Urban Sketching Ottawa in Autumn

The purpose of this blog post is to compile a list of potential locations for some autumn urban sketching in Ottawa. Concrete sketch outings will be announced on our USk-YOW facebook (FB) page and through the creation of a FB event.

Weather Matters for Urban Sketchers

This year, September 2015 was incredibly warm. Ottawa urban sketcher John Wright had his last swim in the Ottawa River at the Britannia club pier from his boat in the last week of September!

Then, by the first week in October, folks in Centretown were spotted wearing hats, scarves and mitts!

The weather affects our art materials and our ability to sit for long periods outside. This will be an important consideration for our fall outings

In Ottawa, the average weather is as follows:

•  Average Weather In September For Ottawa: characterized by rapidly falling daily high temperatures, with daily highs decreasing from 23°C to 16°C over the course of the month, exceeding 28°C or dropping below 11°C only one day in ten. 

  

  Source: WeatherSpark Ottawa

•  Average Weather In October For Ottawa:  characterized by rapidly falling daily high temperatures, with daily highs decreasing from 16°C to 9°C over the course of the month, exceeding 22°C or dropping below 3°C only one day in ten. 

  

  Source: WeatherSpark Ottawa

•  Average Weather In November For Ottawa characterized by rapidly falling daily high temperatures, with daily highs decreasing from 9°C to 1°C over the course of the month, exceeding 15°C or dropping below -5°C only one day in ten 

  

  Source: WeatherSpark Ottawa

Autumn Indoor Locations

These evolving indoor/outdoor location lists below will aim to include sites with no costs; accessible by public transportation and sketcher-friendly policies. 

For any indoor location listed below, I have written to the managing organization ahead of time and asked the following question: 

"What, if any, are the rules for artists/urban sketchers who would like to visit your museum/event for the purpose of doing a number of small sketches for a duration of no more than 2-4 hours?"

I thought that this was important to do when I read that the National Art Gallery of Canada actually disallows a lot of artist materials within their gallery (including erasers!?)

On their website visiting FAQ, they wrote:

Q: IS IN-GALLERY DRAWING ALLOWED? 

A: Drawing is permitted in the galleries with pencil only (erasers are not permitted). You may be asked to stop if the galleries are too crowded.

Free Ottawa Museums

• Museum of nature: (FREE) Thursday evenings: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm (Admission to the Permanent Galleries only) Policy on sketching: (to be provided once response received) http://nature.ca/en/home
• The Canada War Museum (FREE) Thursday evenings from 4 to 8 p.m. (General Admission) Policy on sketching: (to be provided once response received)  http://www.warmuseum.ca/home/

The Byward Market: Policy on sketching: (to be provided once response received) http://www.byward-market.com/en/about/aboutus_index.htm

Autumn Outdoor Locations

The following outdoor locations were chosen because they are close to public transportation and offer plenty of shelter for warming up (i.e. coffee shops, restaurants etc)

Centre Ottawa

1. Centretown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centretown
2. The Byward market https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByWard_Market
3. The Glebe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glebe
4. Sparks Street Village

West Ottawa

1. Hintonburg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hintonburg
2. Westboro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro,_Ottawa

N.B. Park without paying On Saturdays and Sundays, the World Exchange Plaza shopping centre offers free indoor downtown parking. This is great for visitors to the mall or those looking to take in spots nearby — such as Parliament Hill, which is just two blocks away. (Map to World Exchange Plaza at parkopedia)

2015 Events to Sketch for Free

• Annual Biology Butterfly Show: FREE Saturday October 3, 2015, to Monday October 12, 2015 Opening hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.** (On the weekend, lines close at 3 p.m. due to volume) http://carleton.ca/biology/annual-butterfly-show/ Policy on sketching: (to be provided once response received)