Drawing in Paris

Posted By Laurie on December 19, 2010

My last day, and it was wet slushy snow on top of last night’s icy slush. Ideally it would have been a better day to curl up and drink cafe au lait in bed, but I don’t have coffee in the apartment, so I got up, and trekked out to the salon de tea not far from me, only to find they were closed, probably due to the weather. So I went to La Brioche Dorée, which is maybe the French version of Tim Hortons, only instead of doughnuts you had croissants, pain du chocolats, and viennoisseries. I had a croissant d’abricot and a cafe creme, and enjoyed it. I noticed they had some Galettes de Roi (a seasonal pastry), and in different flavours, so I made a mental note to come back at the end of the day for some Galette de Cassis.

I went to Ile de St-Louis, which is the smaller island behind Ile de la Cité, where I often wandered through last time I was here, so it was a really nice wander-through again, despite the slush. If I were to be in a position to buy property, there’s this hotel particulier with 5 rooms, looks pretty luxurious, for 2 million euros. High ceilings, great views, and the such. One can only dream.

Once I finished picking up some more presents, I grabbed a cup of vin chaud to walk with, and it really hit the spot. Imagine, walking around on the street with a cup of hot mulled wine. Only in Paris. Yum.

I crossed the bridge over to where my first apartment choice was, and I’m glad i didn’t go with that. It’s not bad, it’s just that it’s a little too close to Les Halles for my taste, and I would not have felt comfortable after dark. I went on eastward, as i decided that I’d check out Carnavalet Museum and Place des Vosges, once I deteremined that it was very close to each other. I decided to stop for a mid-day meal at this cute little restaurant right at one of the corners of of Place Vosges, a smaller offspring of Ma Bourginon. I looked at the menu for Ma Bourgignon, but felt the menu to be a bit too rich and too traditional (ie frogs legs, tripe, etc) for me, but across the street was more of a bistro with more reasonable food, so I sat there. Service was very professional, yet friendly and helpful; and I ordered French Onion Soup to start with, and it was perfect. Not watery like the first night I arrived, but just perfect. Then I had a Boeuf Bourgignon – which was definitely heavenly, and a lot better than what I made… only because it’s been braised for longer, and had beef broth added to the wine (I forgot to add the beef broth to mine).

Then I went to Musee Carnavalet, and really enjoyed my time there. Basically it’s a historical documentation of the period of Paris, not unlike Barkerville, so I totally enjoyed the pre-Revolution era recreation of rooms, and the Art Nouveau recreation. The Revolution floor was closed off, so I didn’t get to see the gilloutine, unfortunately.

Once I finished the tour, I then walked over to St Paul’s where the metro was, and found that I really enjoyed walking through parts of the Marais. There are more to le Marais that I didn’t get to see, like the Jewish quartier, but all in all, it was time to go home and rest, so I can start packing up.

I’ve been here for nearly a month. The things that I thought I’d do, I did, and didn’t do.

The course itself was much more intensive than I expected, so I found myself exhausted by the end of the day that I was ready to sleep. I did have mid-day dinners and almost no dinner, or if I did, they were either soup or bread. I definitely had croissant for breakfast every morning, and refuse to feel guilty about them. I actually drank less coffee here than I did at home, but drank more wine than I did.

I explored the Louvre more often, getting to know the various artworks there, but not so much the other art museums. I did stop in little art galleries to see what contemporary Paris artists were doing, and found it not much more different than what contemporary BC artists were doing. I could look at a painting and be reminded of my artists friends back home.

I barely shopped unless it was for art supplies.

I love Paris, but have decided that early fall or late spring is really the best time to be here. Winter was dark, and bright sunny days were rare, but enjoyable. It didn’t rain too much, but it was overcast a lot. It snowed a lot, which is not the norm.

I would have loved to be able to get out of Paris on a weekend, but the weather was too unpredictable to take a chance, and the one weekend that the weather was perfect, I was sick. Oh well, maybe in 2 years, when I hope to go to Argenton, south of Loire Valley, for 3 months!

