Category Archives: sightseeing notebook

Let the world into your heart: Sketch whenever you can

I had my complex camera with me, of course, and very good advice from all the photographer friends around me. When you go out of the fully air-conditioned hotel, your camera lens fogs up immediately, (you too, by the way) and you can shoot photos with a “David Hamilton” effect, or wait until the lens clears up, which takes 5 minutes.

The beautiful river promenade through Singapore

There were also two sketchbooks in my backpack, one tiny Hahnemühle Sketchbook 9 x 14 cm which I used a lot for simple ink pen drawings as it’s so easy to carry around.  The other a Clairefontaine Travel Album, 21 x 29,5 (A4) 180g. I had also Inkpens, pencils, watercolor crayons, and a little Windsor & Newton “COTMAN” watercolor paint box which I always take with me, every day of the year.

The first sketch in the Travel Album, The Botanic Garden in the middle of Singapore. A sudden warm shower helped dilute the watercolor crayons I’d used, as well as some of the non waterproof inkpen lines….

Take your sketchbook everywhere and if what’s going on around you inspires you, then draw it. You can use color on site, if you have the necessary tools with you, or at home, afterwards. Capture one precious moment  in time. The more you do it, the more you’ll love it, I promise you that! Don’t let yourself get distracted by the people around you, you’ll get used to them.

Don’t think about what others could think about your sketch. It’s not about producing something correct, exact, accurate. It’s about letting the world into your heart through your eyes! Reflect what you see, feel it, re-create it. Be wild. Do it for yourself.

5 Comments

Filed under DRAWINGS, ILLUSTRATIONS, Paintings, REPORTAGE, sightseeing notebook, TRAVEL, Watercolor

Skyline of Paris seen from the 6th floor at the Centre Pompidou

Skyline of Paris (view of the Eastern part) from the Centre Pompidou in Paris. ink on paper

Same day, I went to see another exhibition, at the Centre Pompidou (Beaubourg) “GERHARD RICHTER”, a contemporary German artist. Intriguing. Huge paintings, like photos, in often somber colors, strong statements too, and also completely abstract works which spoke to me through their bright tones. I couldn’t sketch there, first because Richter’s works did”nt want to be sketched, and second, it’s not an intimate place like the Pinacothèque is. At Centre Pompidou, up there on the 6th floor, you feel very aloft, and exposed and in wide space. Now, PARIS wanted to be sketched, and it’s so relaxing…

4 Comments

Filed under DRAWINGS, exhibition notebook, ILLUSTRATIONS, INSPIRING, PARIS, REPORTAGE, sightseeing notebook

ARTEMISIA at the MUSEE MAILLOL in Paris, and some more windowshopping

Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi (1593 -1652) ITALIAN BAROQUE PAINTER

NNDB info:

Born: 1593
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: 1642
Location of death: Naples, Italy
Cause of death: unspecifiedGender: Female
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Painter

Nationality: Italy
Executive summary: Italian Baroque painter

Moleskine Sketchbook, ink and pastel

Details about the exhibition on

Weird, those classifiactions on NNDB, don’t you think?

Well, let’s continue our window-shopping!

We still walk on Boulevard Haussmann, and Rue Tronchet towards the “Madeleine”. Shalimar, I always loved this name and the scent, and I like this poetic decoration.

This is one of the famous “Paul” bakeries, once a shop specialized in ivory and scute, (I just learned this word “scute”, I hope it’s correct)  called “THE TURTLES”

This is opposite of the church Madeleine, it’s ERES, very (very) expensive swimming suits and sun dresses

 ”Petit Bateau”, very famous brand for kid’s underwear, expensive and “bon chic bon genre”, meaning a bit bourgeois :)

I liked this decoration in the shoe-shop Rue Tronchet, those shoes are not “bon marché” = cheap

I have still more photos for you in my bag for the next post! Take care and have a wonderful day !

3 Comments

Filed under exhibition notebook, ILLUSTRATIONS, Moleskine Notebook, Paintings, PARIS, PHOTOGRAPHY, sightseeing notebook, Soft Pastel

On the Road – (or: Painting My Vision) – Watercolor Painting

On The Road

On The Road - Carnet de Voyage - Watercolor Sketchbook 12 x 17 cm

 

 I did a quick line drawing in the car, when we were driving home from Germany to France, surrounded by lovely landscape. It is a synthesis of the quickly changing view, in fact the bridge was already behind us, when I drew it.

