Les lieux familiers (bis)

Vue en hauteur d'une piste d'aéroport, une tour, des voitures et des avions
Je voyage assez souvent (et c’est chouette) et me trouve à l’aise dans les aéroports. Quelque chose de familier, d’interchangeable, qui me sied. 

On n’a pas besoin d’y parler trop. C’est reposant. On s’y perd rarement sauf happé dans des rêveries. J’ai un bon bouquin et quand je ne lis pas, j’observe les gens. 

Je regarde souvent ma pellicule photos de téléphone intelligent : il est claffi de photos prises d’avion ou d’aéroport. 

Vue depuis le hublot d'un avion sur la piste de l'aéroport, un bras de mer, et la ville en face
Je suis en transit pour Berlin. Je n’y ai jamais mis les pieds ! On me dit que c’est magnifique et dynamique. J’y vais pour le boulot et prendrai ce que je peux de ces quelques jours. 

Vue depuis le hublot d'un avion sur une piste d'aéroport et un avion. La mise au point est sur les gouttes d'eau de la vitre. Ce qui est en arrière plan est flou et gris.
Ah, ça va me manquer de moins voyager. 

Les lieux familiers

Comme moi, Karl est un “hospital native”. Comme moi ? Non, pas tout à fait. Certes en entrant dans un hôpital, comme lui j’entre dans un lieu familier, je comprends les codes non écrits, les habitudes et les processus. Mais point de réconfort n’émerge d’une habitude oubliée. J’ai des habitudes oubliées de mon enfance à l’hôpital (aux hôpitaux, deux, si je veux être précise) car mon papa chef de service y était logé avec nous; et de ma vie de jeune adulte alors que j’y travaillais pendant les vacances universitaires.

Je connais les rotations de gens, les dossiers médicaux, les salles et appareils d’examens, mais ce qui me reste le plus, ce sont les couloirs et coursives aux lumières blafardes, et l’impression déprimante d’un moment en suspens alors que le temps, lui, s’égrène inexorablement. Il me faut un effort pour les occulter et que je fouille pour raviver les souvenirs vagues des sourires des malades, les voix enjouées et le ton rassurant du personnel, et la lumière naturelle inondant les couloirs lorsqu’au profit d’un soin la porte d’une chambre est entrouverte.

Dans ces lieux familiers je ne m’attarde pas.

#drawvember 2016 days 21-30

These ten drawings conclude #drawvember. Each took me more or less time, depending on how long I could take, or the sort of drawing I was keen on making. I can’t make time to draw everyday in December so I’ll take a break after an enjoyable two-month sprint. 


Day 21: Three Musketeers. As seen in the Air France inflight magazine, an ad for a show, I believe. Turquoise, yellow and crimson thick watercolour applied with a drawing pen. 
blue, yellow and red contours of three musketeers, two swords drawn


Day 22: Caracasablanca. As seen again in an ad in the Air France inflight magazine. Toucan overlooking rainforest and desert dunes which five camels climb. Watercolour. 
Watercolour painting of a toucan overlooking rainforest and desert dunes which five camels climb


Day 23: Poppies. Watercolour painting of a man riding a horse and following a dog in a field of poppies.
Watercolour painting of a man riding a horse and following a dog in a field of poppies


Day 24: Cat. Grey prisms done using shades of grey Faber-Castell PITT artist brush pens. White posca pen.
Cat standing, done in grey prisms done using shades of grey ink and white acrylic ink for the background


Day 25: Sailboats and trees on a hill. Black ink drawing using a Uni pin pen. After Hiroshige. 
Sailboats and trees on a hill. Black ink drawing using a Uni pin pen. After Hiroshige.


Day 26: White wild roses (after Van Gogh). Colour felt tip pens.
White wild roses against a pink sky done in the style of Van Gogh


Day 27: Man in a tree (after Marc-Antoine Mathieu). Black Uni pin pens (0.1 mm, 0.5 mm).
Black ink drawing of the silhouette of the head and upper body of a man in a tree branches


Day 28: The Vagabond, by Inoue Takehiko. Black Uni pin pen and Pentel Brushpen drawing from the manga.
Black ink drawing in a square of the eye, brow, ear and side of the nose of The Vagabond, by Inoue Takehiko


Day 29: Batik. As seen in the Kaili Ethnic Minorities Museum in China, province of Guizhou, last April. That drawing took me nearly 3 hours. Black ink drawing of batik fabric patterns: fish, flowers and leaves, using a black Uni pin pen and Pentel Brushpen.
Black ink drawing of batik fabric geometric patterns: fish, flowers and leaves


Day 30: Nude woman reclining, seen from the back. After Van Gogh. I had precious little time for the last day. A quick pencil sketch on a small surface of the art book and I then used a black Uni pin pen (0.1 mm). Black ink drawing of a nude woman reclining, seen from the back. After Van Gogh

#drawvember 2016 days 11-20

I know one great way to end the day and wash away the worries of work (tee hee), but when that’s not an option, I draw 🙂 

Since last summer, I have happily neglected the drawing iPad apps that I favoured these past few years, because  of the *feeling* actual tools and materials provide. Feeling what I’m drawing is something I have always missed on the iPad. On the other hand, there are limited “undo” options with actual materials. Each context is very different and both have advantages and drawbacks. At the moment, I am having the most fun with non digital art. 

I drew everyday in October for #inktober and liked it so much, and made enough progress that I wanted to continue, hence #drawvember. The first 10 are in #drawvember: days 1-10.

Day 11: Bird on a bough. Uniball black pin pen, Faber-Castell grey soft brush pen, watercolour. 10×15 cm.Black ink and pastel watercolour painting of a bird on the bough of a tree in bloom

Day 12: Japanese woman in yukata holding an umbrella. Uniball black pin pen, watercolour. 10×15 cm.Black ink and pastel watercolour painting of a Japanese woman in yukata holding an umbrella and seen from the back

Day 13: Lavender fields in Provence. watercolour. 10×15 cm. Watercolour painting of lavender fields, country house, trees and hills

Day 14: Octopus and fish. Uniball black pin pen (0.05 mm).Black ink drawing of an octopus and fish, filled out with different thin and delicate patterns

Day 15: Nose and mouth. Pixels. Uniball black pin pens. Nose and mouth done in black ink pixels of various density

Day 16: Nemo, Dory & Bruce. From a “Finding Nemo” preparatory sketch by Ricky Nierva. Uniball black pin pens, Faber-Castell grey soft brush pens, watercolour. Drawing of Nemo, Dory and Bruce: two small fish and a huge shark right behind them

Day 17: Sailboat at sea. Black Indian ink and pen. Black ink drawing of a sailboat at sea

Day 18: Ryu. A dragon. Faber-Castell grey soft brush pens and water. Red Chinese seal (a gift from my trip in China last Spring) saying my name and its equivalent in Chinese. 10×15 cm. Dragon in grey ink shades

Day 19: Powdering the neck. Reproduction of a Kitagawa Utamaro Ukiyo-e that I saw at the Guimet Museum in Paris last month. Uniball black pin pens, Faber-Castell grey soft brush pens. 10×15 cm. Reproduction in cartoon style using black and grey ink, of a Kitagawa Utamaro Ukiyo-e. Woman seen from behind, a hand on her neck, and the reflection of her face in the mirror she holds

Day 20: A swirl of cats. Jedi and Mo sharing one basket. Uniball black pin pen (0.1 mm). Black ink drawing of my two cats sharing one basket