Professors: David Covo and Robert Mellin
Place: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Dates: Thursday, August 21 to Friday, August 29, 2014; August 21 and August 29 are considered travel days. The course itself will begin with a short orientation meeting at 6 pm on Thursday, August 21, and will end at 8 pm on Thursday, August 28.
ARCH 325, Architectural Sketching:
Eight days of supervised field sketching outside Montreal in the late summer, followed by coursework and fieldwork in Montreal examining architectural sketching as a process that develops an intellectual and physical framework for encounters with the urban environment. (Students are required to include Sketching School (ARCH 325) in the B.Sc.(Arch.) program.
ARCH 680, Field Sketching:
Observation, notebook recording, sketching in a range of media in the field in Montreal and other urban sites. Eight days of supervised field sketching outside Montreal, followed by local fieldwork and coursework examining architectural sketching as a process that develops an intellectual and physical framework for encounters with the urban environment. (Students newly admitted to the M.Arch. (Prof.) program are required to take Field Sketching (ARCH 680) right away. Please see further details provided at the end of the document).
Accommodation
A wide range of hotels, motels and inns are available and students are expected to arrange their own accommodation. The Google.ca search engine will provide you with a full list of inns, hotels, motels, B & B, chalet rentals and campgrounds.
http://www.novascotia.com/flipbook/
PLEASE NOTE: LUNENBURG, NOVA SCOTIA, IS A VERY POPULAR HOLIDAY DESTINATION, PLEASE RESERVE EARLY!
Transportation
A variety of travel choices are available to students. The School has looked into the best economical way to travel; it is by car or van. However, some of you may wish to travel by Via Rail, and local transportation will be used to connect to Lunenburg. You may also consider travelling by airplane.
NOTE: If you intend to travel by train or air, book your tickets as quickly as possible.
Health Insurance
Please remember to bring with you the Quebec Medicare Card, and proof of any other supplementary health insurance you have to cover your stay in the Nova Scotia. You must complete the McGill University Travel Registry which will require health insurance information, etc.
Required Equipment
Watercolours, watercolour paper, brushes, pencils, pen and ink, conte crayon, sketchbooks (including the standard 13 x 21cm Moleskine with heavy-weight paper) and drawing paper of varying size and type. Sketch pads, sheet material and watercolour blocks should range from 9" x 12" to 18" x 24".
If you need to buy a set of watercolours, you could consider a set with ‘cakes’, or you could purchase separate tubes of pigment. If you decide to buy the separate tubes, you will need to develop a versatile palette. Below is one suggestion for a 12-colour palette – please note that the palette does NOT include black or white, which are unnecessary and even undesirable.
- Reds: Alizarin Crimson, Indian Red
- Blues: French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue
- Yellows (difficult): Cadmium Yellow Pale, Yellow Ochre
- Greens: Hooker’s Green, Olive Green
- Browns: Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber
- Other: Payne’s Grey
The first exercises in watercolour will be based entirely on French Ultramarine and Burnt Umber, which produce a surprising range of values and colours.
As for sketchbooks and pads, we recommend, in addition to the list above, a small pocket notebook or sketchpad for thumbnail sketches and experiments with wash and watercolour. A few good sable hair or synthetic brushes will also be required: a small and medium round, with a medium to large (1/2 inch or ¾ inch) flat are always useful.
Bicycles have always been valuable additions to the standard "kit" and are highly recommended. We have also found that a folding camp stool or small foam pad can make 2 - 3 hours on the cold ground much more endurable.
Schedule and Meeting Format
The emphasis is on field sketching as opposed to studio work, so students draw outside every day, working individually and in small groups, and under the supervision of the instructors for the first four mornings of the course.
Our first meeting, a short one to orient everyone and coordinate the time and place of the first workshop, will be at 6 pm on Thursday, August 21, outside the main entrance of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic:
- Meeting 1: Thursday, August 21, 6 pm
Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic
68 Bluenose Drive
Lunenburg, NS
Four other meetings – discussions of the work being produced – will take place between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm in the Parish Hall of St. John’s Anglican Church. These sessions provide a lively forum not only for a review of the work being produced but also for informal discussions on the intentions of the course and on the process by which images and memories are formed.
- Meeting 2: Friday, August 22
- Meeting 3: Sunday, August 24
- Meeting 4: Tuesday, August 26
- Meeting 5: Thursday, August 28
St. John’s Anglican Church, Lunenburg
81 Cumberland St
Lunenburg, NS
B0J 2C0
(902) 634-4994
Three morning workshops are also scheduled. The first workshop will take place at 9 am on Friday morning, August 22, on the Bluenose Wharf (at the east end of the public parking lot on Bluenose Drive). Locations for the other workshops will be announced in Lunenburg.
- Workshop 1: Friday, August 22, 9 am – Bluenose Wharf
- Workshop 2: Saturday, August 23, 9 am
- Workshop 3: Sunday, August 24, 9 am
Evaluation
During the course, students are expected to explore both townscape and landscape and to make sketches that describe what they find. Final evaluation is based on a portfolio of at least twenty pieces, the majority of which must be substantially worked.
REGISTRATION NOTE:
Students currently registered in the B.Sc.(Arch.) program are required to attend ARCH 325 Architectural Sketching. Students currently entering U3 in Fall 2014 will register for ARCH 325 with the remaining Fall 2014 courses. Early Registration is open.
Newly admitted students to the M.Arch. (Prof.) program, will register for ARCH 680 Field Sketching with the remaining courses required in the Fall 2014 term.
If registration (including withdrawals) is problematic, please contact Mary Lanni-Campoli by e-mail: mary.lanni [at] mcgill.ca or by telephone at (514) 398-6702, before the commencement of ARCH 325 / ARCH 680.