that girl WITHOUT sketchbook

Foto at the Parisian mosque tea house. Englishmen does not recognise gender of nouns.
In my language sketchbook is like a lover - it must be him.

Sometimes it happens. You leave home. You take everything you need. At least ...you think you have EVERYTHING. You close your door behind. You travel long way. You get to the place. You take out your pen. You want to sketch and.... it is not there! Drops of sweat come on your forehead, heart starts to beat faster, only one thing bothers you now...

How should I sketch now?

It happened to me so far only three times.

1# Coffee is always good 

Over a month ago in the plane - on the way from Gdańsk to Paris.

Thank you wizzair for white coffe cups!

The unexpected need to put on the paper what I see was stronger than anything. A paper cup of coffee, that you see above, did only well to me. My favourite rosa lipstick was actually accidental. Of course, I had to drink out my coffee before sketching! Stewardess gave me a weird look - cou-cou.

Lesson to learn: sketchbook is like lipstick - never take it out from your bag!
Or - at least - never refuse yourself a cup of tea or coffee! Vine, on contrary, is never good, because on plastic transparent glasses you cannot sketch.

 

2# Read'n'go or fill your book with inspirations

Last saturday my sister and her fiancé invited me over. Although we live in the same (Tri)city, it is still one hour of travel by public transport what successfully prevents me from frequent visits. Ultimately, I promised and off I went. Of course I planned to sketch in the tram, but my small moleskine sketchbook decided to stay home.

The only paper I had in my bag was a book of Jaume Cabre - Confessions (in Polish: "Wyznaję"). I rarely leave home without a book (you never know when it is going to save your life from boredom, when all stream goes down and you have nothing else to do). Luckily enough this one was my own book, not from a library.

I could start the process of destruction of the book.

Dear publishers! Never forget to leave empty pages for nasty sketchers! Not urban sketching this time but... I have probably read too big part of that book to not feel oblige to go deeper down into my thoughts and its content. 

Now, probably all book lovers, language teachers and librarians will shiver, I regret to admit - I have nothing against sketching in books... with ink... I hope that  Jaume Cabre, whose book I am bound to finish to read soon, will forgive me once this nasty profanation. Deep in my heart I hope he will give a thought one day to this idea and add some extra art to his works, namely illustrations. Those 750 pages full of music and beautiful verses would be even more pleasant with bunch of sketches every now and then.

I guess he would understand my emergency situation and forget me that addition of some extra lines on the first page that contained before just pure dedication to Margerida. Dear Margerida, you became part of my sketch. Please forgive me robbing you from that space.

3# Eiffel Tour is never enough

 This sketch was a sin against my sketchbook that I have committed quite deliberately. I have chosen a book again. As you know, I needed quite much of inner thinking to sketch the Eiffel Tour (read here). This one was only a tiny gift for a friend whose endless love to this building has never ceased to amaze me. If a sketch can bring a smile on someone's face, why not to doodle it? I sacrificed my aesthetic doubts and sketched the Eiffel Tour again.

Photo of poor quality, but as you can imagine, I do not own this sketch anymore.

As for place, it was done in a Parisian Mosque that is currently one of my top 10 location to go in Paris. Two-euro-mint-tea with a beautiful mosaics and stained-glass windows will satisfy not only photographers, sketchers, but simply anyone who is looking for a quite peaceful place with a beautiful surrounding. Delightful.

not taking any colours with you in this place it is another sin. Mosque in Paris.

4# real disaster


Have you realised that the third point was fake? I had my sketchbook with me!  I deliberately distroyed that book. Well... the real disaster happened some time after when I went to Amsterdam. I had tears in my eyes. But this story will be told another time.


5# dream place to sketch?

I have found one dream place with girls just this week! Unfortunately no picture this time as the camera in phone died. Hopefully I will improve this in the future.

If you could imagine perfect place for ANY sketcher or street art creator, it would be the pub  TABULA RASA in Gdynia in Tricity, Poland (Abraham street). What they did was - give people white walls and tell them - do whatever you like. For the results they did not have to wait too long. Walls soon started to be filled with various kind of doodles, scrawls ugly or and nice pieces of art. I felt in love with place from the first sight.

Why have I only forgot to take my pen?

grr.....

Tribute to Paris Eiffel Tower.

After years of rejecting the existence of Paris, finally did I commit the sin, that I am still ashamed of. Not only have I visited the city of light,s but I have also sketched the Tour Eiffel...

Oh but this is P-A-R-I-S!

