This has been an interesting, well OK, challenging week as far as the French System goes, but thankfully graphite pencils, watercolor markers, and friends got me through.
Last week we returned from five days in Paris with Alexis and Joe. Wednesday evening we said our goodbyes. They left early Thursday morning for CDG and flights back to Oregon, we caught a train back to Flers in Normandy. We miss them terribly so it is logical my mind is still a bit in Paris, thus this sketch. (Check out Tricia’s blog about their visit.)
Spring is approaching; there is nothing like the twitters and activity of our colorful birds to lift one’s spirits. These Eurasian Blue Tits with there shimmering greens and blues just love our feeders.
My new Faber-Castell Graphite Matt pencils continue to enthrall. They work so well for a quick capture – from Tricia cooking, to random sketches, to sketching people this morning at the Marché de Ceaucé.
Yesterday I mixed graphite with watercolor markers, an experiment that produce quite pleasing results. I know more sketches with both are in the future.
How would we survive life without friends, thankfully we have some great folks in our lives. In 2019, pre-COVID, I did nine workshops in Mukilteo for people who thought they could never sketch. At the first one Shirley showed up, she, along with her husband Jim, are huge fans of France, visiting at every opportunity. All Shirley wanted to learn to do was sketch one of her morning croissants in Paris. She did quite well. The blessing is that Shirley and Jim have become two of our most valued friends -it is amazing how “chance” encounters can turn out.
In those early workshops I advocated painting first then using a Micron pen over the ink, still a good technique. Yet my new infatuation with graphite has caused me to revisit how I might teach differently these days. If for nothing else than using pencil lines as a guide.
So Shirley here is a step by step approach for your next croissant, which I hope we can do together this fall when you come to France.
Something as simple as a rectangle and crossed lines can make the task so much easier.
Start with a lightly penciled rectangle that would enclose the croissant, then divide it into quarters as on the right. Next note where the croissant would touch the lines, light marks are quite ok. Then it is quite easy to sketch in with pencil the general outline of the croissant. Remember, there is no perfect croissant, at least in appearance, though I have had a few that approach perfection in taste and flakiness – so don’t obsess over detail or perfection.
With this pencil guide start with some yellow, then some yellow ocher, and sienna to darken, allowing the paint to dry between colors, after all one must sip their coffee. Then maybe a few pen strokes and you have captured a croissant moment that you will remember for years to come.
Thank you Shirley and Jim for being a constant reminder of why I do art, in the end it is really all about the people. And with all the surprises life likes to throw at us, it is the people in our life that makes it work.
Keep on travelling and sketching, try out new things, and be sure to share it all with a friend.
theTravelsketcher 
Agreed, thank goodness for friends and family; and a morning croissant. 🥐
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For sure, living here in some ways though they are far away physically I feel even closer to them.
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You never fail to delight and inspire AND encourage. I’m in classes with Aine Divine and feel so elevated by generous artists, such as both of you. Take good care. Pam
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Wow, I am humbled by your comments. I would so love to see one of your sketches. I do miss doing workshops, would be fun to do here in France.
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The course I’m in is mixed media portraits and I am very new to the human head. It’s been an exciting journey that makes my brain hurt and sigh with joy. This is an unfinished strange one of my husband. I think it’s about to get weirder. And then a quiet charcoal sketch of Walt Whitman. Thanks for asking. I love the stories you tell in your drawings. They restore my confidence in humans.
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Sadly the photos did not come through. Email if you want. Thank you again for your comments. What country are you in?
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I’m writing to you from Kauai, the northern most in the Hawaiian chain. My husband and I moved here 22 years ago from the central coast.
Stay well! Pam
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Quite a change, I used to go to Hawaii a few times a year, mostly business, yet Kauai is the island I know the least about, go figure.
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OMG. I feel I’ve arrived to be included in the company Faber Castell Matt graphite pencils. And okay–you’ve flung the gauntlet and provided specific instructions, so–YES! I accept the challenge and I WILL sketch the best croissant ever when we see you in France this fall! Of course, I might have to go through several croisssnts to achieve that….. And please know that we consider having you both in our lives –and in such a happenstance way–to be one of the special gifts in our life! Viva la France, Friendship, and Croissants! Shirley & Jim
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Of course you are worthy of inclusion, you have done so much to further art, and I still hope one day you will do a quick sketch every day of something. I think you should practice on croissant, and pain chocolate.
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Love the Paris sketch – makes me impatient to get there in May!
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That is a good time to visit. Where are you visiting from?
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Hi Terry – we are from New Zealand – we have been to Paris several times – usually May/June or September.
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Good for you, I have been to NZ many times, beautiful place.
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Your sketches are very inspiring, Terry! We already miss France, and the last night documentary we watched about Mont Blanc trail didn’t really help🥰 Have a beautiful weekend!
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Thank you so much, France is quite a place.
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You sketch the most delightful birds, Travel Sketcher.
Enjoy your morning croissant, Shirley. feed a crumb or three to the birds on your deck!
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Thank you Lisa!
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