Here’s the plethoria of photos from today.

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Posted By Laurie on December 19, 2010

It doesn’t seem to matter where I am in the world, but shopping stresses me out. I can’t stand the crowd, and I feel like I’m drowning. Especially in malls and department stores.

I checked out Galeries Lafayette this time, to see if I can find any gift ideas, and within 15 minutes of being in the store, I wanted out. I went into H&M next door, and only lasted 5 minutes. I went into Sephora across the street, and got a headache from all the perfumes being sprayed in the air.

I found what I needed to find, and got the heck outta Dodge.

I really do prefer little exclusive boutiques like where I bought my boots from – it’s more personal, and you are treated like a person, not a cattle.

Hence I didn’t go back to Laduree. If you weren’t in line for the tea room, then you had to get in line to buy their sweets, and you better know what you want as soon as they turn their attention to you. If you just wanted to buy boxed sets, there’s a station with a table full of boxes. I am saddened by what Laduree has become over the years… it has devolved from being an experience to a money pit. Quelle scandele! Pierre Hermes has better customer service, and actually better macarons, but they were still just as spendy.

Here’s some more G.laF. images.

Galeries LaFayette

Roof details

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Posted By Laurie on December 17, 2010

I’m really sad to say that it was the last day of class. I’ve learned so much from Tim and Michelle, and really enjoyed my classmates, and was inspired by our muse Lucy.

I am so amazed at how far I’ve come along in my drawing:

From

to

I still have a lot of work to do.

We went to the Louvre after our last studio session, for our final sculpture sketches, and I wasn’t into anymore. I waited for my final critique from Michelle, and then wrote down notes to remember so I can continue to practice at home. Anyone want to be my model?

I went back upstairs to the French paintings, and I’m even amazed at how I can tell the influences of Artist A, Artist B and so on. I’m almost at the point where I can look at a le Brun and say, that’s a le Brun, or a Fragonard, or Vouet, or Viens. It’s really exciting actually, to apply what I’ve learned to art appreciation.

At the end of the day, we all went to Le Fumoir for aperitifs, and 4 of us shared a bottle of red, while the others had beer, or other drinks. Photos were taken, we talked about New York, as Ben’s sister joined us, and Tim was talking about how they sold their New York apartment and bought their Paris apartment. We kind of talked about 9-11 as well, how devastated they were as they had front line view from Brooklyn, and how papers landed in their patio, from the offices of the twin towers. It was sad.

Tim and Michelle left, and we were going to leave, but then we decided to have dinner there, which kind of got the staff in a tizzy because a) in Paris, one doesn’t have dinner after aperitif in the same place; and b) there was a reservation for 9:30pm, and it was 7:30, so we really only had 2 hours to dine, and they dont’ like to rush diners. But our lovely waitress handled it with ease, and we had a delicious dinner. I had the formule, which was entree, plat et dessert, with a choice of 3 selection per entry. I started with a calamari salad, which was deliciously light – bok choi, steamed calamari, tomatoes, carrots, with a delicious lime, cilantro and coriander vinagrette. My dinner was the truffle risotto, which was good. The dessert was poached pear crumble.

My classmate, Walton, paid for our dinner because it will be her birthday tomorrow, and she said, it’s her gift to herself, having a great company for her birthday dinner. We were stunned actually, as she didn’t have to do that.

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Posted By Laurie on December 17, 2010

Last night I went to an art gallery opening with Walton and Daiga. The artist was H. Craig Hanna, at the Laurence Esnol Gallery on rue Bonapart.  He is a figurative artist, who paint big, and I mean big. He did something a little unique – he uses plexiglass as his surface along with paper, so he might do some initial drawings on paper, but then he places the plexiglass and paint his figures on them. It’s a very interesting body of work. He’s also a very successful artist, with an impressive client list.

