Thursday, November 30, 2023

Chocolate Letter Reseach

 

Doing chocolate research 🔬 is one of the easiest things you can do in Paris, especially for the November Paris Letter.

Still I could not discover from Google how many chocolate shops are in Paris! Many ‘10 Bests’ list - oui. How many shops ? - non

Because it was raining cats & dogs last week, I went into the closest chocolate shop at hand for samples to draw. A traitorous act, because Jeff de Bruges is Belgian, but they are sprinkled around town.

The good news is you can walk into any chocolate shop in Paris and buy just ONE chocolate. There are no minimum sales. The concept of the ‘pêché mignon’ or guilty pleasure is well-appreciated. Usually you will be ‘gifted’ 🎁 another chocolate to taste!

You can pick out individually exactly what you want. I wanted different shapes to draw ✏️ I didn’t care about pretty boxes/ballotin. (8 pieces - under 5€).

I had this idea of chocolates swirling up around the Eiffel tower

Then it became a cyclonic swirl of chocolates 🍫 

A lot of time was spent drawing, painting and eating chocolates to get in the right frame of mind 🤔

But where were the chocolates coming from? Why not a cat (Krazy Kat) with an open box of chockies?

No, it had to be a French girl. I looked at Jane Birkin 

She may be British but she is still the iconic ‘French Girl’

Next I needed someone eating a piece of chocolate 🍫 

Of course there had to be a dog in the picture. Thank you Gemma 👏

And a few Paris pigeons.
To be continued 

22 comments:

  1. Good morning Carol! I love this and all of the ideas you had to arrive at the show piece! Hmm, I may just need to grab a lowly Hersey's Kiss with my coffee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:04 AM

      Hershey Kisses!? Forgot those

      Delete
  2. Sometimes I wish I liked chocolate better. But what I do like most is your wonderful art!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:05 AM

      Thank you Jeanie ❤️

      Delete
  3. Anonymous8:21 AM

    Ah hah, this explains the solo decoration at Easter in the lobby of the former Intercontinental Hotel: a huge chocolate egg. A very large, undecorated one had pride of place, with no coy rabbit to be seen.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great creative mood making and process!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:45 AM

      Really? Thanks Leslie. Looking from the inside I wish the process was less torturous 🙏

      Delete
  5. Anonymous8:44 AM

    I LOVED your drawing of the circling chocolates around the Eiffel Tower! An iconic image really
    Should be a branding for a French chocolatr company!
    Sooooo how many ahem chocolates did it take to get into the proper frame of mind? Me? A kilo at least!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:40 AM

      12 because I ate the first 6 too quickly before making a great study of them under the microscope 🔬

      Delete
  6. Anonymous9:05 AM

    So creative as always!🥰

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous9:35 AM

    Adorable letter, Carol! You are so creative. Can’t wait for you to unveil the entire watercolor. Chocolate, Tour Eiffel, French girl, and a pup? Yes, please❣️

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:44 AM

      Tomorrow is the unveiling
      I had to run to the printer and I’ve been waylaid by a hacking cough & cold 🤢

      Delete
  8. I'm sorry you have so much research to do:). Sad to see her daughters carry her casket..even sadder when I read she had lost a daughter.I had not known..It will be stellar your lettar:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:42 AM

      I redo and redo. I wish I was much faster Monique.
      Who is carrying what casket??

      Delete
  9. Anonymous1:28 PM

    Hi, Carol: One of your best posts yet!

    ReplyDelete
  10. sukicart4:28 PM

    I am slowly devouring my stash of chocolates from Paris - love your chocolates swirling around the ET.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:38 AM

      Thank you Suki ☺️ I cut slivers with a knife and dip them in tea ☕️ slowly too

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:39 PM

    I love loveloveeverything you do.....especially you coffee cop sketches. Thank you thank you thank you!!!! Bev Kjeldsen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:37 AM

      Thanks Bev ❤️ so kind

      Delete
  12. Anonymous5:22 AM

    OH, CAROL, I'VE BEEN AWAY FROM YOUR WEBSITE AND MY GOD HOW ADDICTING YOU ARE!!! A LOVELY ADDICTION! THANKS. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! LOVES, CARLA

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love the final letter of tower, girl, dog, pigeons and chocolate. Thanks for sharing with us how you get there, so many amazing sketches on the way. You deserve the chocolate! Motivation chocolate. Hope you feel better soon.

    ReplyDelete

Love hearing from you