×

Illustrator

Travel Sketches from Holland

Joel and I have spent the last 3 weeks touring the Netherlands sketching, painting and sightseeing. There is a lot to see. The Dutch and Flemish Old Masters are probably some of my favourites in art history. We were fortunate to see famous paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer and van Gogh, as well as lesser known painters (but equally amazing, in my opinion) Frans Hals, Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Brueghel, Hans Holbein and originals by illustrators Rien Poortvliet (more on this in another post), Jan Voerman Jr. and Anton Pieck. Joel and I are saturated with art history and I can honestly report: it is a good thing.

The weather was fantastic for plein air sketching and so Joel and I did a fair bit of it on this trip. We even painted a straight-up landscape, which is something we normally don’t do. I was very distracted by ducks and geese while sketching on this trip. There are tons of them because of the canals everywhere and they would often come really close and quack at you!

Most of these sketches are available as prints in my shop.

 

 

 

Plein air sketches – around Westport

This past summer was the hottest summer on record in Westport (and everywhere else by what I gather). As much as I love plein air drawing with Joel, we really are at the mercy of the weather. I’m very intolerant of heat, so as a result I only have two sketches to show from the summer, one of which was drawn in September.

perthroadvillage_sketch_web

Seemingly abandoned storefront in Perth Road Village, ON.

athens_sketch_web

Stedmans was a longstanding general store in Athens, ON until fairly recently when it closed.

 

Plein air in and about town

stewartpark_web

Stewart Park in Perth, ON, one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever seen with mature willow trees and a creek running through it.

Joel and I like to get out once in a while to do some plein air drawing (translation: drawing outdoors). This summer has been good for that so far because we’re finding lots of things we want to draw in the Westport area. Below are a few of my (Chantal) drawings.

westport_web

Westport is a hotspot for boats in the summer. This is a funny little “gas station” at the Westport marina.

Providence

In June, Joel and I roadtripped down to Providence, RI for the ICON conference. While Joel spent the afternoon attending panels, I decided to go plein air sketching. Below is the result. I was smart and brought my folding stool, sketched in the park across the street and finished the watercolour in a cafe nearby.
Sketch at the corner of North Main St., Providence, RI

Joel and I at the ICON closing night party