METROHEADS – TETES DE METRO

It’s all about daily practice! Skill comes with practice. In German this would be: “Übung macht den Meister”, in French “l’exercice fait le maître.

I heard this sentence very often from my mom and dad when I struggled while learning something and it stuck with me. Often I disregarded this great advice because I had no patience, but time and again I was reminded that there really are no shortcuts.

One of the first Metroheads

A series of portraits I began in Autumn 2007. I have drawn more than hundred faces already, and I would like to draw 1000, (did I just say 1000????) not matter how much time it will take. Right now I’m in the process of transferring all the Metroheads and the writings I did for all of them from my first blog to Parisdreamtime.

On my daily trips through Paris I use the metro, and I draw people’s faces in my Moleskine notebook, I like to call it my “CARNET DE VOYAGE DU METRO PARISIEN”. Most times people don’t even notice that I’m drawing them, and if they do, they never object. Pencil, ink pen and notebook are less intrusive than a camera may be…Sometimes they give me lots of time to draw them in detail, sometimes I only get seconds, but I always feels as if I shared a precious moment with those persons. When I come home I use watercolor to give the faces more depth, or I leave the drawing as it is, always depending on what the drawing seems to “need”.

I have re-worked this piece here as I thought it was too pink before, and without knowing it, I chose a color which perfectly hamonized with the artwork of the other artists participating in this exhibition!

Now it’s time to relax, have a nice Sunday!

Andrea

Guarding Dragone for my new website

NEWS: NEW WEBSITE IS UP AND RUNNING – ANDREA HUPKE DE PALACIO – painter, illustrator, textile artist – AM BUSY WITH LAST PREPARATIONS FOR TONIGHT’S OPENING OF OUR SHOW – WILL BE BACK WITH NEWS AS SOON AS I CAN – HAVE A GREAT WEDNESDAY – LOVE – ANDREA

SHOW OPENING THIS NIGHT

"Coeur Rouge" - Place Igor Stravinsky, Paris - Watercolor 40 x 40 cm / 15.7 x 15.7 in - ©andrea hupke de palacio 2010

I was inspired by the power of this red heart on a cold cloudy Saturday afternoon. Now I remember: on the same day, just before going out for my walk, I made the self portait with camera and French beret, which most of you already know well. The heart photograph patiently waited in a folder for a couple of years until I was ready to use it for a painting!

The “Place Igor Stravinsky” is just around the corner of the Centre Pompidou (also called ” centre Beaubourg”) in the heart of Paris and this fountain was created by Niki de Saint Phalles and Jean Tinguely. Of course, my photograph came out a bit darker that the painting actually is, but I was reluctant to change anything and decided to leave it like this.

I love the contrast between the colorful sculptures Niki de Saint Phalles created, and the black iron “machines” created by Tinguely, set off by the neutral rendering of the wall. I worked with apprehension and consideration on this painting. The special challenge was the water.

The main steps were:

1. The Wall, 2. The water, 3. The heart 4. The iron parts. 5. The water 6. The people, 7. The heart.

Now that it’s finished, I’m happy as a clam, which is a nice way to start the week.

Be creative and don’t forget to relax,

Andrea

Self Portrait - Oil Pastel Painting on Brown Paper 15 x 20 cm

  ©estandrea – Parisdreamtime 2010  

Yesterday I realized,  that I felt disconnected from my emotions.

Which means that I feel disconnected from my Self.

It’s working on all this administrative stuff which does that, plus the work on a very technical, “calculated” painting. Yesterday I talked about this painting with Kim, who suggested that  putting aside the painting and do something else more relaxed and emotional would perhaps make working on that more technical one easier later on…..  

We need this kind of advice regularly, because it helps us to pull us out of that tight space we put ourselves into sometimes, and where we don’t want to let go because we want it done, and perfectly done. The enemy of “good” is “better”, a young woman and ski-champion yesterday said on TV, after having bungled her ski-run!  

This morning, just when  I was going to sit down and work some more on the computer I told myself not to do that. Instead I grabbed my oilpastel box and a block of brown paper. All I longed for was doodle, be abstract and playful.

At first there were just blue and violet marks on the paper, then came a yellow and a red dot, then some ochre, all this slowly metamorphosing into what I right now invent a word for: a “Humanonymous” = human anonymous head:)  Then I remembered, that I had to get back into touch with my emotions and therefore decided to make a self-portrait. Within half an hour, this came collapsing out of me.  What thrills me is the serene expression on my face and how young I look. Sure that is not me but is me. Now I can go back to this other painting exercise!  

How do YOU connect with your emotions?

Mom with Baby - Ink Drawing in my Moleskine Notebook

For those who already can see the Spring arrive with pink blossoms: It’s still Winter here.

Mothers still have to bundle up their babies, so that they stay warm and cozy. Which is why they often look to me like cute little Panda Bears:)

I’m caught up with preparations for the upcoming collective show here in Paris, (for more information about this please go to my Facebook fan page, you can find the link in the left side bar, just click on the Eiffeltower)  - at the same time I’m busy with the design of a new website, and with updating the administrative part of my job as an artist.  So there is not much time left to focus on my new painting, ……but I can always share my sketchbook with you! I grateful for having these occasions to just sit and draw, thanks to my daily Metro-trips…

What do you see on your trips to town? Do you take a notebook with you and do you have the occasion to draw or doodle?

Of Men, Mice and Cars - Drawing in my Moleskine Notebook

©estandrea – Parisdreamtime 2010

Happy Saturday.

It’s cold in Paris, I just put my nose out of the window for the first time today. Brrr, just wanted to say hello and wish you a nice weekend, whether you are here and there in the snow or in the sunny and warm part of the world. If you have to drive, take care.

