Category Archives: Life drawing

Scary Metro Ride Home

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Tonight coming home on the metro about 8:00 I had an rather unsettling experience.  I could hear someone speaking very loudly and than a series of loud bangs. Soon I see what it is all about, a very large, very upset man is walking through the metro cars yelling and slamming shut all the vents at the top of the windows.  He is either drunk or deranged, perhaps a bit of both, to judge from his appearance.  He is strangely dressed with all sorts of things tied into his hair and his pants appeared to have not much of a bottom in them, his bottom was quite visible.  To make matters worse he stepped into the area between me and the passengers facing me and almost fell on the lady beside me!

I was worried he was going to stay here, but he moved on, slamming more window vents. Everyone looked a bit upset, people were looking at each other with raised eyebrows or other facial expressions that clearly showed they did not like the situation.  A few minutes later he is walking back the way he came from, still slamming windows, as some people had opened them after he passed by.  This time no one reopened the windows!

He disappeared towards the back of the train and then a whole lot more people got on, so I figured he would not be able to make his way back to where I was sitting.   This is honestly the first time in Paris that I have felt uncomfortable, or worried about a situation.  In hindsight, I think the best thing to do would have been to get off the train and wait for the next one, but I was rather shocked by the situation and didn’t think of this until after it was all over.

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I did do some drawing on the metro today, but wasn’t able to do any after this incident.  I actually got a terrible headache, just the stress of it all I guess.

Then when I arrive at the metro station at the end of my street there are a whole lot of metro security and they are in a semi-circle around a man who is wearing an old jacket that says ‘Security’ on the back.  He has a very big muscular doberman and it appears that he wants to take the dog on the metro?  Not exactly sure, but the dog is wearing a muzzle and he is getting agitated, as is the man, who appears to be trying to explain something to the metro police.  The man ties the dog to the exit booth, so the metro people have to open a special gate so people don’t have to go through the booth.

I decide that I need to get home and shut the door on all this!  I even checked the internet to see if it is a full moon, but it isn’t, so can’t blame it on that.

There is a soccer match on tonight that Paris is playing in and they appear to be winning as there is a lot of cheering and noise periodically.  I couldn’t figure out what all the noise was about but when I went out to get a few groceries I saw a bunch of men standing outside and inside the cafe on the corner.  I go see what they are watching on TV,  turns put to be soccer, and I ask who is playing.  A man tells me, and says Paris was up by two points.  That was almost an hour ago and there is still lots of noise every now and then so I assume they are still in the lead.

Anyways… I attended two life drawing sessions today and then went for drinks with my two new friends and met a friend of theirs as well.  This gentleman is an American who came to visit Paris with his wife for three months and is still here, more than a decade later.  That seems to happen to people when they visit this city!

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Here are a few of my drawings from today.  The first model was older, probably at least my age, and very thin, so interesting to draw.

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I could see bones and musculature very clearly, so I concentrated on trying to sort those things out, especially in the neck and collarbone area, trying to sort out the shapes and shadows in this area.  They are over emphasized a bit in these drawings but I was concentrating on a study of bones and muscles.  This model was wonderful for that.

 

Our second model was rather voluptuous, so quite a contrast from the first session.

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Sorry for the long rant about the trip home, I think I just needed to talk about it.  Thanks for listening.

 

Drawing In The Dark

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Today was a very full day.  First I went to a four hour life drawing class at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière.

image imageMy drawings at the Académie were kind of hard work today. As is often the case when I have a day like this, the quick five minute poses turn out the best. I horribly overworked everything else.

I hurried home after class, and had a half hour to put my feet up, grqb a bite to eat, and get ready for the ballet.

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The sun was starting to set when I arrived and the light was catching the golden statues on top of the Opera Building. There are always a lot of people milling about, taking pictures, or just sitting on the steps soaking up the atmosphere. It was pretty neat getting to walk up to the big front doors, gain admittance, and walk up that grand staircase.

imageIt wasn’t all that easy to find my seat.  Turns out it is behind a locked door with no door knob, that needs to be opened by an attendant.  I am sitting in a beautiful red plush box seat!