I have to say, and I really didn’t expect otherwise, that art gallery openings are the same all over. You have wine served (although in this case, it was champagne being served), and appetizers (cheese, and other finger food) on platters taken around the room. You also have the skinny bored girl who’s supposed to be the go to person if you had enquiries about the artwork but is ignored in favour of the gallery owner, or the artist himself. In other words, galleries in Vancouver are doing it right.

I love it, though. I got to discover a new contemporary artist who have been trained as a draftsperson, but manage to give it a new, interesting twist to it.

Walton & Daiga at H. Craig Hanna's art opening at Laurence Ensol Gallery in Paris

Lucy in front of "Lucy" by H. Craig Hanna

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Posted By Laurie on December 17, 2010

One of my favourite painting, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, is called the Laundress.

The Laundress by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

An interesting tidbit: The model is Suzanne Valadon herself, and the setting was right in the very studio that I was in for my morning classes. I believe the window is their kitchen window. How cool is that?

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Posted By Laurie on December 15, 2010

No pictures today, but I thought I’d relate something to you about some of my classmates.

My Latvian  friend Daiga Alise was talking about her family, growing up in USSR. Her grandfather, she never met, was shot and killed – I missed the whole conversation. Growing up, her parents were never emotional, kept to themselves, as a product of the whole environment they were living in before the fall of the USSR, so Daiga sometimes finds it a challenge to be more open about herself. Emotions are boxed in, and she feels that it reflects in her drawing, that her drawings are boxy rather than fluid.

Being in Canada, I am so removed from this kind of world, that sometimes I stop and think, God I am so lucky. It is one thing to be moved by watching the Wall tumble on TV in the late 80s early 90s, but to be part of a whole new world when the USSR falls apart and new countries emerge, I just can’t imagine it. So yes, I am very grateful for the world I grew up in, and grateful to everyone else who have experienced their lives and shared it with everyone else.

I am very grateful for opportunities I grabbed by the horns, and sometimes I have doubts about what I’m doing, but when I think about others who choose to live in the dark on purpose because that’s all they know and they’re afraid to see what’s out there, I think, I’d rather get out and find out, even if it’s way out of my comfort zone, because I know I can always come home. That I am always grateful about. Some people just don’t have that.

I went back to my first drawing this morning, and compared it to what I have now, and I wanted to cry then. I didn’t, but I didn’t take any photos yet, as I didn’t have my camera today. I am so proud of my progress, and I have no regrets about this course.

After the lights faded on my new drawing, a bust of a man with dundrearies (actually a death mask bust of the French crown prince Ferdinand-Philippe, Duc d’Orleans), I stopped and decided to go see the Northern Europe paintings (Dutch, Flemish, Germanic), and finally saw the Rubens and the Rembrandts. I will sound like a broken record, but to see these in person, how can one not be grateful about it?

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Posted By Laurie on December 14, 2010

I got sidelined with a cold and chest congestion, so I really had to take it easy over the weekend. On Saturday I decided to walk (!) over to Au Printemps which isn’t too far away on my street, Rue de Provence. I was closer to the department store when a vespa passed by me, and I was thinking, did they remove the muffler or something?? then I realize it was my own chest that was wheezing… not a good sign. I took it easy by going up to the top of Au Printemps where there was a cafeteria and a viewing deck. I grabbed some water and lunch, and ate it, and then enjoyed the view. After that, I went back home, and pretty much passed out.

On Sunday, I wasn’t much better, but I needed fresh air, some nourishment and a book to read, so I went to  WH Smith to pick up 2 books to read, and stopped at Angelina’s and had an omelette. I really so wanted their hot chocolate, which is absolutely to die for, but I knew that hot chocolate, especially their kind, would just make my congestion ten times worse, so I had to pass on it. I did console myself with a trio of macarons. Yum.. I ate them before I could take a photo of them. They were very pretty. Sorry. Went back home, and just read in bed.. and I did finish both books by the end of the night.

But I did notice that they have the Girl Who Kicked the Hornest Nest in paperback there, so I’ll have to go grab it this coming weekend before I leave on Monday, so I have plane reading material.

