INTERIORS

Public places are people places "par excellence." The urban designer behind the sketch artist will attempt to express the gatherings, behaviours, figures and moments around as they evoke strong recollections of place. This recollection is especially significant because we identify ourselves actively in a people scene. Our experience of place is subliminal. It must be distinguished from the passive experience of place through landscapes or the built form. Both need be incorporated to grasp the fuller totality of that experience.

JMB: An indoor bar/restaurant scene in one of the most "urban" area in Calgary - Eau Claire. I really wanted to illustrate the distinctive quality of the lighting fixtures with a high-ceiling open hall against big bright windows.

This quick sketch of APM restaurant in Calgary uses 3 paints: indigo, rose madder and cadmium yellow. I find this minimalist palette provides a great base for indoor lighting. In this case the open high ceiling offers space and bright lights even in the evening. It is a favourite gathering place for all ages. It is comfortable, spacious and modern stylish. I originally had focused on the red and yellow lights over the bar, and found as I quickly painted that the perspectives flattened nicely with the ceiling height to convey the experience of the place with the waitress going back and forth with bubble teas and dinner specials to tend to a quiet and relaxed customers. The 3 paints mixed perfectly to express the colour scheme and the flat brightness of the interior design.

This other interior sketch at Earl's Tin Palace was done with indigo, ochre and rose madder. The ochre and the rose madder combined nicely to create the special posh lighting of the place. The ochre sets nicely the giant lighting fixtures. As part of the minimalist palette, the indigo serves well to add tone and values. All this was done in fifteen minutes with my water glass and a dinner saucer to mix the paints. The doorway wall to the washroom adds another feature: it is a bright mat white, which I set off with the natural paper, by adding a pale ochre grey wash to the rest of the walls. This wall sets a nice contrast with the rest of the space. I overlayed the quick pilot fineliner study sketch I did aftwerdards. A couple of adjustments in Photoshop made it possible to finish off the scene for the web - until I have time to add the scene on the original

Another is a patio scene in one other - almost "iconic" urban scene in Calgary - Kensington - this is a sepia / indigo underwash, and I will be glazing the colour value over it.
This was as simple as having a pocket brush and a couple of paint tubes in the same shirt pocket. The sepia and indigo are perfect for fast sketches, because they offer a full range in value, and together combine for a wide range of warm and cool tones. This was done directly from the paint tubes, dabbing the excess paint from the cap. At times watercolour can be the simplest and most minimal artform.

MEMORIES OF PLACE

Memories are an important aspect of Sense of Place. It is often overlooked. Sketching is the ultimate art of recording memories, and going back to sketches done long before brings back the reality of that place. It is a powerful experience and it is one further step in urban design which incorporates time. The process of sketching requires intense quasi trance-like "seeing" and revisiting a sketch years later will bring back the vision of that moment.

JMB: These are watercolours I just painted from sketches I drew over 10 years ago in the Canadian Kootenays.












Fernie's Art Station - a reconverted train station













Kimberley's churches


















Fernie's City Hall

SKIES, LEAVES AND WATER

Skies, leaves and water provide the textural background to a sense of place. This texture is a function of seasons and habitat. It offers a unique flavour to the urban experience of each city. Also, this same texture will appear in all sketches. It is therefore essential to the local vernacular we draw.