High Contrast Grey.

I am not sure what is going on here, but as I walked by this rather modern building I was taken back to see the salon style setup of art on the walls inside. Voyeuristic tendencies. This is the same place that will be hosting the broadway musical Cabaret in less than a month after it leaves Paris. I should really get on trying to get tickets for that becfore it gets to be too late.

It seems that none of the architecture, nor the city planning is straight in France. The nights have been cold and where the ability to take reference photos of Rennes at night was presented, I had to cut it short as my fingers began to freeze so much that even the simple operations on my camera became difficult. J’ai lu une article sur le sujet de… I have a feeling that when I return that all these photos that I have taken will become my lifeline for artistic inspiration. I still have 800 some photos left on my SD card.. it feels strange that I will have not cleared the card for almost a year by the time I return to the states. A collection that I hope to never lose.

At one point a local street artist had taken a marker to give her a speach bubble with “sexe=$” I feel as though this Delacroix reproduction represents the problem with white consumer culture and the rest of the world. It doesn’t help that a few of them look like they could be extras for Jersey Shore. I will admit that I do like that I am able to see exposed breasts while walking around in France for the simple fact that people shouldn’t feel ashamed of their own body. We are all human and we all have either one set of sexual organs or another (sometimes both..).  Things to miss when returning to a conservative america. A contradictive conservative america.

The moon rises over the trees as I run out of my room to catch the metro. Hot chocolate with something mint flavored and alcoholic. A silent film addresses the emergence of the talkies. A culture of reflection.

For my comics class we have been assigned to make a short comic about an object that means something to us. Since I came to France with just the basics I thought that I would do it on the little Tintin figurine I used in my architecture class last semester to represent me while I am roaming the country of France taking photos.

Continuing down the long path of getting this painting’s line work before the paint done. There are so many little details to do that it is getting a bit tiring that I can’t just jump in with the acrylic paint right now.

Sunday lunch. Jessye sent me a few packets of asian soup flavorings and some dried seaweed, which she said goes great with rice. A lot of white to match the snow covered ground outside. I thought I was going to be able to get away from winter while I was in France, but I guess not.. At least it seems to be melting quickly. All last night the sky glowed a golden yellow as the street lights reflected off of the snow and the clouds.

Using ink to establish all the darkest areas. I have been enjoying the results of playing with the colored gel pens. Sadly the metalic aspects just don’t photograph so I can’t really share it with my friends back in the States.

Establishing the figure. He feels a bit emotionless right now, and I am not sure if I am wanting to play that up some more, or to add some emotion to him. I’m thinking I will try to give him some heavy eyelids to play up the drink in his hand.. hopefully that will give me the emotions I am looking for.

The troupe that puts on the shows of Rocky Horror Picture Show in Paris came over to Rennes for a free show. The film was shown in English but the jokes being said by the performers were a mixture of French and English. This was probably the one time I have seen the show in public and was still able to follow the film because the crowd in Rennes didn’t know all the things to yell, like they do in Seattle.

Initial pencil sketch. To make the angles less harsh for the perspective I nailed a string to my wall and have been using that as a crude straightedge. It seems to be working alright so far, except that everytime I need to put something else into perspective I need to renail the picture to the wall.

My new larger project idea came to me in that hazy area of waking where the state of the mind isn’t asleep, nor awake, and the description of lucid dreaming still doesn’t feel like the right word. The initial idea is for a person to be on the street level at night while up above there is a naked woman at the window, but yet the person below doesn’t notice her. Originally she was going to be smoking, or closing the window/curtains, but as I was working out this idea I decided to take out my Le Jaro tarot deck and one of the cards I drew was of a naked woman from behind. I think that by having her backside appear might help with trying to cancel the idea that she is trying to do it for exhabitionist reasons and make it seem more innocent.

Took a sick day and spent it at my desk painting. I think that this is well enough to turn in for painting tomorrow, although I still feel that it is missing the finishing touches. Like perhaps some feathers and a background, but then again, I never know when to stop. I think it is time to make myself another hot toddy, put on some TOS, and take a nap. *edit. Thanks to Dustin I added the forgotten shadow of the hoop on her thigh.

Continuation. I saw the usage of a thin white line recently and I thought I would give it a try. It seems to have added a much more illustrative look to the piece, so I am not too sure how I like it or not.

A new painting for this weeks painting class. It took me forever to start this one because I kept having ideas but no form come to my mind. Finally I just took one of the photos from my inspiration folder and decided to use that as a figure study which I will then mutate. My plan is for war paint, piercings, and tattoos to blend the old photo with new details. A bit cliché, but I can see where it will evolve to. I have come to see that in my painting classes here in France that the French are all about concept, so as I try to experiment with mediums I am running into not having an answer for when they ask why.

Classes have started up again, although I am still not feeling the realization of that fact. For some reason it seems that none of the classes are interesting this semster and I am having the hardest time trying to figure out which classes to take. Like a psych class where the information is interesting as it talks about the linguistics of language, but is in the third year so I lack all kinds of background in different studies that the other students already have. Dropping names of researchers like rockstars. On the upside, I think I finally found “my bar” in Rennes. Le Sambre. Wood walls. Red velvet. And old pictures all over the walls. The music doesn’t fit, but not everything is perfect. At least it is more just better rock music than something like top 40.

I think that this is the state I will show this for class. I used the pattern from the tie I bought in Paris for the background. I am not too sure how I feel about how it turned out since it isn’t weaved but drawn and painted it seems to loose the industrial feel to it. Also I can’t seem to capture the color of Jessye’s hair at all. I put in some gold streaks  to help show that her hair is red and not brown, but perhaps that will be lost in interpretation.

A painting of Jessye drinking wine from the bottle in our Parisian hotel. Hopefully I will be finished by this Thursday for class. I am wanting to do something with the background but I am not too sure what. Perhaps some patterning and playing with painting and then wiping to build up layers of detail.

These past few mornings have been gorgeous as I watch the sun rise from my window. Of course everytime I see the beautiful colors that are made, like the deep red on the horizon that gently transitions into a firey orange and then a fleeting green, that can almost be easily ignored, before reaching the dark blue that is almost black left over from the night, I have to think of the reactions to these colors by the impressionists and how these vibrant colors are only possible because of the pollution in the air. Although when I bring this up to people, like when sitting in an 8am class, I don’t think they share the same inner turmoil interest. The conflict with how beautiful the colors are but yet knowing that their presence represents something wrong in this world.

Paris on my 24th birthday. We got a gateaux des rois for my birthday cake and I got to wear the crown. My surprise on the inside of the cake was a little green porcelaine cat with brown spots. We followed this up with some apple cidre. Nothing too extravagant, but a lot of fun. I think this is going to be a good age.