Postcard from Cobourg, on Lake Ontario, Canada

Anne and I visited Cobourg, on Lake Ontario in Canada recently, partly to attend the 90th birthday of my cousin, but also to have a couple of weeks holiday with my family out there.

We’ve been once before, two years ago and didn’t expect to go again. We couldn’t refuse the invitation to celebrate a 90th birthday though.

Have watercolour kit, will sketch

After the many outings with the SOS (sketching outside) group this year, it was a delight to be out and about, in the sunshine, in Canada while back home the weather was more inclement.

Sketching en plein air could be said to be best, the quickest, route to mastering an understanding of painting. Whatever the subject, it’s all about learning to ‘see’ it. Think mood. Think atmosphere!

Many books are dedicated to the skills required to create a useful summary – a sketch – of what you are trying to record. The basic sketch, whether indoors or outside, needs to capture the artist’s place and time of day – wet or dry!

There are also two magazines which continually inspire me: The Artist and Leisure Painter. Both are published by The Artists’ publishing company. for more information, go to their website: www.painters-online.co.uk.

Technology to the rescue

Sketching is not an impossible challenge in these days.  With the support of the iPhone or iPad, the four sides of the screen instantly help the eye to sort out perspective, and light and shade of the subject. In addition to electronic gizmos, the humble ruler is an elementary tool.

My watercolour kit

With weight restrictions for overseas travel, I packed only a minimal watercolour kit. See the featured image above. My smallest paint box has twelve basic colours, a very small water bottle, a foldaway palette, a tiny sponge and and equally small brush. It’s very light and suits my purpose.

I spent many hours recording the various sights near where we were staying. This is me perched on a bench, alongside a walkway at the edge of Cobourg marina. Many walkers took a keen interest in my progress.

Sketching on the quayside at Cobourg marina

The big motorboat in the background belongs to my cousin and I wanted to capture this setting as a reminder of our time aboard Colonel Ken.

Sketch of Colonel Ken moored at Cobourg marina

This photo had me with a more comfortable seating. A whole picnic table to myself in the ground of the Cobourg Yacht Club.

Sketching in the gardens of Cobourg Yacht club

It was a hot day and the paint dried quickly on the page so I decided to stick to pencil sketching from this direction.

Pencil sketch of Colonel Ken

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling. My previous postcard was from FROM MILTON KEYNES: WOUGHTON HOUSE. – a hotel Anne and I have stayed in while visiting her family. 

Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Whenever we go travelling, I pack my watercolour kit and various sketchbooks of various sizes and make time for sketching.

Our ritual, as soon as we arrive at a new place, somewhere we will be staying long enough for Anne to write and me to paint, is to set up the space to suit us both. Our cabin aboard MV Ventura was perfect for our needs. And what a view!

Our cabin | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Anne bagged the ‘dressing table’ as her office space, and I took over the ‘lounge’ area. Some shelving beneath the TV held all my equipment and I used the small coffee table for my palette and to rest my sketchbook.

We were aboard MV Ventura for fourteen days and seven of those were at sea. This gave me plenty of time for sketching.

 

Water, water, all around …

For the first two days, crossing from Southampton to Lisbon. all we saw from our balcony was the sea. And ships. And even more ships and drilling rigs whenever we went into port. With my marine insurance background, I found this fascinating and took many photos. So much resource material, so much inspiration for my sketching, but never enough hours to paint everything!

Drilling rig | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

However, I did sketch a few cruise ships and captured the landscape when we were in port.

 

Sketching Queen Victoria

One of Anne’s friends cruises regularly. We met her and her husband for lunch in Madeira a few years ago. We were staying in Funchal over Christmas and New Year; they were due to arrive on New Year’s Eve, in time to see the fireworks that night. This time, they were aboard Queen Victoria and – because our itineraries had us both in Madeira on 31 December, we planned to meet up at the same restaurant for a catch-up. Imagine our surprise to wake up the day before, to see their ship just across from ours.

Cunard moored | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

As it turned out, we should have made the effort to meet that day. Once we got to Madeira, they were moored off and the sea was too rough for them to be allowed ashore on the tenders.

This sketch is of Queen Victoria sailing off into the sunset.

Cunard sailing away | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Sketching in Tenerife

We’ve visited Tenerife before and we were not inclined to go ashore that day. The sky above the mountains was black, and we’d not been attracted by the various tours on offer. Instead, we enjoyed relative peace and quiet aboard ship. Anne did lots of writing and when I wasn’t taking photos, I was sketching . Bliss!

Tenerife | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Sketching in Madeira

We’ve also visited Madeira many times but never aboard a cruise ship. The day we arrived (31 December), it was a full house.

Madeira | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

We walked ashore in the morning and returned to the ship in time to avoid a downpour. As you will have seen from a previous post, the rain abated, almost, and the New Year’s Eve fireworks were spectacular.

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling. My previous postcard focused on edible art.

Next week’s blog shares more of the art we discovered ashore. If cruising appeals to you, visit the P&O website.