Paris Thumbnails

Redon inspired still life, 9" x 11"

 

There were a lot of requests to paint yesterday's Redon setup, so I did.

First to watercolor match the ribbon and boxes

Surprise! A 5-month old framboise macaron lurks within one of the boxes.

Used in another setup. No, I did not eat the macaron...yet.

Would you?

Were the rununculas chosen because of the Redon exhibit?

The pink box was sighted not so far from the Grand Palais expo...

I wanted to start off doing thumbnails like Dewey did in Maine

David paints his thumbnails on typing paper(!) so I tried it out

Then just plain old tracing paper

Then thumbnails on watercolor paper but these are not simple enough

But I forgot to look at the thumbnails I did that day until after the fact. A la prochaine/next time. If you're going to paint pink, pink, pink

You need to eat a lot of watermelon! What shall I paint next PBers?

BONJOUR Paris THUMBNAILS!
 

Mini Maine

NO MINIS in Maine.  Do I hear a sigh of relief?

This is about doing thumbnails - mini sketches as preparation for your BIG painting.

Here is David Dewey's subject matter for the workshop's first day demo.(HELL. Bridges - bah) 

DD paints. We watch and listen.

The end results. The painting is first on our palette, so he places his next to the finished watercolor

 Here are some "thumbnails" studies David did from Winslow Homer compositions.
 

This set of 4 thumbnail studies are from Dewey's watercolor book. I decide I'm going in this direction.

I pick a view to the left. Notice - NO BRIDGES to mess me up.

 First I start with pencil sketches and then move on to my little watercolor Moleskine ( only 5 1/2" x 3 1/2"). This is FUN! and the fear melts away

The more thumbnails I do

...the looser I get.Owl's Head Rocks, original watercolor

Finally I feel comfortable doing a "big" painting. 

  The next morning I took a look at a Winslow Homer book for rock painting reference. WHOA! Much more rock practice is needed obviously. I even did a few practice thumbnails yesterday. I'm doing my homework.

BONNE JOURNEE
 

French Independence Day, Radishes

 

This morning at 7:32 I thought I heard the French Guarde Republicaine band playing & ran 🏃‍♂️ outside to catch them

But found just a lone runner…

La Maison du Chocolat Thumbnails

Onsite sketching part deux - Ta da!

BEAR choisie La Maison du Chocolat on 1018 Madison Ave. And BEAR choses the eclair caramel ($6.50). He is partial to caramel so what can I do..?

I LOVE the striations on this pastry - for me they are the sign of a classy eclair, though I have no proof of this.

Inside La Maison du Chocolat's eclair the creme caramel is...creamy and contrasts nicely with the caramel icing on top. Why don't I have the correct words to describe this to you? At least you can head here without traveling 3000 miles

OK, We're here to PAINT ONSITE! Voila! I decide to stick with 'thumbnails' at first go.

BEAR studies the recipes in LMDC's chocolate book while I doodle - he has not given up on b--king like some people...ahem

I'm sitting in an alcove just above the chocolate shop so I can hear bits of conversation wafting by...

"Chocolate is the modern miracle cure for everything!

"There is a lot of giggling in response

As I paint a smiling chef comes out of the kitchen and sneaks a quick peek but is respectful and says nothing. Other staff pass by smiling. When I go to pay at the cash register, Michael Olsen, chocolate master and New York store manager takes my money. I ask him,

\"You make people happy here don't you?"

He says, "Yes we do." smiling.

La Maison du Chocolat is a little piece of Paris just waiting to tempt you. They have awfully nice chocolate classes too

Here's why BEAR and I fell for La Maison's eclairs

La Maison's windows are dependably witty and very Parisienne
Oh why didn't I get their terrific chocolate macaron? I'm kicking myself a bit (and BEAR too). Don't miss it! We will simply have to return for more sketching at La Maison - Life can be tough sometimes..non?

BONJOUR ONSITE SKETCHING at LMDC!

 

Le Cafe des Chats, Little Book of Thumbnail Class

 

This must be a breakfast shot at Le Café des Chats with so many alert, perky cats (awaiting for their petit déjeuner peut-etre?)

Yesterday by 6:30 pm 

Edward Hopper in Paris

Friday January 4, 2013 Hopper-esque thumbnails

I wasn't sure I wanted to see the Edward Hopper exhibit at the Grand Palais with waits up to 4 hours.But I bought a ticket anyway to see what the whoopla was about.

Paintings done during his three stays in Paris in 1906, 1909 and 1910 were full of Paris greys and grey bleus.

They're rarely on view and I ate them up

Then went out the following day searching for similar settings like the Pavilion de Flore.

Notre Dame was often a subject for Hopper before he turned his eye on Maine lighthouses and farm sheds. Hopper's work was deeply influenced by French Albert Marquet, Felix Vallotton, Degas. It's an exceptional treat to see these artists in the same room with Hopper.

Another huge influence was 19th century photographer Eugene Atget of Paris monuments.

Moody and abstract in design

They left a lasting impression on Hopper.

Not included in the Grand Palais exhibit (but I wish they were) these ledger book thumbnail croquis drawings Hopper made after paintings were completed as a record of what sold at what price and what size. His wife Josephine filled in the written info to keep track of every single painting - she was the administrator behind the scenes. A French facsimile is out of the ledger and available on Amazon.fr, Edward Hopper, De l'oeuvre au croquis.

After the exhibit I wandered over to the Christmas marche on the Champs-Elysees. Doesn't this caneles-maker look a good model for Hopper? The Dog of the day was this saucisson smothered in grilled onions on a baguette with moutarde (6 euros). An appropriate snack after the Hopper expo in my opinion.