Opening 'Guide France' - Part 4

Flipping through more pages from 'Guide France', my Paris sketchbook.

I enjoyed using my rebound book. I loved the paper and the books size and weight.
I found I didn't suffer from 'white page fever' and always felt able to draw paint glue write whatever in the familiar environment of my book.

Opening 'Guide France' - Part 3

The Lourve cafe: sacred site for the desperately weary. From my chair, gazing over my 'cafe', I could see the 'Raft of the Medusa' by Gericault.

I thought I 'knew' what the Tour Eiffel looked like. It took a few preliminary sketches to 'find' what it really does look like. (See them here.)

Opening 'Guide France' - Part 2: Musee Picasso

It was an interesting experience drawing Picasso's paintings, there infront of the great man himself (or so it seemed) and amidst a large ever moving crowd.

I sat on benches in the middle of the rooms or stood when there were none. People came up to look at my drawings, sometimes sitting next to me to sneak peaks at my progress. On top of this I had decided my brush texta-style pens would be the quickest and easiest (and I didn't want a confrontation over using watercolours in the gallery). The brush pens make that texta squeak as you draw, and I was drawing fast so the squeaking was prominent.

In order to survive all these external influences and distractions I had to focus on getting the simple 'facts' of the painting down.

I found I hadn't brought my black brush pen and had to use my .8 and scribble to quickly fill the large black areas. I also didn't have all of the colours I needed.

The only thing I had left was to relax into it, free up, scribble and scrawl as best I could. I remembered - almost seemingly on a cellular level - the old lessons I had 'learned' from Picasso from books back home, the lessons on being free and getting it down regardless. I felt the spirit of Picasso there approved in a humorous way, of my scratching out images in texta right there amidst everything. I think he would have liked it, after all he used anything and everything in creating his art, nothing was 'sacred', not until it was done that is.

Opening 'Guide France'

Paris!
L'oree du Marais, No 29 rue Francis Bourgeois... I had plat du jour - Timbale ou Pecheur au gratin, salade.















Cafe du Metro, bvde St Germain













Walking, walking, we 'found' the Pantheon and de Mairie du 5th Arrondissement which had a Goya exhibition. I thought "a nice little Goya exhibition would be nice right now" (being somewhat overwhelmed). It was nice, but not little at all and my overwhelment continued unabated. Because there was no way I could look at all the beautiful etchings and engravings I decided to draw ONE...
Se repulen. ("They finish themselves" 1778 - 1779.)



It had been raining all day, the seats were wet, everything wet. While I sat a did this quick watercolour (a) I was asked repeatedly "can I have my photo taken with you?" (b) secretly(?) videoed and (c) an organ grinder came along, handed out song sheets and he and his 'choir' did three stiring French songs...
and I wasn't there all that long!




Pont Neuf.
So many bridges, so little time...

I'm back! (although some bits of me are more back than others...)

...actually quite a lot of me wishes I was

here... (Rousillon)

I've had a wonderful trip and the jetlag is waning now. I'm back at work but my head is still somewhere in Provence, Tuscany, actually I think it's Paris. I've done some sketching in those books and once I get my scanner set up again and my daughters visit is over, I'll be posting some of them here. Thanks for waiting everyone; not much longer now!