I have spent the day working at the computer getting my address book in order, as I am currently following one of Alyson Stanfield’s classes “Cultivating Collectors” (You can find the link to Alyson’s Artbiz blog in the sidebar). I already had put up a mailing list with all my contacts a year ago, when I purchased her book “I’d rather be in the studio”, but then got sidetracked. There is nothing but a community of other artists to help us staying on track.

Together we are strong, therefore I also joined or helped founding an artist group called “SEIZIEM’ART” , with artists from my neighbourhood here in Paris. We have decided to get into action together in order to find places to exhibit etc. and already 7 of us participate in en exhibition on the occasion of the WOMEN’S DAY on March 8th. I’ll make a special announcement of this event later here on the blog, and you can also already see the invitation on our blog http://seiziemart.blogspot.com.

Do you know other artists in your area with whom you can get together regularly and think about a common exhibition or “open studio event” or whatever? I’d love to hear how you get along with or without support from other artists.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Floating World of Marks - Ink Drawing in my Moleskine Sketchbook

©estandrea – Parisdreamtime – 2010

Soon we in the Northern hemisphere will wake up from Hibernation!

In the meantime, have a nice weekend,

Andrea

"There is no shortcut" - colorstudy on Hahnemühle Fine Art Watercolor Paper 24 x 24 cm / 9.4 x 9.4 in

“There is no shortcut”

I have heard this several times in the last couple of months and for now it is my first motto. There are others but this one is the first one, reminding me that I have to practise again and again every skill I want to learn, and excel in.

Another motto could be “if you teach you learn”. Which is a very interesting approach brought to me by Coach Sean d’Souza (you find the link to his blog in the sidebar).

So I would like to teach you what I learned yesterday. Above you see the colorstudy for a new painting. I proceed like that:  I choose a photograph I made of a favourite subject. It is very important to me that it is I who made the picture. This will give the painting the unique touch. Then I open photoshop and work on a composition, which in this case is square because I chose a square Hahnemühle Quattro Watercolor, 40 x 40 cm (15.7 x 15.7 in).

I also change the contrast and the luminosity a little, which gives certain elements more importance and make the scene more dramatical.

I lay down (draw) a grid on my paper, as I have to transfer the format into a bigger one. Then I draw the basic lines and shapes into this grid.

Next comes the colorstudy. This time I really take my time cause I want the colors as I imagine them, see them on the photograph, on the screen. For the colorstudy I take the same paper as for the painting. I chose tubes of colors which I think will be necessary for this composition. Here I just rely on instinct. You grab what you think you need. I have to explain that I work with an extended pallette here, but you can get all of those tones with a reduced pallette too. You’d need for example Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson, lemon yellow, Vermillion, Emerald Green. With those six colors, you really can do anything you want, but you have to premix quite a quantity of each color, or just accept that your hues will change while working.

THE WALL IN THE BACKGROUND

For the special hue of the wall in the background which is like rosy sand, roasted in some spots, I’ll test the following:

1. Bitumen (I guess you could take burnt umber too) – Sennelier
2. Rouge de Venise – Sennelier (reddish brick brown)
3. Marron de Perylène – Windsor & Newton (chestnut redbrown)
4. Prussian Blue – Daler & Rowney
5. Vert de Vessie – Sennelier
6. Lemon Yellow – Windsor and Newton
7. Terre de Pozzaoli – Schmincke (red sandstone)
8. Rose Tyrien – Linel - just a tiny drop ….(we’ll come back to this one, it’s terrific!!!)
9. Ultramarine Violet – Blockx - almost forgot this one, although it makes the perfect shadow on the lower part of the wall! This one is a “premixed” color, it has a lot of transparency. You could get the same with French Ultramarine and a little bit of Alizarin Crimson.

THE WATER IN THE FOREGROUND

I will need a very calm seagreen, something light which I’ll darken down with a dark red in the shadowy areas:

1. Bleu de Prusse – Daler & Rowney
2. Emerald Green – Blockx
3. Terre de Pozzaoli – Schmincke (will make the shadow on the green)

THE HEART

Well well well. The heart. Now you must get curious. I just hope I’ll have this painting finished by Valentines day,

Here we need a juicy red, sparkling with white and bright pink light reflections !

1. Kraplack rosa – Blockx - it is a soft and rather transparent pink, which has a tendency of building pigment puddles at exactly the spot, where your brush was last)
2. Scharlach – Schmincke – This one is so intense and dynamic, it almost jumps out of the tube right into your face:) It is so dense, you only need a tiny bit to make a big red mess. So yes, this is just what I need for my big heart!
3. Alizarin Crimson – Daler @ Rowney – A color which I use a lot, I love this red, it is wise and discrete, you can make wonderful violets using it in combination with various blues. It darkens the Scharlach, but beware of stagnating pigment puddles too!
4. Bitumen – Sennelier – again my beloved Bitumen, it’s nice to put a shadow on bright pink and red.
5. Rose Tyrien – Linel - WOW ! I would like to name it Rose Tyranny, because it just wipes out every other color beside it, if you don’t use it absolute caution. You can see how it dominates here in my colorstudy. This is a TORNADOPINK

OK, LAST NOT LEAST THE METAL, BLACK METAL

1. Gris de Payne – Sennelier - gives you a wonderful range of greys and blacks. If I want an object really jump to the foreground, I put on successive layers of dark grey, either Payne Grey or a mixture of prussian blue, emerald green (not Blockx emerald green which is too transparent, but Daler & Rowney) and bitumen or burnt umber. I have to let the layers dry completely, before putting on the next one.

VOILA - That is it. Now you’ll have to wait until I show you the painting in order to see what I did with those colors.

I would love if my post inspires to pull out your watercolors from a drawer or cupboard and play. Have  fun and a wonderful week.

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:)