I often delve in is The Art Spirit as it is profoundly spiritual in an artistic sense. Henri must have been a wonderful teacher, and I do hope that some days, a very few perhaps, I might inspire my students as Henri inspires me!
These flowers were photographed by a famous writer here in Canada, Kim Thuy and she won the Giller prize for her book Ru. Her first photograph were of these flowers in their fragrant bloom (which I have posted before), and the second photograph is the flowers with the petals falling… I thought that it was appropriate with our imminent fall season. She mentioned this quote to me when she sent me the second photograph. “Presque arrivées à leur destination”. Well said Kim! This painting is part of the next exhibit that I will be taking part in November 2018 that is called Square Foot Exhibition. All are welcome. #squarefootexhibition2017.
Paper: Fluid 100
Ink: De Atramentis Document Black
Fountain Pen: Carbon Desk Pen EF
Location: Reference photograph here in Rigaud, Québec, Canada
One smile can start a friendship, one word can end a fight. One look can save a relationship, one person can change your life.
I am starting to prep for my oncoming semester by doing some quick basic pen strokes with my newly filled up PlatinumCarbonFountain Pen, which I love by the way and has to be the best buy there is as it is quick inexpensive (approximately $20 Cdn). This is the first sketchbook that I used when I started drawing and I still love it as this is the older version of glazed paper that they used to sell… now with the newer version of Moleskine Sketchbooks the paper is quite thinner and is not as good quality as before as it has lost the glaze that makes writing and drawing such a pleasure as the ink glides on the paper… alas!
Paper: Moleskine Sketchbook Large
Fountain Pen: Platinum Carbon Pen
Ink: De Atramentis Document Black Ink
Watercolours: Ultramarine & Burnt Sienna
“There is no such thing as an amateur artist as different from a professional artist,”
wrote Paul Cezanne,
“There is only good art and bad art.”
The Montreal Urban Sketchers were out sketching out today and the weather was beautiful, even though a tad cold with the wind. Surprisingly it was colder in Montreal than in Rigaud… as we live in the forest, there is rarely any wind. When I first decided to draw this majestic building, I did not know how intricate that it would be… and I kept thinking, “why did I choose to draw this building?” However, in the end I was quite happy to have completed it! I might have time tomorrow to paint it… I hope so -)
Paper: Field Watercolor journal 7″ x 10″
Pen: Platinum Desk Pen EF DP1000AB
Ink: Noodlers Lexington Grey
Location: Église St-Enfant-Jésus du Mile End
“A friend,” wrote the poet and philosopher John O’Donohue in his beautiful meditation on the Ancient Celtic notion of anam cara, “awakens your life in order to free the wild possibilities within you.”
— Brain Pickings
My first love has to be drawing and if I decide to paint, without drawing first, the downhill trend is quite steep and abrupt, I lose all faculties for pressing onwards and I get all mixed up — really do not know where to put the paints. However, if I draw first, it grounds me and then I can actually do what I want, without the fear of ruining the drawing or painting. Funny huh? This drawing is a triple bonus because the two pots that hold the cactus were created by me during a pottery workshop in Hemmingford that I followed with one of my very good friends a few weeks ago. It is quite surprising that the pots fit perfectly one into the other as it had not been intended that way… I was pleasantly surprised! One of my friends has organized a small communal painting/drawing event where we each paint/draw three paintings in a sketchbook and then pass on to another artist. I am the second one in the list, and I will be passing it on to France in a week or so. I do not know yet if I will paint it or not… another joy of drawing first. I have the choice. So nice -)
This little cactus has grown quite a bit, and it is close to my heart as it was given to all guests for an event that my little niece had organized. I will not see her as much now as recent family events are looming over chances of meeting up. Still… it is close to my heart, as she is. Today Canada geese were flying over my house, in beautiful amazing triangles, honking high and loud and announcing to everyone that cared to listen that Spring has arrived.. our beautiful harbingers of Spring.
Paper: Handbook created by my friend Chi Mai
Fountain Pen: Sailor Desk fountain pen
Ink: De Atrementis Document Ink Black
Location: Rigaud, Québec, Canada
Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad. (Salvador Dali).
I think that what I love best is to draw… even though the process of painting makes me the most satisfied once completed. So imagine when I draw and I paint all in the same day… it is nirvana -) The act of seeing a fine fountain pen travel through a page and seeing a shape emerge, fascinates me. So here is another one of my late night drawings.
Je pense que ce que j’aime le plus est de dessiner… et le procédé de peindre me donne la plus grande satisfaction! Imaginez si je dessine et je peins dans la même journée… c’est le nirvana -) Le fait de voir un plume fontaine voyager sur une page blanche et que je vois une forme apparaître me fascine. Voici une autre de mes peintures tardives de soirée.
Paper: Moleskine Sketchbook
Fountain Pen: Pilot Penmanship EF
Noodlers’ Lexington Grey
Location: Rigaud, Québec, Canada
Learn to draw. Try to make your hand so unconsciously adept that it will put down what you feel without your having to think of your hands. Then you can think of the thing before you. (Sherwood Anderson)
My jittery dog finally got to sleep after his second daily walk so I started sketching him… and just as I was getting there, he jerked, got up, made a few turns, and then flopped down with a bang on the wood floor, shifting places as his head had been comfortably resting on a rug. Drawing people and animals is difficult for me. Luckily sketching my dog does not intimidate me, as people drawing does.
Mon chien s’est finalement endormi après sa deuxième promenade de la journée donc j’ai pu commencer à le dessiner … et comme j’étais dans le “moment”, il sursauta, se leva, fit quelques tours, puis se laissa tomber d’un coup sur le plancher, en changeant de place. Dessiner les gens et les animaux est difficile pour moi. Heureusement dessiner mon chien ne m’intimide pas, comme dessiner les personnes le fait.
Paper: Moleskine Sketchbook
Fountain Pen: Pilot Prera F
Ink: Noodlers’ Ink #41 Brown
Location: Rigaud, Québec, Canada
Painting to see : Peindre pour voir 