Can you imagine that you really sketch the real warplanes?

It was an extraordinary experience to me to sketch the warplanes in the museum. Thank you Urban Sketchers Waterloo Region for organizing a sketching event at The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.
The staff are very knowledgable! They know everything about the planes. You can sit in the pilot seat for some planes. The museum is not very large but it has a lot of information and history about the war and these planes. I learnt a lot from this visit. You also can book a flight to let these planes take you up to sky. Most of these planes still works very well.

Thank you Nick for telling us so many things about these planes.

I always want to draw the real planes and I am so happy that I did it!!

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

The Old City Hall view from Toronto City Hall Green Roof

I didn't know there is such a nice place on the 2nd floor at The City Hall. You can walk around and see different views around The City Hall. Lots of high rises there. I picked The Old City Hall to sketch. It is the only old building in the middle of the high rises and seems that the time has frozen there no matter how the surroundings change. It was really hot today, but we found shades and stayed there for sketching. There were not many visitors and was very tranquil. If you have found the ground was too noisy and crowded, the green roof definitely is a nice and quiet place to visit.

McMichael Plein Air Painting Competition

I always want to paint at McMichael and didn't think that the first time I painted here was in a competition. We were about 50-60 artists painting on location during the weekend. We had a sunny but not very warm day, unless you stayed under the sun without shades.

The arrangement was simple and easy to follow. McMichael staff and volunteers provided the artists fruits, coffee and water twice a day, one by one! We scattered around McMichael and Kleinburg area, it was not easy for them to find us. Thank you!

The first day I painted the gallery building because I wanted to paint this building. I loved the sunlight behind the cloud and put more trees behind the gallery. I had not enough sleep the night before and planned to work faster so that I could go home and sleep. However, I was very tired and worked very very slowly. When I got home around 4 pm, I threw myself on the couch and slept right away.

On Sunday, I went to Kleinburg, a beautiful town, to paint one of the beautiful houses made of logs and this painting was selected to be the 3rd place in the group 11" x 14"

Some of my artist friends won too. Congratulations to Hasibush Shaheed and Dougal Haggart from our group, and Karin from my art club, amazing works. I met many talented artists there and saw their wonderful works, same locations, different styles, definitely very inspiring. It is always amazing to see different approaches, styles while everyone is painting at the same places and similar scenes.

My Travel Watercolour Palette

Flower pots in front of Sony Centre on Front street.

    


Some people keep asking me about what kind of travel watercolour set I am using/  what do they consist of. I have to say I am an amateur painter who is still finding the colours that suit my style best. I have yet to try all of the different watercolour brands or art supplies out there.

A few years back I wanted to sketch on location, I started off with Winsor&Newton Cotman Watercolour Set for my first travel watercolour palette. The reason I bought this set was because of its small size, convenience and the colour quality is good enough to paint on my tiny sketchbooks. Later I realized some of the colours were not bright enough for my style. I personally love vibrant colours, so I purchased some artist grade watercolour paint to try out. 
Here are the colours I am using in  my travel watercolour palette - Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Winsor Red, Cadmium Orange, Purple Lake, Lamp Black, Sap Green, Viridian Hue, Cerulean Blue, French Ultramarine, Indigo, Burnt Umber and a couple of tiny colours I put on the top are Cobalt Blue Hue and Permanent Rose.

I would love to hear what travel watercolour set are you using. Want to share? Comment below.

Riverdale Farm

 A few of us headed over the Riverdale Farm to do some urban sketching. There are lots of farm animals, including pigs!

I found this hidden door, out of the sun and away from the crowds and thought it had lots of potential. Good contrasts. 

I used my paintbox, which opens like a pizza box, and holds a 6x8" watercolour pad (bulldog clip to hold it on) and my Cotman Watercolour Travel palette. A paint box is great to work from. I was sitting on a stool (from a camping shop) and it balances nicely on my lap. I recommend it if an easel is too much to carry and if you want to try watercolours on site. : ) You just need a box that opens like a pizza box....

I enjoy painting rocks. They are good chunky shapes. Also, I tried to keep the bricks quiet with light colours to contrast the interesting door. 

Happy Sketching Everyone.

see more - Nora MacPhail

"travelling along" - at Toronto Botanical Gardens

I spent the day painting with the Don Valley Art Club at the Toronto Botanical Gardens, also known as Edwards Gardens. If you haven't been, it's a fantastic place to sketch. Lots of greenery, flowers, little buildings, people walking around, sitting at the cafe, and of course, this waterfall. It sounds more 'nature' than 'urban' but it's definitely 'TOUSK friendly'.

Here is my step by step process...

Here's the drawing in 6B pencil on my 6x8" hot pressed watercolour paper.
I painted the waterfall while working from my trusty little paintbox. It's got my Cotman Travel Watercolour Palette in it. I used up the pan paint that it came with, then replenished it with artist quality tube paints, mostly Holbein brand. 

Half way there... I like to add darks early, so I can determine the values right from the beginning. Artists often do watercolour from light to dark however, when I do that it never seems to get dark enough...

All done. You can see the pink bulldog clip on the right of the box holding a rag in place. There's also a few paper towels, a compact mirror (to look at the piece in reverse while painting) and I always bring an 8x10"mat to make sure the composition will fit nicely into a store bought frame when finished. 