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That was a surprise.  I knew I had a railing in front of me, but I assumed it was just a wooden railing because there would be a walkway in front of it, or something similar. I feel rather regal, I must admit. I wonder who else has sat in that very same seat over the years?

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The painted curtain rises to reveal a red velvet looking curtain.

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imageThe Opera Garnier,  also known as the Palais Garnier,  was completed 139 years ago in 1875, and is now the home of the Paris Ballet.  It holds about 2,000 people and is pretty much sold out most for every performance.  I was very lucky to get such a good seat the day before the show, there were only a few seats left.  There are benefits to travelling solo!

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The Chagall Mural and crystal chandelier are stunning!  Actually the entire place is stunning.  The pictures don’t do it justice at all.

I took my pen and sketchbook with me and drew in the dark.  I couldn’t see a thing so I had no idea what I was doing until I could take a look when the lights came on at intermission.image

The first half of the performance was very traditional so there were often dancers posed in the background for a few seconds, which made it a bit easier.  Although I was fairly close to the stage, about a third of the way from the stage, the dancers still looked  still fairly small.  I am so glad I didn’t get a  seat further back.  Sometimes during this performance all the dancers were on stage at  the same time, quite the spectacle!

image The second half of the performance was very contemporary, and the dancers didn’t stop moving for a second! I was pretty sure these drawings were just going to end up as scribbles, but I think they actually still give the feeling of dancers.

 

imageIt was a great evening, watching the ballet and trying to interpret what I was seeing on paper, in the dark!

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The Opera Garnier  was very beautiful by night.  I think I am going to have to take a bus ride at night just to see the lights of the city.

I also managed to do some more metro drawing today too, but people kept getting up and leaving.

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I was a bit nervous about taking the metro home so late and thought for a while about the best route to take, but it was quite all right. I didn’t get home until 10:45, definitely the latest I have been out so far.  I may even try going to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night, now that I know I can get myself home after dark!

Three Models Today!

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This afternoon was challenging.  I had a tough time drawing the first model, she was doing a great job, I wasn’t.  It took up till the last couple poses to figure out how to draw her. The same thing happened the other day with the muscular male model, some days drawing comes easier than others.  You can see what I mean, the one drawing below didn’t work well at all.

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I tried colour washing a page and using some pastel on it but ran out of time. I’ll try it again,  and it made me realize how much I miss working with pastels. That will definitely be on my list for when I get home.

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The second session was with two models.  I like life drawing with two models, their interactions help figure out proportion and limb placement.  I don’t know if these two had worked together before or not, but they really didn’t take advantage of that aspect of working together.

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There were a couple good poses but many of them were a bit static.  I ended up just drawing the male model for a couple of poses, the light was good for seeing muscles in his back, so that was my focus. Backs are hard to draw, they tend to be big rather flat expanses without a lot of detail, the lines and shapes meed to be just right to capture the ‘feel’ of a back.  Not always easy to do but I was finally happier with a couple of my drawings.

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I drew on the metro again today.  It is getting easier to do, some times the person sitting beside me watches, but they don’t say anything and they aren’t really obvious about watching me.  I am usually concentrating so hard that I don’t really even notice.  I have to be careful though, I almost missed my stop twice when I was drawing!

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These lovely tomatoes were at my fruit and veggie store.  Hard to decide which ones to buy.

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I have had a couple bad nights, I wasn’t able to get to sleep until after 3:00 last night, but at least I didn’t dream about dead people or bones or cemeteries or….

Hope to do better tonight, it isn’t much fun being so tired.

Académie and LaRotonde

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Two drawing sessions today, six hours. I decided to use some Derwent Drawing Pencils I brought with me.  The are softer than coloured pencils, look like conté a bit,  but they don’t smudge like conté.

