Holidays homework in Normandy #6 : Etretat forever, thank you Monet !

Tonight's soundtrack, Without reasons from Pegase

At Etretat there's a new music festival called HELLO BIRDS, Pegase played there. Can you imagine live music with Monet's sunset ? Awesome...

Welcome to Monet's playground (and Arsène Lupin's !)

Monet found this cliff so impressive that he rent something nearby to paint it all the time (it sure was easier at this time !) 

He wanted to be as close as possible to the waves, his main painting goal (waves, reflections, water in a word !) so he used to put his easel at low tide directly in the water to get the best point of view on the cliff. Suddenly a big wave arrived and threw all his stuff to the sea. You might still find some on the beach... 

    

That's all folks ! Normandy end. Roulis de galets...

Holidays homework in Normandy #5 - Denis Beaux arts, a real colours seller !

At Deauville it's the end of the American film festival. Good time to sketch the Villa Strassburger, a party place where Carla Bruni had a walk with Michelle Obama, well you know...

An American horse breeder built it in front of the racing stables. Actually I can hear horses in my back, smelling straw and musk... 

Now a bit of jazz to go on...

For me it's a great sketching moment as I try for the first time my brush from "Denis Beaux Arts", found thanks to good piece of advice of Juliette Plisson and Vincent Desplanche, while looking for an Escoda one, and here we are !

So hard to find the shop Denis Beaux Arts that you really have to want it...

On his website, he says : " Our shop is a sort of forum where ideas fly" and that's well said. It's a colours seller, a real one who creates whatever you need... Marc Foly finds his own colours here.

I'm not surprised at all if instead of an Escoda, I prefer one of his inventions : a special brush, half synthetic and half natural hair. It gives such a precision to your drawings ! 

Another discovery is the Daniel Smith watercolour stick ! (1 stick = 3 or 4 pots...)

Little demo here!

Seems there's also a six sticks set. It's the same to make my own set, so I chose the triad of Shari Blaukopf : aureolin, alizarin crimson et ultramarin.

Denis Beaux Arts is the only provider of Daniel Smith in France.

These are watercolours from the USA, really strong colours. Paul Wang uses this mark.

There are trying sets like Alvaro Castagnet's palette, or Joseph Zbukvic's... Concept seen in this video.

More toys : graphite sticks and black ink sticks !

Now I have to try all this : very soon I hope, perfect for winter...

I made an Indian track to find the shop back from the centre of the nearest town Caen :

la prairie horse racecourse > Venoix stadium > Renault cars or trucks seller = turn on the left

ZA La grande Plaine > then follow the signs Denis Beaux Arts !

(please do write this down, caus' I'm from Normandy and I got lost, so you can imagine...)

 

First try of my new brushes...

Sunrise on the river Touques (it's me, or autumn is just around the corner ?)

A bit later at the same river. We could hear the seagulls screaming, not for the fishermen anymore, for the supermarket garbbagemen ! There's still hope as I also saw a fox catching a rabbit in the opposite field, like in the oldies... 

A last sunset on the Seine bay, in front of Le Havre industrial harbour. A demonetized Monet actually ! (well, it's a copyright of François Morellet, looks like this installation...)

Wow, I can't get rid of my brushes anymore ! People notice a nice precision in my drawings. Merci qui ? Merci Denis Beaux Arts

Please enjoy a last Daniel Smith video with the Che : Red Pepper rocks !

Holidays homework in Normandy #3 - A bit of Impressionnism at Rouen...

You just have to cross the Seine river and hop ! Welcome to the Monet playground, at Rouen, Ladies and Gentlemen !

To cheer this nice moment up, let's listen to the current musical impressionnist : Nicolas Jaar, la Bohème.

I've never been here, neither my mother, what a shame for two women from Normandy ! Maybe a bit of racism between High and Low Normandy. We did well to go to the other side of the water ! (To cross the Seine river, so what, you don't speak Normand dialect ?) 

