A day in the Musee d'Orsay - tips on sketching

Sacré Cœur and the butte Montmartre from the roof terrace of the Musée d'Orsay
(aka the sketch I wish I'd done while I was there! - see below)
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

On our second day in Paris I visited the Musée d'Orsay and the Sennelier shop at Quai Voltaire (on the Left Bank, opposite the Louvre). Click this link to see a Google map of the places I visited - also shown below.

You can read blog posts on my two other blogs about:

• Making A Mark - The Musée d'Orsay
• Making A Mark - Video: Vincent van Gogh at the Musée d'Orsay
• Making A Mark - Video: Claude Monet at the Musée d'Orsay
• Making A Mark Reviews - Art shop review: Magasin Sennelier, Paris

As you will see from the above posts you can take photographs and video the work in the Musée d'Orsay - within limits (see The Musée d'Orsay). You can see:

• Flickr set: Musée d'Orsay
• YouTube: my videos of paintings in the Musée d'Orsay

Feel free to leave a comment!

Sketching in the Musée d'Orsay

You can also copy works in the museum as follows. The museum makes a distinction between freehand drawing (including sketching) and people who want to set up an easel and copy paintings (by sight-size methods presumably).

An artist copying a painting in the Musée d'Orsay
photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Freehand drawing
Freehand pencil sketches, not exceeding 30 x 60 cm, are allowed in the museum. However, for groups, previous authorisation must be requested when the booking is made.

Copyists
Copying museum works of art, by professional or amateur copyists, or by art school students, requires an individual authorisation. This is issued to one named person, and for a single work. The request must be submitted at least one month before the required date of entry to the museum. The permission is valid for three months, and may not be extended.
Copying

The main issues for those wanting to sketch are as follows:

• you can only to enter the museum with a handbag. So my sister's very large shoulder bag got in but my sketching backpack had to go in the cloakroom. I'd pared it right down so it wasn't in any way bulky as I've had this problem before but they were still adamant that all backpacks had to go in the cloakroom. (If I'd had a handbag inside the backpack I would have been able to take a basic kit in).
  
• the museum can be incredibly busy in certain areas - which means a lot of potential 'visual interference' while sketching. Plus you need to get yourself set up somewhere where you aren't in the way of other people as otherwise you'll be jostled on a fairly frequent basis as people tend to look at the pictures rather than where they are going!
  
• there aren't a lot of places to sit down. Fine if you can stand - but people like me who have a limit on standing still will have a problem. I also didn't see any sketching stools in use, nor did I see any store of them. You also won't be able to take in your own. (Has anybody ever used a museum sketching stool? If so, where did you get one)

I have to confess! This sketch the top of this post is a total cheat by me! It's the sketch I would have done from the roof terrace of the Musée d'Orsay - if I'd just had my backpack with me! Instead it was done back in London from a photo I took from the terrace.

The terrace is reached a door at the side of the cafe at the top of the building. The door to the terrace seems to be locked after summer is over. I've visited on a fine day at the end of October and was unable to get out on the terrace. However it was a fine warm day at the end of September when I visited. The door was unlocked while I sat eating lunch in the cafe and hordes of people immediately poured out and on to the terrace!

A visit to the Sennelier shop

Art shop review: Magasin Sennelier, Paris provides my perspective on the Sennelier shop I visited after leavingthe museum. I've also got a Flickr set of photos taken in the Sennelier shop.

Links:

• Musée d'Orsay 62, rue de Lille, 75343 Paris
  
• Musée d'Orsay - details for visitors
• Sennelier - 3 quai Voltaire 75007 Paris

30th September: Art shops in Paris

Where are the art shops in Paris which actually provide artists supplies and materials? This post attempts to answer that question - and provides me with a list of ones to try and find.

I finally found the trick to finding out where art shops in Paris. First you need to go to Google France and then put in your query - which need not be in French to start getting results. The trick is finding the search query which does not generate lots of galleries. I used "art shops Paris" to start with!

• Sennelier Art Shops (French website) There are three shops at 3 quai Voltaire 75007 Paris / Magasin do 4 Bis, Rue de lar FGrande Chaumiere, 75006 Paris / Magasin du 6 rue hallé- 75014 Paris. This is a very nice review of a visit to the shop and this is a Flickr photo of the pastels in the Sennelier shop! It stocks Caran d'Ache Luminance but these seem to be only marginally cheaper compared to the UK.
  
• Berthelot Sarl 184, Rue Faubourg St Honoré, 75008 Paris, France. I've not been but it look like it might be a bit like Cornelissens. This is a review posted on Google - although I have seen another which said something rather different.
  

carol curtis‎

By Carol - 22 Jan 2009‎

the BEST art center in the world!!! Without reservation..the BEST! I have shopped here for almost 16 years after stumbling on it during wondering tour of Paris. I have shopped here ever since by telephone and post. Treat yourself!!!!!!!!!‎

Just have a go at translating this French!