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5 Minutes poses

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15 minute poses

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20 minute poses.  The model had a tummy that made her look like she was pregnant but I’m pretty sure she wasn’t.  Nice to draw in any case.

The male model this afternoon had a very muscular build but he was also very tall so he had extremely long legs and arms, broad shoulders and the tiniest waist.

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Very beautiful to look at but very difficult to draw.  By the end of the three hours I was just beginning to get familiar enough with his body to figure out how to get him on paper.

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I met two very nice ladies today, and we went for drinks after class to LaRotunda which had many copies of Modigliani paintings on display, one of my favourite artists.  Turns out this is quite a famous cafe, founded in 1911 and frequented by Modigliani, Utrillo, and Picasso, along with Hemmingway, and many other painters and writers.  Often when the poor artists couldn’t pay their bills  they would  pay with a piece of artwork.  My pot of mint tea was 5€, about $7.00 Canadian, but worth every cent.  It arrived on a tray in a silver looking tea pot, with an additional pot of hot water.  Very elegant and we sat and visited for almost two hours.  A lovely time.

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It was almost dark by the time I headed for home, so had to take photos under artificial light again…sorry,  not the best, but better than waiting until tomorrow to get it done.

Balzac and Beautiful Buildings

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I went to the noon drawing session at the Académie and then decided I needed to come home afterwards for a bit of rest.  The weekend was busy and I have had a couple of restless nights so I didn’t have much energy today.  Here’s a 15 minute pose,  3 x5 minutes poses, and then a twenty minute one.

imageYet another great model.

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I am still feeling my way with the watercolour gestures, some work better than others, I think I’ll keep at it for a  bit longer.  I am working in a A4 sketchbook which is about 8 1/2″ x 11 1/2″, so the drawings I am posting are done on that size paper.imageWhat a treat, a new model every day. Tomorrow I plan on staying for both sessions as there is supposed to be a male model at 3:00.  So I will take it easy tonight, get organized for tomorrow, and hopefully get a better night’s sleep.

Here are photos of few buildings along the way to the Eiffel Tower. I love the tops of these buildings, they look so intriguing.  I wish I was able to see what the insides of the apartments up there look like.

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There was an outdoor exhibit of children’s art alongside a park, near the studio where I was drawing.

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This is a view of the Seine River from the Pont Alexander III beside the Eiffel Tower.  I do want to take a boat ride on the river before I go home.  I think I better start making a list, as I know I am going to run out of time.

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And then there is this very famous statue of Balzac by Rodin.  It is on the median beside the Vavin Metro station, which is the metro station I use to get to the Académie de la Grande Chaumière.  I passed it several times and didn’t even see it until a couple of days ago.

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One last photo.

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Did you spot the artist?  I always notice them but wonder how many other people do?

 

Crazy Bicyclist, Break Dancing and Eiffel Tower

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On the street outside my window is what I have come to think of as the drinking bench.  Everyday there is a group of men who sit and visit and drink wine.  Although drinking on the street and in parks is not allowed everyone seems to do it. Yesterday in front of Sacre Coeur there were even people selling bottles of beer to the tourists!

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I went to a life drawing session at an artist’s atelier near the Eiffel Tower todayAnd the male model was excellent.  He held some very difficult poses.  I have been playing with watercolour gestures, not always successfully, but I think it has promise so I will persevere.  It is always difficult to try new things, it feels awkward and clumsy at first.  Even if it isn’t something I decide to continue doing, it still adds to my knowledge and understanding.  It is very easy to keep doing what I know works, instead of stepping into new territory, but I know I need to push myself in order to keep learning and improving.

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imageThese are five minute poses, not many models would even attempt the one above.

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Here is a photo of the studio. Nothing too fancy, but Claire provided tea which was much appreciated. She was instructing a class, and I was allowed to come and do my own thing. The students were quite interested in what I was doing and gave me some nice compliments.imageI decided to walk over to the Eiffel Tower, about a six block walk, and soon I could see it towering above the near by buildings.