Whenever I heard from my friends' mouths that sigh of visible elation, I could not resist a reactant
thought - it must be exaggeration. My sister who studied in France was the first one to say that. As a natural result of my rebellious mind, for a destination of my visit to France I have deliberately chosen Amiens that is not far away from Paris Beauvais (From now on is my love to cathedrals true and eternal. If you have never heard of that cathedral... well, believe me, Notre-Dame is just as impressive). What was much more important to me at that moment - I have NOT chosen Paris.

My conviction about Paris was undisturbed and stubborn. Wherever crowds of tourists build their own communities of mass touristic consumption, there is no place for magic, not to mention for a soul of the urban space. And without those, the city misses all its sex appeal.

Nonetheless, the life is an ironic creature, because I did visit Paris, although I avoided it for so long. During my trip to Sarajevo in September 2014 (read more here) I have met not only one, but three impressive Parisians, who kept repeating after my sister the very same sentence:

Oh but this is P-A-R-I-S!

The verdict on me and my stubborn avoidance of Paris was given - all three loved the city. Did I have any other choice than to visit? So I did already on October 2014, under only one condition: I will  do sketch - but please - I have promised myself - avoid kitsch, for God's sake - avoid the Eiffel Tower!

The sketch above proves my sins. Obviously I was far from avoiding the forbidden fruit.
Do I have any other explanation than a cheerful greeting of my friend: Welcome in Paris - I have to show you this! You will love it - Look! This is THE Tower! Isn't this view not beautiful?

A joyful child- I thought.

In that very moment I gave  up.

Hence, I was shown THE Tower from each side. From down, from far, from close. I was shown it even during a deep dark night, when the beautiful illuminations turns it to be some modern Christmas tree on the Parisian horizon. I was even made to observe it from the top of the Sacré-Cœr and from the banks of the river Seine with a bottle of red wine as accompaniment. Each of those occasion was filled with delightful comments...

Was that the wine or the constant flow of euphoria that has been reaching my ears? Even now, I am not sure what has brought me to that, but I have to publicly confess it -   I did it. I sketched THE Eiffel Tower. The compromise I made was- at least it is on the foreground!

In my inner quest for saving the magic of that iron creature, embedded so deeply in the Parisians' souls, I found the postcard below. Hopefully, this will save the rest of my dignity.

The photograph was taken from the very same point where I hid myself with a sketchbook (Pont du Alexandre III. - Bridge of Alexander III), however the time is much different - it was in 1900 during the universal exhibition. Back then - Paris had plenty of towers like the one of Gustave Eiffel. Back then - the intellectual debate about aesthetics rose up slowly. If I had lived then, I would have been an active part of it! Maybe then that building would have been deconstructed after the exhibition as well?

I found justification for myself. This is the Tower's charm that even Marcel Proust had to obey (in the end it was his friends who built it!). What else I can then admit than simply accept the fact - the Tower is not a thing to ignore - either you hate it, or love it.

PS. For Proust lovers I leave you reference to his description of it on that site or below - that refers to its important role in the defense of the capital during World War (1916):

In this Paris, whose beauty in 1914 I had seen awaiting almost defenseless the threat of the approaching enemy, there was certainly, as there had been then, the ancient unalterable splendor of a moon cruelly and mysteriously serene, which poured down its useless beauty upon the still untouched buildings of the capital; but as in 1914, and more now than in 1914, there was also something else, there were lights from a different source, intermittent beams which, whether they came from the aeroplanes or from the searchlights of the Eiffel Tower, one knew to be directed by an intelligent will, by a friendly vigilance which gave one the same kind of emotion, inspired the same sort of gratitude and calm that I had felt in Saint-Loup's room at Doncières, in the cell of that military cloister where so many fervent and disciplined hearts were exercising themselves in readiness for the day when, without hesitation, in the midst of their youth, they would consummate their sacrifice.
Time Regained 6: 161-62

[UPDATE -6-01-2014. I have found some precoloured photographs. Enjoy!]

New Year's resolutions

What is your New Year's resolution? - I asked my friend today. She said - I have so many.
 - Be young rich and beautiful again?

Magical date.

I believe first day of a new year that is just in our heads. How many times did you create a list and forgot about it the next day? Do you remember you NY resolutions from the last year?

My friend from Beograd posted on his facebook a photo of cat, obviously at the new years eve party. Ginger lazy hairy creature - peacefully slept on a tray in the bar; showing its disinterest about all that fuss that the others made about their funny NY celebrations. I love ignorant cats.


Nonetheless, I created a list this year again. Actually one shy NYE resolution.

If it comes for the other three? Well... am I not perfect already ;-)