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Life model session - Julie

Samedi 10 Décembre 2011
111210 Life model nude - Julie

I continue to do those drawing sessions on saturday mornings. For the moment I've seen a different model each time. It's interesting to see how, depending on the model, you feel more comfortable or a bit uneasy, and also, depending on your state of mind or level of fatigue, it will show up in the result.
It's a blend of high concentration and loose gesture, a mix of sticking to your favorite technique or daring to try different tools. It is interesting too to see what comes up when you completely let go.

I like the flow in the picture above, which was done in 6 minutes. Below, rightmost, is the last sitting the model did, she was a bit tired and had problems sustaining the pose, resulting in some shaking outlines that convey a nice movement to the sketch, I found.

Art to play Nantes

Dimanche 4 Décembre 2011
De retour de Nantes où se déroulait le salon Art to Play, première édition, un événement dédié au jeu et au divertissement. Les organisateurs avaient mis en place un concours de peinture "Arting Spirit" similaire à celui de Polymanga, qui avait eu lieu en mai dernier en Suisse. ( cf. cet article)

Le salon était très grand, tout un bâtiment du hall d'expo Nantes, rempli d'animation en tout genre autour du jeu. J'avoue que je n'ai pas trop eu le temps de visiter, je suis rester dans mon coin au milieu des copains dessinateurs, au fond à droite.
Crédit photo: www.afjv.com

Cette fois-ci, j'ai préparé rapidement de quoi décorer un peu mon stand. Quelques cartes et affiches à vendre, et pour exposer le seul tableau de taille assez modeste pour être transportable.
Même si les visiteurs ne venaient pas trop pour ça, j'ai vendu quelques cartes, rien de mirobolant mais ça faisait plaisir! ( Bon, ensuite, la nuit du samedi, je me suis fait voler ma maigre recette ainsi que mon fond de caisse.. donc largement déficitaire sur ce coup...) Vraiment, que d'expériences !

Le concours Arting Spirit nous a délivré son sujet le vendredi en début d'après-midi: "Fun". Disons que cela ne m'a pas trop inspiré au départ, et j'ai gribouillé pendant deux heures avant de me convaincre tant bien que mal de partir sur quelque chose, car le temps pressait.
Pour moi, le "fun" c'était un sentiment de joie immédiate et primaire à l'égard d'une action inutile mais qui nous fait nous sentir vivant. J'ai voulu illustrer cela à l'aide de mes codes et symboles personnels et antinomiques.
Au terme de cette réflexion douteuse, je me suis décidé à dessiner un homme de pierre qui se lance d'une falaise en un élan absurde et bienheureux. La pierre, symbole d'immuable de lenteur et d'intemporalité, s'oppose à l'immédiateté de l'action. Le personnage est saisi dans un instantané de joie béate, mais prend un air pathétique dès que l'on observe son bricolage de pacotille et que l'on songe à son devenir fatal. Il commence déjà à se démantibuler, d'ailleurs. Son front décalotté est là pour signifier que, euh.. que voler, ça décoiffe. Voilà.

Arting Spirit Nantes 2011 - Fun - oil painting by Zancan

Résultat pas fameux pour ce qui est du classement ( 6ème ), cela a tenu à une interprétation trop bizarre du sujet. Je suis malgré tout content d'avoir réussi à terminer cette toile avec un niveau de détail convenable. La surface n'était pas très grande ( 50cm x 50cm ) mais le temps était également très limité ( 12h, sur deux jours ).
J'ai monté une base acrylique en plaçant les blocs principaux de couleurs, puis suis monté par-dessus à l'huile.
Mais plus généralement, le salon fut un excellent moment, à baigner dans les éléments que j'adore, avec de belles rencontres et de grands moments de fête.
A refaire absolument !

Qelques photos ici.

Life drawing session

Samedi 5 Novembre 2011

I had my first session of nude drawing at a very small artist place nearby. I didn't do this in ages! I believe i needed to practice my drawing urgently.
We were a small team of six people drawing, in a totally relaxed atmosphere. We did 8-minute long poses for the first four or five drawings, then we went down to 6-minute poses. The model Christelle stayed for two hours.
I have been using graphite pencils, one dry for quick construction lines, a bold one for most strokes, and a light grey Tombow pencil with brush-shaped tip for quickly filling up the shadows. My approach was rather based on outlines, with just a hint of painterly effect with the grey brush.
I've uploaded the pictures chronologically, it's interesting to see how the strokes get more loose and firm in the middle of the session. The last two ones show signs of tiredness. I totally missed the proportions in the last one.
And yes, it was a good moment. I will attend on a regular basis from now on, on saturday mornings ( provided the previous night's party wasn't too wild ).

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The Fool

Vendredi 7 Octobre 2011
J'aime l'hiver. J'aime ce froid.
La fumée d'une cigarette est un feu de bois,
et cette musique me tourne la tête.

Octobre enfin, le premier soir de l'hiver. Comme il s'est fait attendre!

J'ai défait les palettes dont les tâches de couleurs s'étaient figées en une matière plastique, de petits tas tous justes sortis des tubes et déjà abandonnés. En passant la main il y avait même une couche de poussière.