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It is difficult to comprehend just how big this structure is.  Soon I am right underneath, looking up.

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It is a special weekend, les Journées du Patrimoine, with lots of buildings open to the public and events taking place all over the city.  It is very busy here today, the line ups for the elevators stretch right across the plaza beneath the Eiffel Tower.  There is an electronic sign flashing that says that the platforms are at maximum capacity and there is up to a 45 minute wait, and that is after waiting in that big line to get tickets!   Good thing I had no intention of going up today.

imageWhen we were here several years ago we were surprised to see military guards, somehow not so surprising today.  I have actually seen armed guards in several places, including the Gare de l’Est.

imageInterestingly, neither the police nor the military seem to do much to deter street vendors, who can be quite insistent, I discovered that a quick shake of the head and not making eye contact seems to do the trick.  This bunch is waiting for the elevator to come down from the Eiffel Tower, they then follow the people who get off, trying to convince them to buy an Eiffel tower of their very own.

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I watched this guy operate for a few minutes, and saw a man lose a hundred Euro bill!  He was so sure he knew where the little ball was, and was quite shocked that he didn’t double his money, like the woman before him, who managed to pick the right cup several times.  I am pretty sure she was working with the fellow manning the cups.  I am surprised that people still fall for this.

imageI head across the river towards the Metro, and stop to watch some pretty amazing break dancers.

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One of them invites a pretty young girl up on to the stage and is quite surprised when she pretty much matches him move for move!  Turns out she is with the Astana Ballet, which is a ballet company from Kasakhstan.  What a treat that was.  I ended up sitting there for more than an hour, it was all so entertaining.  One of the break dancers spoke to the audience in at least a dozen languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, German, Russian and more that I can’t remember.  He seemed to know at least several sentences in each language and even answered in the different languages when the audience members responded!

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I also saw the craziest bicyclist ever.  He came flying, down a pedestrian street standing up on his bike, which was scary enough, but he then continued onto the main road which was part of an intersection of six roads !

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And he did this repeatedly!  I stood in utter amazement and watched him perform this insane stunt at least a half dozen times.  No idea what he is thinking.  I am thinking he is lucky to still be alive!

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Time to get home.  One last look back at the Eiffel tower in the setting sun and I head off to the Trocadéro Metro stop .

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The metro trains were very busy tonight, but a young lady and later a man get up to give me their seat. I guess having grey hair has some perks!  It was almost 9:00 by the time I got home, the latest yet.  I am getting braver.

Drawing Meet Up and Sacŕe Coeur

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Another full day.  I went to a drawing meet up in Montmartre, in the smallest theater I have ever seen.  It has seats for nine audience members and the tiniest stage.

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Here is a view of the inside and some of the people who attended, the model is sitting on the stage.

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It was at the top of a big flight of stairs. Montmartre has stairs everwhere, as it is built on a hill overlooking Paris.  I certainly got lots of exercise today.

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We had a nice model, who is an actor an a dancer.

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I decided to play with some different media, this is pastel pencil.  The light wasn’t very good for photgrphs by the time I got home, but I decided to do the best I could so that I could post pictures tonight.

 

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After our drawing session we all went to a local cafe for refreshments, a visit and a chance to look at each other’s sketchbooks.  One of the ladies told me that she came for a visit for a month,  five years ago, and she is still here!   Hmmmm….

As I was only a couple of blocks from Sacre Coeur, I wandered over for a brief visit.  It is certainly a busy place!

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I decided to go home, get something to eat and then come back for the six o’clock Vespers, which are sung by the nuns.  Bob and I did this the last time we were in Paris and we really enjoyed the experience then and it was just as wonderful today.  There was a service right after Vespers so I was there for about two hours, sitting drawing the cathedral and the nuns while I listened to their beautiful voices.  It was a wonderful experience.