Fournitures beaux arts

- Toiles et chassis, standard et sur mesure
- peinture à l'huile, acrylique, aquarelle, gouache
- peinture pour porcelaine (Schjerning, Shira, Céradel)
- fours, pinceaux et brosses
- papiers (Canson, Stouls, Vinci, Vang)
- chevalets, coffrets, boîte aquarelle
- modelage, argile à modeler
- collection de statues en bronze, terre cuite, bois
- copies de tableaux, objets de décoration

• Maison Gattegno, 13 rue Grde Chaumière 75006 Paris - written about in this post My Candy Store in Paris Breakfasts
• Gerstaecker - Le géant des Beaux arts - an all French website with a shop in Paris at 166 rue de la Roquette 75011 Paris - although I haven't yet worked out what it stocks
  
• Graphigro has shops in the Third (13-15, boulevard des Filles du Calvaire ), Sixth (207, boulevard Voltaire ) and Fifteenth Arondissements.
• Dubois - Dubois SARL 20, rue Soufflot, 75005 Paris (inbetween the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Sorbonne) - indicates it targetd at professional fine artists as well as amateurs
  
• Esquisse - 3 rue des Beaux-Arts - 75006 Paris (Ligne 4 : Saint-Germain des Prés; Ligne 10 : Mabillon ou Odéon; Ligne 7 : Pont-Neuf) Stocks Caran d'Ache Pencils

ArtStage.Fr has a great basic list of art shops.

The Great Pencil Hunt, Part Two is a 1997 review of art shops in Paris by Ric's Metropole Paris

I V Y paris serves as a comprehensive hub for visual arts information and resources in Paris. Unfortunately it has not got categories so searching its archive of past posts is not easy - but it does comment on certain art shops in what's hot art supply stores (0nce you know that's the label to use!)

Saturday 16th September: A visit to an art store and Walden Pond

Late Friday afternoon I drove back from Cape Cod to my cousin's and it rained all the way. By the time I got back I was so tired from the work done at the workshop coupled with the drive that I decided to abandon my original plan of going to New York for the Pastel Society exhibition on the Saturday. This also meant I did not have to get up at the crack of dawn and sit on trains for a long time in order to get there and back and have more than a couple of hours in New York! In any case Saturday morning brought a brilliant sunny day and it was far too nice to be inside for too long.

I spent breakfast time and early morning eyeing up the trees at the rear of my cousin's house with a sketchbook and a camera and trying to work out how to sketch/draw/paint them - but didn't get very far.

I also wanted to visit :

• the Charette retail art store in Woburn and
  
• Walden Pond which is a designated national historic landmark due to Thoreau's association with it.

Walden Pond is credited with being one of the birthplaces of environmentalism and the conservation movement. It's is a good example of a kettle hole and was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000-12,000 years ago. Henry David Thoreau made the pond famous by living by the side of it for a year and writing his book "Walden" about the experience. The area is now managed by the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Walden Woods Project was set up to avoid the area round the pond from being developed.

The Charette art store is great and has a very comprehensive range of fine art and graphic art products. This was the first time I'd been in art store in America on my own and I took full advantage of the opportunity for a very leisurely mooch round. I now know what lots of things are that people refer to and which we can't get at home in the UK like Gator board (and I want some!) I am still knocked for six every time I go into an American art supply store as they are just so much better than the ones at home. Thanks to Cindy Brunk for the suggestion that I try Charettes. Details of how to get to the store are in the hyperlink.

I was able to test drive and purchase the StudioPak from ArtBin which takes all my boxes of Unison Pastels perfectly - and a few other essentials. (I can't find it in the Charette catalogue so the link is from Dick Blicks).

I was then able to test drive it in the field a little later when I trecked round the edge of Walden Pond to find a point to try a pastel painting from. I carried my very well travelled folding chair; a sheet of foam core with some full sheets of Sennelier Pastel Carte; the new Artbin Studio pak with all the pastels in and my normal backpack which was stripped down to bare essentials. I think that once I get used to the Studio Pak I'll be able to operate with just that - but I was still finding out how much I could get in it. Moving up and down slopes on paths which weren't terribly well formed was somewhat hair-raising for somebody with feet as dreadful as mine! The major issue which arose from the Walden Pond expedition though was the number of bites I collected. I really should have known better given that i was sitting in woods near to water. I had several very large lumps for days afterwards!

The pastel was not great - in fact it's pretty awful, is still very much a WIP and will either need a lot more work or will have to be redone. However, I was fortunate to have three people who sat right in front of me - or rather they sat first and then I realised they had the only decent view through the trees and I needed to sit there too. So I sat behind them - and sketched their shapes as I knew they'd disappear in 5 minutes. The sketch is open on my backpack for reference while I worked on the larger work.

