Canal Saint Martin, Paris

Here is an other one from my Paris trip in May. This is the bridge at Canal Saint Martin. It was a nice change for the bridges on the Seine I had been painting for days.

Canal Saint Martin, Paris     12"x10"    oil on board

This part of the Canal is not in the centre of Paris so this was much quieter than my other painting sessions and I hardly saw any tourists despite of the fact that this bridge is famous for being in the movie "Amélie". I just love this movie. I've stopped counting how many times I've watched it. The soundtrack by Yann Tiersen is also one of my favourite thing to play on the piano.

Amélie making ricochets on the Canal

It was a grey dull day but it was the perfect condition to see all the shades of greens in the trees and the water. I also loved the highlights of blues and turquoise on the metallic bridge.

As you can see below it was pretty quiet. Just a shame the ground was full of litter. Obviously not a prime tourist location.

I was so glad I took my warm coat as it was a bit nippy there

Below is the painting at the end of the session. I only worked 5 more minutes on it here back home; I'm aware it's more a study than a accurate finished painting but I wanted to keep the freshness of it.

Paris - Place des Vosges

I went to Paris for a few days to paint in May and produced around 10 paintings but they all need some small tweaking and I've just got round to finish 2 of them. The painting below was made at my favourite square in Paris which is "Place des Vosges" in the beautiful "quartier du Marais".

Fountain at Place des Vosges   10"x8"   oil on board

There was a great feeling about the place; children were playing football, students were sunbathing and families were having picnic on the grass.

What inspired me was the sparkling water in the fountain
and the frame made by the trees branches

I found a nice quiet shady spot to paint but I soon felt there were many people gathering and taking pictures behind me. I was about to get my best pen out to start signing autographs for my new fans when I realised they were taking pictures of the famous Louis XIII sculpture that was just behind me!

that's me in the action

Afterwards I did a second painting at the same place facing the beautiful arches of the building. I loved the way the light was showing through the arches.

Place des Vosges & Violette   6"x8"   oil on board

The little girl you can see on the painting is called Violette. She was playing on the square with her brother and had been quietly observing me doing both paintings and would every now and then come and say a few nice words to me. She was so cute I suggested to put her in the painting if she could stand in the distance for a few minutes. Her position looked a bit rigid as it was probably the first time she had to "pose" for someone but she couldn't help smiling the whole time.

People were starting to leave by the end of the day

The painting at the end of the session

I will try and post more Paris paintings soon. Thanks for all the nice comments I've received on my recent posts - nice to know I'm not the only person reading my blog;)