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Sketches from Paris

Saturday 11 October 2008

Last weekend I went to Paris, officially to visit my dear cousin, but also as a shy attempt to leave the company just for one full working day _ I hadn't done that in months _
The relative franticness of the journey still managed to leave me with several occasions to doodle.

The first one was done in the train, and made the trip pass faster. The shape of the, sort of, tablecloth, is supposed to make a pair of butterfly wings for the girl. The perspective is odd, and the image happens to look better upside down, but this is the orientation I drew it, and it has to remain this way to get the butterfly effect correct.


081003 Dessin fille dans une nappe qui lui fait des ailes de papillon

The drawing below is a view of my cousin's apartment. The viewpoint is from my standing position. I did a quick graphite sketch for the structural lines, shaded it with 4 shades of grey markers ( Copics ), then traced the outlines over with a black ballpoint pen. At that step I messed up with the direction of the floor's lines, and attempted to correct that but there's nothing much that could be done unfortunately.


081004 My cousin apartment gray markers sketch by Zancan

I took my _ way too small _ cousin's bike for a ride to explore the riverside a bit. It was a rather chilly end of the afternoon, and humid because of the recent rain, and windy, and the place where I sat was isolated and strange looking. Thus I hurried the drawing more than I wanted. Despite the wonky bridge I like how it turned out for some reason; it looks better than in real. This is a place in north Paris, after the tip of the Ile-saint-Denis.


081004 Riverside Landscape Sketch With Markers by Zancan

Below is a series of sketches I did in the train while going back to Bordeaux. In the beginning, I was stuck between the window and a rather antipathetic salesman reading space-invading sports newspapers _ not the kind of situation that triggers creativity_
It took a little while before the event of a young lady walking in the central alley caught my bored attention. I'll spare you the details of her description, but I can say it, she was very beautiful a lady. You could tell there was wind blowing in her blonde hair as she walked in slow motion, just like in shampoo ads. After passing by and passing again she decided to sit on the very seat in front of me in diagonal ( which was unfortunately sketch-proof). Then we got controlled and oh! From the controller's perspective she was kinda cheating, although she kept claiming it wasn't her fault. Well, without judging anyone, evil me used the occasion to draw something interesting at last, and the controller really looked like, and acted like Mr Bennett. You know, Claire's stepfather in Heroes. The lady seemed angry, and I truly pitied, such a beauty mustn't get used to men being rude at her very often. :P _eviiiil_ The unbending agent stood there long enough while writing his bill, to allow a rather faithful portrait.


081006 Graphic pencil sketch of a railway agent controlling a girl

Napping travelers have this advantage of standing still for long enough to get properly portrayed. Moreover I love the feeling that emanates from their sleep, a blend of beauty and innocence is simply adorable to capture.
The following sleeping girl was wearing a romantic black dress and had a labret piercing.


081006 Graphite Pencil drawing of a girl asleep in a train

There was this other girl gently asleep with her head leaning against the window, two or three seats away. I sketched her in a quite disinterested manner. But when the wagon got sparse after a stop at the last station, she happened to move on the seats on my left side, right across the alley. I thought I was becoming flagrant but still, she offered her sleepiness to my crayons' pleasure until our destination was reach. That moment was really cute.


081006 Pencil Sketch of a girl sleeping in a train

Comments

Maria
Oct. 30, 2008 21:08
Hey, I have a question, did you use gray markers also for these train sketces and for the bridge? They look so soft and gray... I like that impression!
Michaël
Oct. 30, 2008 21:43
The bridge was done with markers, but the train sketches are graphite pencils. The images were saved in grayscale, so the graphite drawings might look grayer than they actually are.
Feb. 21, 2010 17:42
I love your artworks so much, so beautiful. Hope to see more and thanks for sharing.
Have a nice day.
Ginny (from Vietnam)
raju
Sep. 9, 2010 16:44
u sketches are awesome. Can u give me some tips how to sketch.....
:)
nikazwa
Oct. 21, 2010 17:58
good job....i like your artworks,..so aesthetics values..
Michaël
Oct. 22, 2010 0:08
Thank you ! Take care.
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11/10/2008 Sketches from Paris
30/10/2008 Fallen leaves