the cobblestone streets open the senses and it appears
an edible rapture of delight
peers through the window dressed in the finest of lace
an innocent invitation?
or touched by temptation?
select wisely young one .. une charlotte, des profiteroles, des beignets
there it is! .. the flawless Pain au Chocolat
can it actually be my favorite?
UNDENIABLY
perfection in design.
As I wait for my technologically challenged summer to come to a halt (scanner is on the fritz), I dig deeper in the archives and search for something that means as much now as it it did then. This is one of my favorite drawings from The American Museum of Natural History. This drawing, and the collection it comes from, were the start of several projects and led to a great job that allowed me to reportage the dinosaur show a few years ago. –Dominick
This is one of over a hundred drawings I made in Paris. I fell in love with Paris. This drawing in particular was produced inside the Chartres Cathedral. It caught my absolute attention. The sculpture just captures the perfect picture of what life in the spirit could be. The Cathedral itself was enormous, I think you could fit Notre Dame within its nave. You must make the trip if you have not, I must make the trip again because I have.
They had this thing called ‘art battles’ in the park area of my apartment complex. These four guys had two hours to make a painting in front of everyone and the crowd voted for their favorite. The winner gets a thousand bucks. There was one guy doing a pop-art kind of Statue of Liberty thing, I mean, it’s been done but he had a nice take on it. The other guy in this picture, I’m not sure what he was doing but he was trying something somewhat cubistic in nature and I liked him for giving it a shot! Then there was a graffiti type artist, mixed with a bit of manga, and the last guy was somewhat of a realist, copying a photo for his painting. He got the 1,000 dollars. I didn’t vote for the realist, I don’t know, the other three were more adventurous. It was fun to draw the crowd though, and the DJ was playing a lot of 80′s dance music, so I had a blast! I’d love to create the Studio 1482 art battles event! That would be terrific fun. – Veronica
So, as you’ve maybe noticed, most international holidays are just that, holy-days. Today in Spain, and many other countries, is the day to celebrate St. James.
Again, I did some quick research and found some fascinating things.
St. James was, among other things, a pilgrim. The symbol for pilgrims and people with no permanent home is the scallop shell. Sometimes the oyster shell. This is because, as they travel along the shores on their way to the holy land, they pick up shells and hold on to them for use as a utensil. This is my portrait of St. James with his scallop shell affixed to his shoulder, like a badge.
Drawing by: Despina
I thought I’d follow-up last weeks post with another from my time down at Disney. This drawing is from the Chinese Pavilion at EPCOT. I’m sure it’s nothing like the real thing, but it does offer a beautiful glimpse into the rich history of the culture.
In Dom’s edition yesterday, he said “One of the many things that makes reportage illustration so amazing is the idea that I can sit anywhere in the world, pull out my pen and ink, and draw. ” I couldn’t agree with him more. Funny thing is the drawing below was just that – done in pen and ink, (a crayon or two) on the spot, while sitting next to Dom in the gardens of the Château de Versailles a few thousand miles from home.
The secret is there’s really nothing as rewarding to a reportage artist than the experience of creating a drawing. It’s in that moment – whether it’s an image, a feeling, a thought, or a gesture – we know the opportunity to discover is priceless.
click for a larger image
So there we were, Dom and I in front of this gorgeous fountain, called Le Bassin d’Apollon, (a.k.a. The Fountain of Apollo). Like I mentioned before, it stands in the gardens of the Château de Versailles, (home of the Court of Versailles, once the centre of political power in France). The horses appeared so boisterous as they leaped out of the water’s edge it was irresistible. Not just to draw them, but to try to successfully capture how they felt.
Priceless I say. - Michele
urban trivia: The figure of Apollo at Versailles on the chariot of the sun is an allegorical allusion to Louis XIV who was popularly known as the Sun King because of his belief in the theory that the King was crowned by God and accountable to him alone.
One of the many things that makes reportage illustration so amazing is the idea that I can sit anywhere in the world, pull out my pen and ink, and draw. It is some strange hybrid of action drawings, happening, and plein air painting that makes the whole thing breath of life. Six months ago I found myelf in Washington, DC working once again—minus the sitting, and eventually the ink froze, but I did get in a few drawings the day of Barack Obama’s inauguration as President. I found this one in the pile of drawings that were not posted in April.—Dominick
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