Grocery shopping. Montreal.

Grocery shopping. Montreal., a photo by interior_perspective on Flickr.

I have decided to start a new set on flickr with drawings done while my toddler sleeps. If everything goes right, she will have a nice 90 minute nap and everyone would be happy. If not, I'll settle for 30 minutes. As long as I have my pocket sketchbook and some drawing media. There is always a pen or a pencil in my bag(s), but the Lamy, the Noodler's Flex Nib and the Microns travel from bag to desk to kitchen table and therefore they're not always on hand.

This sketch was done with a ballpoint pen. The lady was a perfect model: she barely moved during my sketching. Maybe she was tired of pulling her cart uphill from the big grocery store half a mile away.

10 min walk to the park + 40 min sketch + 10 min walk back home. Baby slept all the way. Lady was still there when I left.

36th SketchCrawl 1

36th SketchCrawl 1, a photo by interior_perspective on Flickr.

The 36th edition of the SketchCrawl took place on Sat, July 14th and Montrealers gathered at the Atwater Market to sketch together. The Lachine Canal runs behind the market, where this first sketch was done. In the background, a condo & loft complex build out of reconverted industrial buildings. They have great living spaces with high ceilings, wide windows and great views of the canal.

Ecomuseum1

Ecomuseum1, a photo by interior_perspective on Flickr.

A visit to the Ecomuseum today. We got there late and only had an hour to visit, so this time we did the tour backwards: first the birds of pray, then back to the entrance and up the other trail to see the bears. My absolute favourite is the wooden promenade where you find the birds of prey enclosures. All this magnificent birds have sustained some kind of injury but are now well taken care of in this, their new home and are the delight of visitors of all ages.

McGill Medical Sciences Building

McGill Science Building, a photo by interior_perspective on Flickr.

It has been a few weeks since I sketched this building during a visit to downtown Montreal. I went to the McGill University campus and parked on Pine Street. Lots of late XIX and early XX century houses to sketch around, but I went for the McIntyre Medical Sciences Building, a 16 storey concrete tower built in 1965.

backyard@spring

backyard.spring, a photo by interior_perspective on Flickr.

One more view of the backyard. This would be the last one where the trees are bare. It was drawn before the trip, but couldn't post it before with all the hassle to get ready to go abroad. This week the trees are in full bloom, the scilla (little blue flowers) are gone and the dandelions have invaded the lawn.

Riviera Maya

Riviera Maya, a set on Flickr.

Back from a one week vacation to the Riviera Maya, in Mexico. I was dying to dive head first in the turquoise waters nearby the Tulum archeological site and got my wish. I am so grateful that I was granted the opportunity to go back to one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I wish there had been more time for sketching... To my surprise, back at the hotel, there was a small temple at the hotel beach. It is a little construction known as "el nicho" which is very similar to the God of the Winds Temple at Tulum. It stands on a large rock in the middle of a small bay and there are many palapas nearby to comfortably sit and draw.

Views of the neighborhood

Montreal-backyard-1, a photo by interior_perspective on Flickr.

This is the first of a series of drawings of the different views of the neighborhood I get from home. I wish I had sketched more while we still had snow.

Our neighborhood was built in the 50's. There are detached and semi-detached single-family houses lined by mature silver maple trees.

A quiet afternoon, cold and sunny. I like the way the shadow of the tree branches falls on the wall of this house.

Quick update

2011 has been a busy year with the arrival, in January, of my youngest daughter. We are close to celebrating her first birthday, and before I start planning about the cake I carved out some time to update the blog and flickr. So here they are!