Monday was better but I felt like I was in a fog, so I don’t remember much of yesterday except for some drawings.

Today, I didn’t feel as congested, but I still had a sinus cold. I stopped at a pharma, and asked for something for the sinus, so the lady gave me something, with instructions on how to take it – it’s somthing similar to Tylenol Day and Tylenol Night.  At lunch I tried to find that sushi shop so I can grab a miso soup, but couldn’t find it, and ended up walking uphill on Rue Lepic in Montmartre. It was a pleasant walk, but cold.

Pictures of Paris on my walks follows:

Au Printemps

Tour d'Eiffel on the right and Madeline on the left.

Back of the Opera Garnier

one of the turrets of Au Printemps. May be real gold, maybe not.

View from Au Printemps terrace

Cafeteria specialty of the day

rue de Provence

Notre-Dame-de-Lorette with Sacre Coeur in the background.

Velibre station - you take a bike, ride it to your destination and park it at the nearest station.

A building on rue de Provence, an office building, I believe.

Pink Vespa.

Fountain at the Palais Royal metro station

Entrance to the metro station at Palais Royal

Ile de la Cité

Rue Lepic, enroute to Sacre Couer

A walk along Rue Lepic

All uphill...

Still more uphill

A side passage from Rue Lepic, with a view.

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Posted By Laurie on December 10, 2010

I’m down with a cold that seem to be getting to my chest. A cold’s been passing around the class, so it’s no suprise, but I feel like I have a frog in my throat. So I got some strepsils, lemon, ginger and honey. The strepsils are medicated, the lemon, ginger and honey is for my Wells Coldbuster Tea.

Because I almost have no taste, didn’t want to waste my money on food that I can’t taste, so I went to Cojean’s to take out food, and settled on a shepard’s pie – can’t go wrong with a Brit classic, right? Right. I forgot about the French preference for near raw meat. So, the ground beef is just cooked. Not to a point, but just cooked enough, but still pretty red. There’s nothing wrong with it, but visually, it’s so wrong. The potatoes were good though, so I skimmed the potatoes and left the meat alone.

I’m nearly at the end of week 2, and it’s been pretty frantic, really. Maybe it’s because I’ve moved from Vancouver to Wells, and have been enjoying a pretty laid back life, telecommuting with my clients, and all, that I’ve pretty much forgotten what it’s like to be in the rat race. Mind you, I’m drawing, not working, so my days are pretty enjoyable and not mundane at all. It does take away from tourist things, but then again, I’m here as a student not as a tourist, and I knew the schedule would be intense. What I didn’t count on was being exhausted every day at the end of the day, but the evenings go by very fast because I’m either updating my blog, or reading my notes, or doing research on the artists we’ve studied to date.

I’m rambling, so I’ll get back to Paris. Because we’re living in a global world, Paris has taken on more North American tendencies – eating on the go, short lunch breaks, mass distribution (ie markets just get their produce and meat from Rungis, instead of knowing their source farmers), so it’s quite sad to see this happening. Some Parisians I’ve talked to like it just fine, more convenience, and others lament this as well. But there are things that are going to stay forever, and that’s the baguette and the croissant. Vive le baguette!

Going to La Maison du Pastel, or entering one of these old stores and bakeries (posted yesterday), is so appreciated, and also endangered. A lot of small businesses were family-run, and if Junior doesn’t want to carry on, and they have no one to take over, they close up when they retire. It’s pretty sad when it happens, and places like yesterday, Laduree, La Mere de la Famille, etc are appreciated, although the latter two has been bought out by other people not related to the original owners, but have carried on the same tradition because they believed in what they bought.

We had quite the snowstorm the other day, and I have to be amused at how efficient Paris was compared to Vancouver when they get a blizzard. Although, traffic jams are traffic james around the world regardless. Businesses were very quick to clear their sidewalks or salt their area outside the building. The entrances to the metros are almost immediately salted. And the roads are cleared pretty much right away. On the other hand, you’d have to wait for 5 trains to go by before you could get onto one. Luckily I didn’t have to take lines that were too busy. Basically Paris didn’t come to a standstill like Vancouver tend to.