We discover a fantastic city, full of wonderful arquitecture. And this "Big clock" in the street... Compared to our towns, it looks all saved from the war. We can easily imagine antic time washerwomen and horse breeders passing by.

My mother and I savor each detail even the tobacco red sign made out of glass instead of usual plastic ! My mother offers me a drink at a terrasse and let me time to draw, she's just perfect. We'd wish my sister to be there, so I just drew her next to the clock... Drawing is magic ! 

A bit further, in front of the cathedral, the hotel where Monet had a room to paint it again and again. Must say he had such a lack of room there, wow ! However, the girls look really smart over here, it sure was the same at his time. Maybe because it's so close to Paris ?  

From out of town, the cathedral looks much bigger !

Now with my mother we go for the big Impressionnism, Exhibition "Stunning reflections" at the Beaux Arts museum. I try to understand my favourite paintors shapes and marks through my pencils.

Caillebotte'sailor ship is a private painting, we'd probably never see it again ! Renoir's one on the right has got an iron bridge with a locomotive, giving a wrink to Monet, who himself was giving a wrink to Turner...

What I'm still ignoring at this moment is that I'd see the Monet's one in live the day after... Caus' I had never been to Etretat neither !  

Interval : having lunch on the grass, nearly ! We eat so close to the painting, we feel like taking the little glasses of calvados (Normandy licor)... Congrats to the bride and groom ! 

Double poker at night : fantastic weather, moon rise and sunset. Is it me or it's not raining anymore in Normandy ?
For the first time in my life, I've seen the same day paintings and the landscapes that inspired them : Normandy has a peculiar light, I'm not surprised they put their easel over here ! 

On the beach, children wearing pyjamas are playing in front of their house on the beach. What an extraordinary garden !

Hey there, there's another shorter piece of la Bohème by Nicolas Jaar the musical impressionnist !

Ok, right here in Normandy, there's not only impressionnism, there's also race horses. From England, Argentine, Emirates... At night, we can see them beathing at see and running a bit, it's amazing. They're wild and elegant, such a contrast with club horses who galop as a surly herd. 

Holidays homework in Normandy #1 - Bic, pilot fountain pen and tubes watercolours

Two hours at Paris station between two trains...

I was afraid to get bored, my mistake, the French trains company has set pianos for passengers to play. "Your turn to play", they call it. We're lucky, today's passenger is a great musician, and nothing can stop him ! The other passengers do stop by, as hypnotized, so do I...

My turn to play. First one following the music, straight away with the calligraphic fountain pen. Only one line, to be able to catch an eye on the pianist movements and the other eye on my little suitcases. Standing up, what an organisation to draw, anyway, it's worth it ! 

This guy is such a magician, makes everybody's day ! I can see at least 30 people of all ages around him, stuck with admiration. Even an old chap tiptapping his fingers on his trousers following Adèle : incredible !

At last a young guy puts slowly his arm around the lady next to him, not just a friend anymore : might want to thank the train company for once in his life !  

A bit of Bic classic 4 colours, mixing without mixing, keep it clear, big program !  

Wow, nearly lost my train !

Draw the passengers on the quiet, their reflection appears upside down in the luggage cristal shelf above us... Give a try to shiny black hair and glasses with black tint blocks, only one line...

Catch up with the summer tradition of sunset picnics, which is always a poker bluffing party in Normandy. If the weather is nice, we can even see the Jules Verne green ray. I only saw it once this year.  

Open up the Sennelier tubes. Veronese green is just perfect for the sea. Shari Blaukopf triad colours are great for the sky : aureolin yellow, alizarin crimson, ultramarin blue.

On the hill, cardons so-called "witch brushes" in spanish ! Great cosmetic and therapeutic tool for the old times doctor-ladies. Off the shore, oil tankers wait quietly for traders to lower the prices before they join the Havre harbour.