Monet gardens

At the Musee D'Orsay I was really inspired by some of the graphic work exhibited in the museum. In particular, the work of Toulouse Lautrec's drawings helped me to observe the working of the foreground and background simultaneously, and exercise defining the subject of the work. I did one garden 'memory' or a piece I produced from memory of what some of the flowers looked like. 

(Posted for a reference of what I was interested in.)

metro motion drawings

*•.,, standing in a jumpy metro train ,.•***•.,,.•* 

**•.,,. no support ,•***•.,,.•* 

•***•.,,.• trying hard to balance ,,.•*

__at stops_quickly searching for bits to sketch__.•**

Garden Reflection.

When I was younger my uncle Peter used to have small plant nursery in our back yard. It was just out the window of my brother’s room. The grapefruit tree, which is now gone was surrounded by different palm trees and plants of all sorts. My brother and I used to help Peter on the weekends or whenever he was around and we would pull weeds from the potted plants. There used to be a bridge in my back yard. I vaguely remember this; I think the hurricanes took it away at some point.

Flag Book {Dans Le Noir}

Nothing displays my experience at Dans Le Noir better than this flag book.

Different.
Unclear.
Anxiety.

My flag book is better understood if you close your eyes, and flip through it.

collage & following stages

The bits and pieces of aspects of the trip assembled into one.

I am interested in the texture the typography in some of the collages creates.

Monet Garden

This day was absolutely gorgeous. Not one cloud in the sky, and the breeze can only be described as delicious. The colors of every single flower in Monet's garden were impossible to overlook. The garden's beauty helped my sketches to become free-flowing. It was as if the pollen filled air was lifting my paintbrush and making every mark for me.

Walking and Sketching Through Paris

'En plein air' sketching, the practice of artists painting outdoors occurred throughout the day. The length of time of the sketches, about 5-10 minutes made me focus on filling the page with a composition and slowly developing the details.

This really reminded me of Monet's garden and the Impressionists because of the fact that this is exactly as they worked. It made the places we sketched more real, and I feel more confident in my interpretations of them rather then a photo to depict them.

Dans Le Noir

I was actually quite terrified of eating in the dark. My biggest fear was on the interior of the space. I kept imagining a dungeon like space with rusty tables and uncomfortable chairs. I was the first to be plunged into the dark, but with our trusty waiter leading the way, my fears slowly faded away. The first thing I noticed was that I was placed next to a wall. Then, with the wall as a support, I sank into my chair. The comfortable chair and clean table helped take away the dungeon image. As we ate, I noticed that I could use the wall as a reference point. I was able to place my drinks next to the wall or bottles of water or wine so that I could always find them. The food had a lot of flavor. I don't know if my senses were heightened or if they may have purposely added a lot of flavor. Just as though you can't taste very well when you can't smell, perhaps you can't taste well when you are used to seeing food and preconceiving what you will taste and consequently they gave us very flavorful food.

Oh, Collages!

Collecting pieces of Paris.
My found paper treasures.
Where I've been, and what I've seen.

Tearing pieces of Paris.
My experience combined.
Maybe it's destroyed, but still a memory.

Dans Le Noir

This was definitely a unique dinner experience with blind waiters that would guide us to our tables/seats in complete darkness. I was able to enhance my senses in order to have a feel of how people that are blind go about their daily lifes and learn how they function in their "dark" world. It gave me a taste of what my world would be like if I didn't have my eye sight. This experience forces you to rely on your other senses.

One of the first exhibitions I wanted to see was the graphic arts collection. After trying for so long, I gave up but accidentally stumbled upon this one tucked away in a closed off room. The artist was Gabriel de Saint - Aubin. This exhibition showed many of his sketches and drawings. His work was very small but very detailed. The sketch above was approximately 1.5 in x .5in. I was amazed by the small scale and the sktechy but complete work. It has inspired me to create miniature sketches of my own.

Blind sketching

My first assignment at the Luxembourg was odd and challenging because I had to draw blind foldedly by just the mere description of the object that my partner chose to describe to me. Nevertheless, I also found it to be fun because of the unknown and because of the people that were watching me at the park. It was an interesting assignment and I sure did laugh at myself.

Monet Watercolors

Painting from life at the Monet Gardens allowed me to explore some methods I saw other artists use. After having studied how artists used lines and values at the Musee D'Orsay, I tried to incorporate some of the techniques I saw into these watercolor paintings. For a few, I started with the watercolors, then used the marker to define the shape. With others, I began with the marker and added color.

FALAFEL IN THE MARAIS

Winding Walk

Today I went to a charming park that was in the middle of working Paris. I say working because I saw not one other tourist with their trusty guidebook in tow. It was almost odd to see the real Paris, the Paris where most days are spent for true Parisians, away from the foreigners trying to soak up their beautiful culture. There were children everywhere, laughing and playing with their caregivers. Through the winding walk, I strolled by a child learning to ride a bike, a French class taking their lessons outside, and a waterfall. Those that would frequent it during the early 20th century aptly called the park the most Surrealist Park in all of Paris. I sketched, stopping at every trashcan, and was exposed to beautiful flowers and a great variety of dogs. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.