The alternative title of the picture “Painting My Vision” came to my mind, when I later colored the drawing and added the special light  – which was something from other times and places, something my eye had stowed away in my mind during the holidays. The very special light of May, enhanced by ever-present blossoming rape fields. We travelled on the freeway and you can imagine that there were lots of cars on the road, not a very interesting sight, in my opinion. So I added a little cute red car with a lone driver.

I can see myself driving in this little car, listening to the radio, travelling  to a  remote place somewhere in the month of May, under the strange light of a coming thunderstorm….Painting my vision….

13 Comments

Filed under ILLUSTRATIONS, Moleskine Notebook, sightseeing notebook, Uncategorized, Watercolor

L’Hotel du Nord – Door of a scrapped Hotel in Paris, 2nd Arrondissement

Door of the Hotel Du Nord - 2nd arrondissement Paris

Door of the Hotel Du Nord - 2nd arrondissement Paris - Watercolor 9,5 x 12 inches / 25 x 32 cm

The other day I was walking through the 2nd Arrondissement in Paris with two friends, taking pictures for THE DOOR QUEENS PROJECT which Kim at Creative Influences originated.

This door caught my special attention. I was tempted to wring the bell (you can see there is one, at the left side) to see what happens. We thought it looked like what we call “Stundenhotel” in German, which means a hotel where you can rent rooms by the hour. Someone once had plants in flowerpots outside a now walled-up window….

8 Comments

Filed under ILLUSTRATIONS, sightseeing notebook

Le Chateau de Versailles – La Galerie des Glaces – Le parc

Entrée du Chateau de Versailles

Entrée du Chateau de Versailles

Chateau de Versailles - La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery

Chateau de Versailles - La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery

Chateau de Versailles - La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery - Amoretto

Chateau de Versailles - La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery - Amoretto

Chateau de Versailles - La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery - The Gap

Chateau de Versailles - La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery - The Gap

In my previous post I talked about hordes of tourists, and here I stand in the most famous “Galerie des Glaces” in the Chateau de Versailles, seemingly alone. It was a moment of chance, because right and left of the borders of the pictures are many people, but I got this snapshot, a Gap in the constant stream of Tourists rolling through the chateau !

Chateau de Versailles - La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery - View onto the gardens

Chateau de Versailles - La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery - View onto the gardens

Above is what Marie-Antoinette would see nowadays, looking out of the window on a cloudy day in early April….what would she think?

La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery - Double-Doors

La Galerie des Glaces - The Mirror Gallery - Double-Doors

I didn’t know it at the time, but this picture is now part of an ongoing artist-project by the “The Door Queens” – if you’d like to know more about it, please check Kim’s blog CREATIVE INFLUENCES!

I found this door here intruiging, mysterious, so SHUT! You want to know what’s behind it, no?

Chateau de Versailles - Galerie des Glaces - Luster

Chateau de Versailles - Galerie des Glaces - Luster

Chateau de Versailles - Empty Hallways - Only for us

Chateau de Versailles - Empty Hallways - Only for us

My Mom and my Dad, while we were led through empty hallways and wonderful salons, exlusively. Heading for the elevator.

Le Chateau de Versaille - Le Grand Trianon

Le Chateau de Versaille - Le Grand Trianon

After the visit of the Chateau (they don’t show you all the rooms in there) we went onto a little train which took us to the Queen Marie-Antoinette’s PETIT TRIANON, via the Grand Trianon, which you see on the picture here. I took the picture from the little open train, which scuttled along and gave us a good shake before we reached the Petit Trianon….

We had to walk a while to reach the little houses there, and on our way my dad said: oh look, a dragon…

Parc du Chateau de Versailles - Petit Trianon - Dragon

Parc du Chateau de Versailles - Petit Trianon - Dragon

Parc du Chateau de Versailles - Le Petit Trianon 3

Parc du Chateau de Versailles - Le Petit Trianon 3

Parc du Chateau de Versailles - Le Petit Trianon 4

Parc du Chateau de Versailles - Le Petit Trianon 4

Chateau de Versaille - Le Petit Trianon - A Modern Queen

Chateau de Versaille - Le Petit Trianon - A Modern Queen

That’s my sister in law, resting on a bench at one of Marie-Antoinette’s houses. We talked a lot about the fact that one person could have built all this just for her personal amusement….

5 Comments

Filed under PHOTOGRAPHY, sightseeing notebook

The Chateau de Versailles – Ready for a visit?

