Sketches from Paris in November

Visiting our eldest daughter Marinell in Paris this past week….

Paris was sunny and stunningly beautiful! Our weather is still very mild and everybody is out and in good spirits. The waiters are witty, the cars are their usual impatient selves, the women typically autumnal chic and elegant and the children street wise. It is always an experience for me to go into Paris. Once I get used to the traffic, the street hustle and bustle and and Paris noise, I fall into the rhythm of the city, revel in taking on my new pretend-role of la Parisienne.

…place de la sorbonne…

I have my few secret corners that I drop by every time (you’ll have to visit me to know what they are!) and for the rest, I walk and walk and walk, discover new quaint little shops and petits chemins, drop in to buy my regular edible gold leaf and to see what other delicacies are new. Discover bars and bistros and boulangeries and chocolateries, roam the markets, linger in the bookstores and art stores, enjoy lunch with Marinell at my one of my favourite bars outside the centre of Paris, L’usine Charonne. Tea at l’heure du gouter at Le Fumoir, meet Hartman at night on our romantic spot on Pont neuf,  read for hours in my favourite jardin de luxembourg where something happens every minute and each stroller is living his/her story. And always, always  held captive by the  incredibly beautiful architecture of Paris.

How I love Paris. How I love France!

See photos here:  Travel at Myfrenchkitchen

…st amandé – place de la mairie…

My sketches are all a bit tight, but maybe I am a bit uptight lately! I have done some more sketches which will follow in the next post and they are a bit looser and messier…the way I like it.

…le marais…

…place de la nation – statue…

All sketches done in sketchbook with graphite and watercolour.

Just some sketches….and a vendange in Vouvray.

Every year I paint these clementines from la Corse. See last year’s sketches at CLementines.

…clementines from Corsica…

clementines in watercolourSketch done in moleskine with pen and watercolour

The next two sketches were done a while ago. I just sketched some things around me – a container in the living room with brushes and pens and stuff and part of a bookshelf. I try very hard to keep the bookshelf, neat, but I am starting to think we will never have neat bookshelves.

..brushes and pens…

brush holder

…disorder…

books on the bookshelf

Sketches done in Moleskine with rotring artist pen and water wash.

On Myfrenckitchen, I have posted some photo’s of a vendange in Vouvray that we did in Octobre. Good freinds have a bio vineyard where the harvesting is still done by hand. On one Saturday during the harvest period in October, all their family and friends get together for a day of grape harvesting. It was hard work, but a fun day, with a delicious lunch,  many laughs and jokes and a messy grape fight towards the end of the day. I only took photos, because I didn’t want to hide from the work behind my sketchbook! you can see some photo’s here at Pears in red wine and a wine harvest.

vendange-grapes

Sunflowers in France – to sketch and paint

I’m not making the same mistake as with the poppies. The sunflowers are out and I’m ALL over them with eyes brushes and lenses!

I’m posting one or two photo’s here and you can see all the rest of the sunflowers here.

For those who don’t have access to sunflower fields or who are stuck in cities or those who want to work in their atelier, I invite you to download any of these photos and PAINT it, or SKETCH it, or DRAW it. If you want a photo bigger than 500 x 333(what they are posted in here), drop me a note and I can send it to you in bigger format.  BUT PLEASE! these photos are only for those who want to draw or paint it! For any other purposes, feel free to ASK me…I can be a very nice person!

I am off to the sunflower fields myself tomorrow with my easel and paint and will hopefully turn up with something worthy of the sunflower’s exuberance!

Enjoy!!

…sunflowers to paint and sketch…

sunflowers 1sunflowers 2sunflowers 4sunflowers 11sunflowers 19sunflowers 24sunflowers 6sunflowers 17sunflowers 13sunflowers 12sunflowers 9

Painting poppies

When the poppie came into bloom a few weeks ago, I was highly excited. Been counting 365 and a quarter days for them to reappear.

Las year they were spectacular! I spent days with my camera next to these fields, planning to take out the brush and sketchbook next,  but before I knew it, there were only a few late bloomers still standing…

Too late for a painting. Too late for a sketch. Next year is after all, another day.

…poppyfields of Vernou, 2008…

collage3

Next year showed up.

This time I had my act together. My easel was packed. My tubes were sqeezed. The oil was ready to swirl. Until I came to the poppy fields of last year. Not a poppy in sight! Instead, the wheat fields were covering every square inch as far as the eye could see. I drove around a whole morning in search of poppies to paint, heavily disappointed in myself for not taking an opportunity when it blatantly flashed itself to me!

I finally came upon a few poppies here and there, but nothing close to the spectacular drama I had seen last year. It was nonetheless an opportunity and I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice!

…poppie field in Vernou, 2009…

Among the poppies

I parked myself in the midst of the wheat field, in bright sun and delighted in capturing the even brighter burst of reds at the end of the field. My painting doesn’t really meet my expectations and I can’t even blame the poppies of 2009! Hopefully there is another year of poppies waiting for me; or even better, many years!

Life gave me a last reminder about opportunities and all those life – talking stuff, when I packed up and wanted to leave. I backed up into a ditch on the narrow farm road and it took me some thirty minutes and some broken and bent taillights connections… and wheely skidding… and exciting vocabulary to get the point.

…la matinée rouge…

oil on canvas, 41x33cm (16″x13″)

matinée rouge

…detail: click on image to enlarge

detail - matinée rouge-1

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