Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City (Summer)

Here is an older painting I did back in the summer of 2013 sitting on the promenade behind the Chateau Frontenac, looking up. At the time this painting seemed like a total disaster but now that I look at it, it actually worked out pretty well, at least, I get the sense of what it felt like to be there. Capturing this much detail seemed impossible on a small piece of paper using brushes, but I tried. I like how the bricks are a warmer red in the circular tower in the foreground.

Recently I have been studying the Japanese Ukiyo-e artists who made drawings in the 19^th century. Their drawings and accompanying colour schemes were  converted into woodblock prints by a team of craftsmen and then sold to residents and tourists of Eto. What amazes me is just how much detail they put into relatively small pictures. Elaborate Kimono fabrics, signs, interiors of shops, leaves, trees, faces... they could cram hundreds of people into a 25 x 35 cm picture plane. Of course they were using tiny brushes to do the drawing and had 50 years of experience, and a professional woodblock cutter would then make the plates. Maybe I need to up my game in the planning and detail department!


7.5 x 11" cold press, watercolour, July 2013