Chateau de Versailles - Entrance

Chateau de Versailles - Entrance

I’m letting out some steam now, planning one week of just idling the time away at home, or sort of. Just doing the things I really want to do. One of these things is keep writing blogposts to share my views of Paris and life with you! I have some precious pictures of the Chateau de Versailles, where I went with my family a couple weeks ago.

I had visited the Chateau before, 32 years ago, on motorcyles, with a German and two French friends. Hey, I’m not that old? :)

This time we took the bus. And the metro first. We went early, to avoid crowds. I can’t remember if the central entrance was as GOLDEN as this 32 years ago. I bet not. I don’t know, they must have re-done the guilding recently cause it looks so very golden and new:) We had booked tickets via internet, which was fine because we got inside really quickly. Once inside, we and all the other visitors (there were already many of them, despite the relatively early hour ) were all equipped with those audio-players, tripped over each other while figuring out how those things worked…

We went from room to room, trying to admire the paintings and the furniture and the wonderful lusters. I must say that this was made difficult because we were stuck in a crowd of Japanese tourists firing their cameras at every little detail on the wall and in the room, (sorry Japanese fellows, I don’t want to offend anyone here but you gave us a hard time in there) and not letting us go by a little more quickly:) So I unfortunately didn’t look much at the wonderful things exhibited but rather looked out of the windows onto the gardens, and admired the vastness.

There were two stories to visit and my mom had to take the elevator cause she doesn’t walk so well. A nice person took my mom, my dad and me in charge and accompanied us to a distant, otherwise inaccessible elevator, while the others, my husband, brother and sister in law went on with the crowd.  Now came part of the visit which I loved: we had to follow the guard along several empty hallways, corridors and enourmous rooms, beautifully wallpapered, with marvellous lusters and furniture, and there was not one other tourist in there! I took only one picture, the one with the wide luster in a stairway, and I love it.

Chateau de VersaiIles - Inner halls with beautiful luster

Chateau de Versaille - Inner halls with beautiful luster

During the second part of the visit on the second floor, we saw the famous Mirror Gallery, I’ll have to show some pictures of this in my next post. For today, we are heading out now to the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles, were we stop at the “Petit Trianon”, the Quenn Antoinette’s “Playground” a vast area with large lawns, ponds, little bridges, and 12 romantic little cottage-hamlets, which she had built so to be able to ran away from the court’s stiff etiquette as often as she was allowed to. Don’t think about the money it took to build that while her subjects were having trouble to earn their daily bred! No. Just walk and admire those perfect little farm-houses with read-roofs, timber-framing, external circular staircases, and little bridges integrated, passing over brooklet full of carps who come and beg for food when you look at them:). Ok, enough for today, take care, have a wonderful weekend. See you at the Chateau de Versailles soon!

Chateau de Versailles - Beautiful statue at a fountain in the gardens

Chateau de Versailles - Beautiful statue at a fountain in the gardens

Chateau de Versailles - Miss Doodle getting dressed for the ball

Chateau de Versailles - Miss Doodle getting dressed for the ball

Chateau de Versailles - Le petit Trianon - Queen Marie-Antoinette's "Playground"

Chateau de Versailles - Le petit Trianon - Queen Marie-Antoinette's "Playground"

Le Chateau de Versailles - Le Petit Trianon - The Queen's Playground, can you imagine her playing "farmer's life" here with selected=

13 Comments

Filed under ILLUSTRATIONS, PHOTOGRAPHY, sightseeing notebook

Watercolor Painting – Vue du Pont Alexandre III. et du Pont de la Concorde

Vue du Pont Alexandre III et du Pont de la Concorde - Watercolor 39 x 35 cm / 15,4 x 13,8 in

©estandrea – Parisdreamtime 2010

On a dark and cold morning in early April this view was offered to me.

I was on the upper open deck of a sightseeing double-decker tour through Paris with German friends who had come to visit me in Paris. My friends and I were frozen and dishevelled, but happy because it didn’t rain. Pont Alexandre III.  is one of the beautiful Paris bridges, offered to France by Tsar Alexander III. of Russia, emphasizing the French-Russian Alliance. It’s structure is made of metal and was finished in 1900, on schedule for the World Exhibition. In the background you can see a much older bridge, the “Pont de la Concorde”, finished in 1791.

The technical aspects of this painting were challenging for me, due to the perspective and also to the characteristics of the paper I used. This paper has a very uneven, rough surface, although when you touch it, it’s smooth at the same time. You better not get obsessed with detail when you use rough watercolor paper. Once you are beyond wanting details, you will be fine:)…

I wish you a nice week.

