Essentialism in illustration is pretty powerful. I was working on some slow and detailed watercolor illustrations of hats when my five year old wandered over and pointed to the beret and said Paris! She then called out the witches hat, the winter hat and the police hat. I abandoned that watercolor painting (for now) and went in this direction instead.
Art Tourism
Not just the fabulous museums and galleries in Paris but the legendary art supply stores as well. Sennelier across from the Louvre has been in business since 1887 and is where Degas, Picasso and other famous Parisian artists got their supplies. The shop even developed oil pastels for Picasso! Now I have a few small goodies to take back to England with me.
Sketching, blogging, tourism and being part of a family with young kidson vacation is (almost) too much.
It's exhausting but exhilarating and oh so much fun. Each day is different and better and I end each day exhausted and happy. Love Paris!
Notre Dame took my breath away.
Growing up in the States I have never seen anything like Notre Dame before and it left me speechless. Having the chance to walk around and take it in before sitting down and sketching it was a huge privledge. Walking around inside during mass I felt both French and Catholic for a few minutes.
Sketching Memories in Paris
Sketchbook keeping on vacation/holiday is one of my favorite activities. This morning I woke up and sketched a corner of the living room on our Parisian apartment. Memories of this trip kept forever in a precious book.
Paris bound!
Next time we are going to take the train to Paris! But it was a pretty uneventful flight and just long enough to start and finish a sketch.
