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

A Quieter Place

On Friday afternoon, it was very hot but not crowded on Main Street, Unionville. However, Starbucks is always full of people. When everyone squeezes in there, I would love to have a cup of coffee in Timothy's to enjoy a quieter moment. We replied a couple of emails here. The snacks are tempting too.

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

See My Etsy Shop

See My Blog - with a link to my YouTube painting videos.

Frizzzbee

Spending a few hours alone with Frizzzbee last week finally broke my dry drawing spell, and the closest things lying around were a ballpoint pen and a paper bag.

The St. Lawrence Market

It's been a while since I've been to the St. Lawrence market, so I thought it'd be a perfect day for it. It was super busy but I managed to find a table in the midst of all the action.
On a side note, the only good thing about smart phones when used in public is the fact that it makes their users planted in one spot, motionless. Recipe for a good model.