PS: On the original artwork the top of the lamppost has more space left around it:)

9 Comments

Filed under sightseeing notebook, Watercolor

On A Misty Day

This painting I’m presenting to you today, has been on my mind for almost 2 years now. It had to mature, my watercolor practise had to mature too. My eyes also, I guess, and last not least my mind. Somehow, doing this kind of painting, presented a risk, I feared messing it up, and after I began it 2 weeks ago, I got stuck for some days, but then I took my courage and went on. Persevered. I told myself that the worse case would be me messing it up but that I could always try again. Why not? We have not given up to walk when we were little and fell on our butt or knees all the time:)

I didn’t mess it up and will now move on with this technique, which I love. Put only ever so subtle layers of pigments, much water, dry it with handdryer, then go on like this, letting it sit for some days perhaps, get away from it and then put on more color to obtain depth.

I searched for a poem for this painting, and found this one here by Rilke, whom I love. I can read this poem many many times and still probably don’t understand it fully, but it’s so beautiful…

A WALK

Already my gaze is upon the hill, the sunny one,
at the end of the path which I’ve only just begun.
So we are grasped, by that which we could not grasp,
at such great distance, so fully manifest—

and it changes us, even when we do not reach it,
into something that, hardly sensing it, we already are;
a sign appears, echoing our own sign . . .
But what we sense is the falling winds. (Rainer Maria Rilke, 1924)

Tradero on a cold and misty day

Trocadero on a cold and misty day - Watercolor 24 x 30 cm - 9,5 x 12 in ©estandrea 2010

Spaziergang

Schon ist mein Blick am Hügel, dem besonnten,
dem Wege, den ich kaum begann, voran.
So fasst uns das, was wir nicht fassen konnten,
voller Erscheinung, aus der Ferne an—

und wandelt uns, auch wenn wirs nicht erreichen,
in jenes, das wir, kaum es ahnend, sind;
ein Zeichen weht, erwidernd unserm Zeichen . . .
Wir aber spüren nur den Gegenwind. (Rainer Maria Rilke, 1924)

21 Comments

Filed under sightseeing notebook, Watercolor

Le Pianiste Place de la Contrescarpe

A sunny cold Sunday afternoon in Paris in late autumn, 5th arrondissement, Place de la Contrescarpe. People are sitting on the “Terrasse du Restaurant Delmas”. Listening to the piano player, chatting with friends, looking at the passersby. Is there a better thing to do on such a fine day?

Le Pianiste Place de la Contrescarpe - Paris V.

Le Pianiste Place de la Contrescarpe - Paris V. Watercolor Painting, 9,5 x 12 in - 24 x 30 cm

©estandrea 2010 purchase information: you can buy this original waterpainting, please contact me cestandrea at gmail dot com if you are interested!

Today, January 7th, 2010, snow has fallen during the night, all the cars in my street are white, a very unusual sight. It’s minus 6° C, which is very cold for Parisian standard. People have packed their Christmas-window decoration away (we did too), and you can see discarded Christmas trees in the streets, waiting to be picked up by the garbage removal. A friend of mine always says: “January is the longest month”, she means that it seems to stretch out forever.

Yesterday was the 6th, which means that many families celebrate Epiphany, buying a “galette des rois”, a fine filo pastry cake, with a filling of marzipan. This cake traditionally comes with a golden papercrown and hides a “Fève” which means “bean” but is not a bean. Probably it has been in former times, but now it is a little ceramic figure, representing the miniature holy Mary, or a bottle of wine :) or a little animal or whatever. So,the person who picks the part of cake with the “Fève” in it, will be the king. King of the day.

Yesterday was also the start of the winter sales here in Paris. So, again, the metro is crowded with people on a shopping trip, hunting for their favourite designer clothes at a reasonable  price. In my favourite little boutique “Cinabre” on Boulevard Voltairebought a calf-long plum colored wool skirt, and a fine black wool top, made by a Japanese designer, plus two bonnets (hats), one rasperry colored and flowerpotshaped:) , the other grey and more like a “casquette”, oh and a pair of earrings, all at a very reasonable price. I’m wearing this now, and will soon brave the cold outside. Waiting for spring already….. Have a wonderful week!

PS: just an information which might interest you, if you also promote your art via Zazzle: I stop working with Zazzle as one of my readers ordered postcards with my prints, and was very disappointed about the bad quality of the paper.  I then decided only to sell my original art or original prints on demand, do the printing myself on first quality art paper and deliver a certificate of origin with it.

14 Comments

Filed under ILLUSTRATIONS, sightseeing notebook, The Parisians