See more at my Etsy Shop HERE.

friends with

Spent a lovely Friday afternoon enjoying a tea and drawing a few people. Cafe culture is up and running now that Spring is in the air. : )

close up -

I drew this with a 6B pencil then added some watercolour from my Winsor & Newton travel kit. The painting is 6x8", so pretty discreet at a cafe.

close up -

It's nice to see people talking to each other, rather than staring at their computers and iPhones. ; ) 

If you haven't tried sketching at a cafe, I highly recommend it. No one has ever minded that I am drawing them, in fact the few people that notice over the years, have been thrilled! Happy Urban Sketching Everyone.

See more at my Etsy Shop.

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.

A long line at Starbucks

We had a meeting at Yorkdale shopping mall yesterday. It's always hard to find a parking spot there. And it's also not easy to find a sketching spot because there were so many things happening in the mall.

We walked around and finally we decided to sit at Starbucks. I went to buy a coffee and it was a long line. I felt so tired after I got one and started sketching. 

I looked at Starbucks and the line was still very long. Then I have found that I forgot to bring my pen, so I used a pencil instead and painted with watercolor. Back home, I put the black lines and the wordings on the page. 

on holiday

Today I went to a cafe to do a quick bit of people sketching. I like the way these two figures, from my perspective, had their hands, shoe and legs cross each other. It was like a game of Twister! I drew with 6B pencil first.

Then I added some darks, trying to 'spot' the darks as they say. I used a Micron Brush Pen. By this time, the main featured fellow had put on a scarf, which I happily added.

At home, I added watercolour. I took lots of liberties with their clothes. I wanted the featured man to be wearing red. Lots of fun and I'm happy with the unique perspective. Happy Urban Sketching Everyone!

My Etsy Shop - https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/WatercoloursbyNora

Market Day

Spent the day in Kensington Market today for the last Pedestrian Sunday of the year. No cars allowed, although I did choose to put this parked car in the foreground. I tried to gain some perspective with different sized people, while painting the wonderful iconic fruit market situated right in the heart of the Market.

Drawn loosely with 6B pencil and lots of watercolour added on 90lb watercolour paper.

Favourite part of this was painting the fruit and veggies!

Tons of subject matter in Kensington! I absolutely recommend it for those looking to be inspired by new subjects, shapes, colours and shops!!

Nora MacPhail

Another food sketching @ Balzac's Coffee Roasters

Yesterday I stopped by Balzac's coffee roasters (Market St. location) before doing grocery shopping at St. Lawrence Market. I grabbed a seat near the entrance door and thought it would be a perfect spot for sketching. The interior of the coffee shop looks very cozy and rustic. 

I indulged in a decaf coffee and a lemon tart and started a quick sketch. It was challenging by painting watercolour without the outlines. The result was not bad at all. For the counter angle, I sketched like I always do with the pen lines and watercolours. 

The Old Curiosity Tea Shop

Located at Markham Road, Main Street, an English-style restaurant is one of my favourite places to visit. Their signature house tea is worth to try! The restaurant is decorated with different kinds of tea pots. The plates and tea cups are very pretty. You would think you are already in England. Sorry! I couldn't sketch the food this time. Booking in advance is a must because there is almost impossible to get any seat by walk-in.

Sketching at Neo Coffee Bar

Sketching food is one of my favourite things to do. Today I went to Neo Coffee Bar which is a new Japanese-style coffee shop on King St. East. I wanted to try J-desert and coffee. This time I got a "Rose and Berry" roll cake with a blueberry, rasberry and a blackberry on top. I thought I would like to use my bright watercolours painting berries. I wanted to try a latte but I ended up getting a cold brew coffee instead. I loved the aroma of the coffee while I was sketching food at the coffeshop. It took 30 minutes to sketch, but less than a minute to finish my roll. That was my reward!

Dim Sum Day

Almost every Chinese loves dim sum, especially in weekends. Families and friends get together, ordering different kinds of dim sums and sharing them. It is very mysterious that you cannot hear what other people said at other tables even you found they talk very loud. The tables are pretty close to each other too. This one has western style in the hall. Large traditional western-style paintings are hanging on the walls. It's a bit weird to me, the styles don't match simply. However, the dim sums taste good, love the pu-er tea which is good for digestion. Going to a Chinese restaurant for dim sums is called "Yum Cha" in Chinese.

"Orange Dancing Daylilies"

 

Thank you for accepting me as an Urban Sketcher Correspondent! - for my first blog posting I thought I would start with a subject that I have been playing with for the past month.  The orange daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) in my garden which arrived in bloom a month ago.  My first sketch is titled “new arrivals”.  The container in the sketch is a new reclaimed pot ready to be filled with plants and the tall daylilies are the backdrop.

I tried to capture the dancing graceful ever- changing shadows on the neighbourhood sidewalk.  I thought about how each pedestrian interacts differently with the moving patterns and wondered if anyone notices the beauty of this connection? 

 

Sketching and painting the orange daylilies helped me to slow down and appreciate what was happening in my daily life.  Each flower lasts for only ONE day!

Now there are only a few blooms left.  I am sure they have certainly naturalized ( s p r e a d ) in my garden for next year’s colourful arrival!!!  In the mean time I will delight in the arrival of the shadows of the tall dried up dancing stocks on the snow to come.