It is now Le Weekend, and tonight I am just relaxing, having my tea, and an early bed so I can get rested for a busy weekend. It’s my last full weekend (actually, next weekend is), but I’d like to go to Ile de la Cite and Ile de St Louis, just to wander around, and go into Notre Dame, and then do some shopping and maybe meet up with Sharon or Walton. I’d like to pick up some nice charcoal/pastel papers to bring back home (Fabriano Roma sheets) too. Also, daylight is good for more photo taking!

More progress. I feel that I’m almost getting it. I had Tim explain to me how to get the gradation right, and I get it, but I still can’t wrap my head around it yet. I’m trying not to overthink it, and if i just be conscious of what I’m doing, and keep on practicing, I’ll probably eventually understand it.

Tim paid me the biggest compliment – that I “get” what he’s trying to teach, and that with preserverance, I’ll go very far very fast in my drawing skills. I’m glad to hear that as right now, I’m wondering at this age whether I’ll be able to take this as far as I can, and I suppose it’s never too late to learn. Tim is a walking encyclopia of artists, art history, and he has a story for almost every artist possible. He makes me want to go back to school and take art history. Something to think about when I go back home.

My progress from today, same Lucy pose as yesterday. Michelle really helped me with tips on hair, or how to shape the head when you have a mass of hair – how to make it believable.

At the Louvre, more on Suzanne au bain. I’ve been calling this statue Suzanne, and Sharon kinda laughed at me, and said, you name your statues?  I said, they all already have a name. Mine just happens to be Suzanne. I think she thinks I’m nuts.

Tim has already given me critique on this one, and he’s a hands-on instructor, so don’t be too wowed by my effort here – some of it is done by him. Both Michelle and Tim have said that this statue is difficult to model in general because of the multiple light source – one main light, 2 sub-lights, and natural daylight from the courtyard. So the challenge is to find the dominant light.

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Posted By Laurie on December 9, 2010

Today was a beautiful day, and I think it made people more friendlier and happier. I know it made me happier. I had a window-easel, so I got great light, and great view.

View from my window easel

My progression on my Lucy drawing…

Lucy, phase 1

Lucy, phase 2

Lucy, phase 3

Lucy, phase 4

I think we will continue tomorrow morning, same pose. I got a critique just before the Phase 1 picture from Michelle, but I hope to get Tim’s critique, particularly on the gradation technique as I feel like I’m not getting it right.

I’m a art supply geek, so when we had the opportunity to visit H. Roché pastel store, La Maison du Pastel, I was all excited. You’ve probably never heard of Roché pastels, but apparently they are the oldest pastel makers, and probably just as exclusive. Expensive too. Degas was a client of theirs as he used their pastels exclusively. Anyways, started in 1700s, and was profitable through the 1800s, but almost died out if it wasn’t for Isabelle Roché, who gave up an engineering career to restore the name to its former glory. I really wanted to buy a whole set, but it would probably set me back about $10,000 CAD – but that includes the wooden box with drawers. I might settle for a smaller box that will set me back 50 euros, which is a box of 5 pastels, I have until next Thursday to decide.

H. Roche pastels - Landscape series

H. Roche - 5 piece set in wooden box

H. Roche pastels - just a sampling of pastels in a wooden drawer

Isabelle Roché with boxes of pastels behind her

Eleni testing out the pastels

This is what I want - I believe they are the portrait sampler

Then I spied a box of Fusians, and I asked Isabelle about them, and she said she found a bunch of boxes in storage, and she figured they were made around 1815 or so, can’t be too positive. She wasn’t selling them but she hopes to one day. Then she asked if I would like some, and how many? I said 5, and she said, 5 euros then.

Box of Fusians (charcoals), estimated 18th or 19th century, maybe 1815

5 fusians older than Barkerville?

It was Thursday night, which meant Orsay was open later, so I walked past Hotel de Ville and Notre Dame to the metro, so I can get to Orsay.

