A Day at the Harbourfront

A DAY AT THE HARBOURFRONT 

I spent the day down at Toronto's Harbourfront sketching on Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper (Fluid Brand) with my Micron 03 pen. 

       

I tried to get a foreground, a mid-ground and a background in. Here's the finished result, with watercolour added. : )

There was a woman relaxing in the park, so I quickly drew her too. I tried to keep my lines spontaneous and relaxed in order to capture her mood. 

And here's the finished result with watercolour. I added splatters of paint to match my pen lines.

Happy Painting Everyone

Nora MacPhail

Royal Bank Building

I kept thinking about sketching the old building on Yonge ang King Streets when I came to Starbucks nearby. I love the huge scaled Corinthian columns and the details above the windows of the building. Today was my chance! I picked a spot near a big window facing the old building across the street.

The Royal Bank Building on the northeast corner of Yonge and King Streets was built in 1915. It is one of the heritage buildings in downtown Toronto.

Riverdale Farm

I spent the day at the awesome Riverdale Farm here in Toronto.

I painted this with a small watercolour kit that was once an eyeshadow case. : )

I also used the popular waterhandle brush which, just like it sounds, holds water in it's plastic handle.

This is a wonderful quaint pizza oven outside the historical Simpson House. There are tons of subjects to paint at the Farm, which was once the original Toronto Zoo. They have horses, cows, chickens, goats, and rams. Also, a wonderful duck pond and a huge natural pond full of beautiful birds.

Nora MacPhail
http://noramacphail.blogspot.ca

Urban Sketching at University of Toronto campus

While wandering through the University of Toronto campus, this little lane jumped out at me as an interesting subject.

Cherry Trees are in season right now, so I quickly spotted this one, along with the bicycle with a basket, the birch trees and the lane. As I sat down to draw it, I realized there was too much going on, especially since I like to add people to my urban sketches as well. So, I figured since I didn't see the birch trees at first and they weren't what really interested me, they would have to go.

I decided to make the white tree pink, as many of the Cherry Trees are. A lot of students were walking by so I added a few, one with a knapsack.

There are some warm red flowers at the base of the tree that I used to contrast the hot pink (Opera Pink) I used for the tree. 

Here's my paintbox with my Cotman Travel Watercolour Kit (squeezed my own tube watercolours into it), my favourite Micron Graphic pen, brush and a 5x7" watercolour pad that fits into the lid. The water cup and rag are attached to the side with a bulldog clip.

Thanks and Happy Painting Everyone!

Nora MacPhail

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Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn Bridge Park

I made a quick trip to New York this past week, and we took a leisurely saturday wandering around Brooklyn.  Here is the Manhattan skyline, as seen from Brooklyn Bridge Park. What a gorgeous day it was to lie on the grass and paint.

Sliced

C. had an unexpected morning off work today, and so we braved the cold to go out for brunch. I've already had a late breakfast, so while he ate I whipped out my sketchbook and painted the building across the street, in which a gourmet sandwich place had recently moved into.  I like the contrast of the red bricks with the blue facade of the street-level cafe.

last night with Ames

Ames is, without a doubt, the cuddliest dog I have ever met.  He was adopted by a big and lovely family today.  Here he is nestled between us two humans on our last night together as a foster family.

Aroma

Things have been busy lately and I've really been missing time for urban sketching.  I have, however, observed three new Aroma Espresso Bars opening up around my neighbourhood over the past month.  It reminds me of this drawing I did years ago, when there was only one Aroma in the Annex.