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imageThe notes at the bottom of the page are from the hour or so I sat before the service started.  A guy  was talking, non stop, to a girl that I don’t think that had known for very long. He expounded at great length on his philosophy of life and religion, and pretty much everything else, including how his birth caused him breathing difficulties his whole life and what he is doing to try to resolve that.  Then he said, ” This is the first time in my life that I have ever been 100% honest with anyone”. It seemed that the lady was falling for all of it, but I thought that she should run as fast as she could!  He sounded like trouble to me, and he was very full of himself, but it was rather entertaining to listen to it all.

When I left the Cathedral it was raining, and I walked home with my pretty blue umbrella, smiling and thinking “I love Paris in the sunshine, I love Paris in the rain”

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Here are a few drawings from the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere yesterday.  I decided to try something new, and used a big brush and a watercolour wash with a quick pencil drawing over top while it was still wet.  These are five minute drawings, a bit of a challenge, but fun.  It certainly made me loosen up a bit.

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The male model was a very interesting older man with a great big moustache and a bit of a big belly too!  I think he must have been quite a strong muscular man when he was younger.

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I am going to an artist’s studio near where I bought my sim card in the 15 arrondissement tomorrow, for another  life drawing session.  It is quite close to the Eiffel Tower so I may stop there for a visit, we will see how the day goes.

Six Hours of Drawing!

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Stools and more stools, all heights from about 15″ to 48″.

imageI was able to stay for the 3:00 drawing session as well as the 12:00 one today.  Six hours of drawing and it went by so quickly.  Not noticing the  passage of time is a good indicator that a person is in a creative zone or space.  That was certainly the case today, it did not feel like I was drawing for six hours, the time flew by and before I knew it we were on the last pose.  I  didn’t even notice how sore my bottom was until I put down my pencil and brushes!  I will post some drawings tomorrow, it was dark by the time I got home and I need daylight to take pictures of drawings.

This interesting cage is in the corner of the little courtyard just outside the studio.  No occupants today.

imageI went to see the Osteopath again today, and I took these two pictures on the Metro going there at 6:30 pm, looking in both directions, before it got so packed that I couldn’t even get my arms up in the air to take another picture.  Yes, even more people piled into the train at the next station!

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imageIt was almost 9:00 by the time got home so a long day but a very satisfying one.

A Peek Through the Big Blue Doors

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Another great model today.  I still haven’t spoken to very many people during these life drawing sessions, but I am on a nodding and ‘bonjouring’ level with several of the regulars. There aren’t many English speaking people here, or maybe they are like me, just not saying much.  I did have a little conversation with a woman the other day.   It was her first time here, and between my French and her English we managed just fine.

imageActually, other than the normal social niceties, the pardons, and merci’s, there hasn’t been a lot of conversation happening.  Everyone is pretty focused on their drawing, and most people tuck their finished drawings away at break time, so there is not really an opportunity to make a comment on their work and strike up a conversation that way.

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Life drawing is really almost a form of meditation, there are no thoughts about anything other than being in the moment, seeing and reacting to what you see.  In a way it is important to stop thinking about what you are doing and just let your eye be connected to your hand.  The brain can get in the way, telling us what we think we know rather than letting us see what is actually before us.

This is one of the biggest problems people have when they begin to draw.  They will draw what they think something looks like rather than really looking and seeing what they are looking at. Once a person really learns to see and draw what they see, they will begin to improve their drawing skills quite rapidly.

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The drawing sessions have a schedule for poses; the noon class has 3 x 5 minute poses, + 2 x 15 minute poses,  repos ( rest) for 15 minutes, 2 x 20 min, repos 15 min, 2 x10 min + 5 x 5 min.  I do kind of miss the fast 2 minute warm us we usually start with back home, but getting used to this routine.