Noel à Hôtel de Ville

In front of the caroussel in front of Hotel de Ville (mayoral palace)

Christmas tree at Notre Dame

I didn’t want to try and see everything this time, even though it was a smaller museum than the Louvre, so I went to the Gerome exhibition. They do not allow photo taking in the exhibition itself, but I was so fascinated with his techniques and his style. I think I almost broke down into tears at one point. His style is almost Technicolour, with a great range of depth so the focal point almost float out of the canvas, like a 3D photo.

If you seen his artwork in a book or online, you are really seeing a very poor reproduction of his works – it needs to be seen in person to really appreciate the field of depth of his paintings.

I think I nearly cried when I saw this one. I’ve seen this in books and online, but to see it in person was so unbelieveable rich that just have not been able to be captured.

Click to see a larger photo of L'Éminence-Grise by Gerome.

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Posted By Laurie on December 8, 2010

This afternoon was our first part of a 2-part Louvre lecture based on the 17th century French Academy painters. It’s a period I’m most interested in, aside from the 16th century Italians, so I found it very interesting.

Some of you may have seen the lineage chart, that traces the tutorial lineage from Tim’s mentor, Ted Seth Jacobs.

[please note that the following are what I recall, and may have some info wrong. If so, just correct me.]

At the Louvre, Tim started with Simon Vouet (1590-1649), a fascinating painter in his time. He was born to a privileged family in Versailles – his father was a sign painter, and he learned his draftmanship from him. And at a young age of 18, he went to Constanstanople on a commission, which was nothing to sneeze at in those days. Once he was finished he went onto Rome in 1614, where the Baroque style was emerging. Vouet proved himself to be a natural academic, where he absorbed what he saw and and studied in Italy, including Carravagio’s light, Veronese’s colour, perspective, and the Carracci family. He was so successful that he eventually was elected president to the Accademia di San Luca. At his pinnacle, there was no where to go except back to Paris, where he introduced the Italian Baroque to the French. The style complimented Louis XIII’s grand decorative scheme, and he was appointed the royal painter at the King’s court.

Simon Vouet, La Richesse

Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), born in Normandy, France, also left home, but for Paris when he was 17,  to study masterpieces of Mannerism artists (Fountainbleu etc). His artwork caught the attention of an Italian poet, Giambattista Marino, who took him to Rome, and introduced him to influental people such as Cardinal Barbarini. With his talent, he slowly won Rome’s respect, and was included in Cassiano dal Possio’s circle of antique art, philosophy and literature. This influenced his style, which is an emphasis on lines and contours, a certain palette of colours, and the classicizing of the figures (statue-like).

Nicolas Poussin, L'inspiration du poete

Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674), Brussels-born to a poor family, was a pupil of a Flemish landscape artist Jacques Fouquières before he moved to Paris in 1621. He worked under the direction of Nicholas Duchesne, but eventually overshadowed him, thus forcing his return to Brussells. When Duchesne died, he returned to Paris to marry his daughter, Charlotte Duchesne, and because of the Duchesne name, he had an in with the Marie de Medicis and Cardinal Richeleau, thus ensuring his success.

Philippe de Champaigne, Portrait de deux hommes

Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) was apprentenced in Simon Vouet’s studio at the age of 11, learning the best from Vouet, and was commissioned by Cardinal Richeleau at the tender age of 15. 1642, he went to Rome to study under Nicholas Poussin, and learned and adapted Poussin’s theory on art. I’m not sure how he incorporated the influences of de Champaigne into his work, but that he did incorporate the breadth and depth often found in Flemish works.

Charles le Brun (aka Charlie Brown), "Pierre Segiuer, Chancilier de France"

The weather was pretty unbelievable, probably a record since 1970s, with heavy snowfall that closed down the Eiffel, and shut down the bus system (subway was still running), and slowed down traffic on Blvd Peripherique.

Snow on the Pyramid

View from the Louvre > Rivoli

View from the Louvre - Courtyard

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