Nettoyer les godets, se souvenir de mes pigments fétiches, les appliquer un à un, organisés comme autrefois, sur la feuille vierge et lisse. En haut, à gauche, le blanc transparent. Au milieu la base chair pâle. Une laque de garance, un ocre, un bleu roi. Le noir, en haut, à droite.


J'ai été peintre. Je le sais, c'est au fond de moi.
Je me sens maladroit. Je ferme les yeux et respire. Souviens-toi!

Et cela remonte comme une sève qui aurait hiberné un été, le long des membres, au fil des doigts, cela se prolonge lentement dans les fins manches de bois, puis les poils un peu raidis qui s'ébrouent, se gorgent de la mollesse des jus, reprennent lentement de leur vie.

Cela gronde, cela brûle, cela jouit!

Je reviens ma peinture ! Je reviens avec l'hiver me blottir dans tes rêves, je me sauverai avec toi. Je rachèterai dans ta chair la haine ou la peine de tous ces derniers mois. Nous nous blottirons sous la couette, ton épiderme et mes mille caresses.
Ton pardon. Ma patience irraisonnée.

Doodles during Europe trip

Jeudi 15 Septembre 2011

Right after I came back from Sao Paulo, where I was with Julien for exhibiting our installation "Aquatypes", I took a flight to join my buddy David who was in a middle of an train trip across Europe. For those who are not familiar with it, the principle is to subscribe to a Interrail ticket first, then you can travel anywhere in Europe for free ( mostly ).
Our planned itinerary was tight: Venice, Roma, Wien and Berlin, in just ten days, travel included. Thus it was meant to be quite superficial a trip, but I tried to sit here and then and scribble a bit. If it was just me, I would spend hours polishing my drawings, but you can't impose your accompanying pal such moments of wasted time. However, I managed to make a few rough doodles in every town.

It was great to find David again! Venice, at night, wandering in the calm streets, emptied of all crowds.. that was magical. Every square meter of this city shows layers of history and art.
Daytime was less great, because of the said crowd, and because a surprise public transports strike in Italy. When you're on an island, it's a bit embarrassing, to find no boat. ( fair enough, we french infamous complainers )
The drawing above was sketched at a small restaurant terrace, above a tiny canal and its parked gondolas.

The drawing above was in Roma, while doing a pause in the shade of the Villa Borghese garden. It is nothing famous or typical, only that is was a fresher place with a welcoming bench. I have sketched it in a painterly way, using various shades of grey of my Tombow markers that have a brush-shaped tip, without construction lines. The result is rather blurry, but I like how it manages to define an ambiance quite well. It's also a quicker and more spontaneous approach than the naturalistic way of drawing outlines.

We had a really awesome time in Vienna. The weather was excellent, we met numerous people and partied indecently :)
Above is a excerpt from my sketchbook that shows my strokes in tipsy mode ( left). It was at a bar which was brewing its own beer. Not to mention that the said house beer was good :)
On the right side it is a sculpture of a ram that adorns the columns of the Musikverein concert hall. ( Not really faithful to the original I must admit. The music wasn't too good actually, hence the boring sketch ).

Above is a sketch of a monument in Schönbrunn park. What is weird that I've read about it is that it was built during the 18th century to mimic an ancient roman site in ruins. So this architect originally designed it to look like the collapsed remains of a temple from 1 century AD. Ironically, after the romantic fashion had passed, the construction was left aside, and time did his job, deteriorating the monument badly. It is only in recent years that it as been repaired roughly with modern material that are clearly visible on it. All in all, it made me think of Frankenstein more than of romantic history.

The train trip from Vienna to Berlin has been a tough one. Originally, we were supposed to have a sleeper car, but David messed up with the dates so we lost the reservation and had to buy a new one; we chose normal seats because they were cheaper.
This night train was doing Prague, Berlin, then Warsaw and Moscow, among various stops. And it was really, really crowded. I tried to sleep, but after a while I just gave up because it was impossible. At least I had a seat... those kids entered the wagon somewhere in Czech republic. They had those medals around their neck, and those cups for I don't know what sports, and they were bearing this glorious exhaustion that champions deserve. The boys were like 14 year-old at most. They were all lying on the ground in the corridor, which became a impressive, intricate pile of sleepy limbs entwined. Out of boredom I tried to sketch them in my half sleep. It was not easy because they were all upside down, and they had this uneasy rest making them change position every 2 minutes. What a long and tiring trip it was... we have been stuck in a small, unknown train station of Czech Republic for more than one hour, in between naps, with the neck aching..

This was David sleeping during the trip back to France. Berlin-Bordeaux by train takes a whole day, it was long. I didn't find time, or energy to do a drawing in Berlin, that's a shame _ although we stayed there only for one day and a half.
Those quick sketches were about all I drew during the trip. It went so fast! I made a number of photos though. All in all, a predictably superficial experience, but really good and fun. Now it is time to work, and paint, isn't it ?

she left today

Samedi 27 Août 2011

Jolita..

Cash Machine

Jeudi 21 Juillet 2011

Some fingers touch
and the other can not
One chest lays down and the other beats
Cold cash machine
versus paper skin
I wish you were better at this game
For me to steal more of your lines
I wish I had been better at that Game
to score first place in your hall of fame

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4/12/2011 Art to play Nantes
10/12/2011 Life model session - Julie