As I was getting ready to leave, the model for the next session arrived and I was so tempted to stay for another three hours.  I decided to head for home, as I plan on doing both sessions tomorrow. There is a male model the second session and there aren’t many male models. Only four for the whole month; I missed the first two and there are only two more sessions with a male model, and one is  tomorrow.  I’m curious if this is because most people want to draw females, or if there is just  a shortage of men who want to model?

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This is my favourite Metro line, the M4.  It takes me to my drawing class in about a half hour.  The only reason there is no one waiting is because the train just pulled away.   Notice on the board, that another one  is due to arrive in just one minute!  I am still amazed at the efficiency of the Paris Metro.  This morning the train was absolutely jam packed for the first five stops, standing room only, and squishy standing room at that! Some people needed to step off the train so that the doors could close; it was quite the experience. We are so used to a bubble of personal space around us, and that is certainly not the case on these packed trains. My face was inches away from several people and somehow it was OK, everyone is very polite and of, course, everyone is in the same situation.

imageTaken through the window on  the M2.  All the stations have brightly coloured chairs.  Usually there is a big advertising poster on the wall, but this station had graffiti, which, by the way, is absolutely everywhere.  Most of it is just vandalism, but I have seen some rather interesting graffiti that would be classed as street art.   I’ll post some of that another time.

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And, this is where I do my blogging.  I do have a table and chairs but the bed is very comfortable, I can see out the windows, and rest a bit at the same time.  I am also have on my ‘wash and wear’ top.  I only brought one short sleeved top, thinking it was fall and that I  am usually too cold rather than too warm.  Well, today it was 28, like 33 with the humidex!  It has been way too warm to wear long sleeved tops, so this one gets rinsed out every night.

 

An Interesting Model

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I attended another life drawing session at noon today.  Quite a different model from the one we had yesterday.  Not exactly sure how to describe her, perhaps ‘earthy’?  She made me think of some of the descriptions of models from the Impressionist’s time, many of them were dance hall women, or women of the street.  She had that bit of crudeness to her, an awkwardness almost, and she scratched and shifted her body about in a way that most models do not. Even her wrap was rather tatty and not all that clean, and she wore big black boots with her flimsy sarong wrap during the breaks, quite the combination.  Interestingly, she also seemed to be carrying on some sort of quiet conversation with herself, and would make rather strange facial expressions, as though in response to someone or something. She was certainly interesting to draw though. The first drawing is a 20 minute pose, the other three poses were 5 minutes each.

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These stone steps at the Académie have seen countless footsteps over the years, wearing the stone away.  I love this evidence of the past and all the artists who have been here before me.

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I didn”t have the best drawing session today though, my body has been giving me a bit of grief and it was being particularly bad today.  This morning I found an osteopath who speaks English, with the help of the internet. I used my new phone (for the first time) and made an appointment with her for later today.  She was very nice, and has her Canadian citizenship, as she lived in Canada for ten years before deciding that she missed Paris and her friends and family.  She worked on me for about an hour, so I am hoping to feel better soon.   I will likely go back towards the end of the week for another treatment.  I would love to be able to do two drawing sessions back to back, but have not felt up to doing so yet.

Coming home on the train from Giverny the other day,  I actually got up the courage to draw one of my fellow travellers.  The guy sitting beside me kind of watched what I was doing, and gave me a little smile when I finished. image

The train ride was very smooth and quiet, a nice way to travel.  While waiting on the train platform in Giverny,  one of the high speed trains came flying by, and I do mean flying!  It made me and several other people jump. I didn’t even hear it approaching it was moving so fast and by the time I figured out what it was, it was out of sight!  Wow!  I can’t even imagine travelling that fast.   It was mind boggling, and there certainly was no chance to get out my camera for a picture!

I want to draw on the Metro too, but it is bumpy, and very busy, so I haven’t been brave enough to try.  It is amazing how many people ride the Metro and how often the trains run. The most I have had to wait was three minutes, when I had just  missed the previous train. Imagine, a train runs every two or three minutes on every Metro line in the city, and they are all full of people!