Watching Walden Pond - a work in progress
19.5" x 25.5", Pastel
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Walden is blue at one time and green at another, even from the same point of view. Lying between the earth and the heavens, it partakes of the color of both. Viewed from a hilltop it reflects the color of the sky; but near at hand it is of a yellowish tint next the shore where you can see the sand, then a light green, which gradually deepens to a uniform dark green in the body of the pond. In some lights, viewed even from a hilltop, it is of a vivid green next the shore. Some have referred this to the reflection of the verdure; but it is equally green there against the railroad sandbank, and in the spring, before the leaves are expanded, and it may be simply the result of the prevailing blue mixed with the yellow of the sand. Such is the color of its iris. (Henry David Thoreau - "Walden")

[Note: Whoops - had to republish as I got the date wrong. Only first I noticed the month was wrong - and it took another hour before I noticed the day was wrong too!]

Links:

• Charette
• Art Bin Studio Pak
• Walden Pond State Reservation
• Walden Pond Trail map
• "Walden" by henry david thoreau 1854 (an e-book)
• Thoreau's 1846 survey map of Walden Pond
• The Walden Woods Project

Technorati tags: art , painting , pastel , pastels , Thoreau , Walden Pond ,

Dick Blick in San Diego

I visited my very first Dick Blick store in San Diego on Friday 14th July (to get supplies for the pastel workshop) and then again on Monday 17th July! That meant art store shopping four days running! Only true hard bitten art supplies addicts will know what that feels like!

Kathy and Gordon (of which more later) had flown in on Sunday for THE BIG ROAD TRIP. On Monday morning, they went seal watching with Louise while I fixed up my flight and car for the last week and enrolled in AAA (for the last week of my trip). We then all went down to the Little Italy part of San Diego to the Blick Art Material Store so Kathy could see it. Gordon parked himself in a location of his choosing and the female contingent hit the store. He had a long wait...........

I have to say that I have a very positive impression of art stores in the USA. In my opinion, they are hugely better than some of the well known and very large ones I use in London - at least from my perspective for the type of things I buy. I oohed and aahed my way round both stores. I gather Kathy (from Maine) was also impressed - and I hadn't realised until the visit how few places actually have a Dick Blick store.

The Dick Blick store (like the store in San Clemente) has a great range of paper of all different types plus illustration and museum boards. The two stores I visited also had well stocked shelves - ie if they stock it they make sure they keep on top of reordering. A big contrast to some of the very large stores I visit in London who sometimes let stockouts occur. London stores also tend to stock European suppliers rather than American ones - irrespective of who produces the best product (or the fact that products are different). In contrast I found good quality European supplies in both the San Clemente and San Diego stores. And my vote goes with the store who stocks quality irrespective of the country it comes from.

I also liked the fact that the Dick Blick stores had a very good range of drawing boards/desks and other furniture for storing paper and art materials - a big thumbs up for that one. Allocated parking spaces in the adjacent lot were also a plus point. About the only area of supply I could identify which I thought they could improve was the very weak range of art books in store (people who like art supplies invariably like art books too!)

I have English artist friends who regularly order from Dick Blick - because of the impossibility of getting certain supplies in the UK. Having seen the store I shall now be paying more attention to their mail order catalogue!

[Note: sorry for the 'break in service' but my broadband link went down - but has now been resurrected ]

Links: Dick Blick, San Diego (link includes directions and a map)

Service with a smile - San Clemente Art Supply

The place where the Dianna Ponting Pastel Workshop was held really deserves a special mention in this blog as it was outstanding.

The workshop was held in a large room to the rear and side of the San Clemente Art Supply and Framing building at 1531 N. El Camino Real, San Clemente Ca 92672. (that's the spanish style building with two big palms either side!)

Patti Herdell, who set up and runs the store, is one of the most helpful and hospitable people I've ever come across in an art supply store - and this is reflected in the range of services and supplies they offer and how one is treated as a customer. As the website says "We provide service with a smile" - and they do too!

They have an extensive range of classes and workshops - from ones for children to regular classes for local people on a variety of subjects to one day or one week workshops from some of the best tutors around. I see they have a Sally Strand teaching a workshop on 'The Color of Light' in the first week of October - which should be of interest to any pastellists who can get to it (that's if it's not sold out already!)

Running workshops, classes and demonstrations by instructors from major suppliers on a regular basis means that they are well used to having students in the building - which probably explains why they are so good at hosting classes. Each workshop participant had an easel and a decent amount of table top space - so essential when working with pastels. The wash-up and rest room facilities were fine. They also had a great map of all the local places to get lunch. What was best though was the very easy access back into the store proper where you could find anything you knew you wanted - and a lot more besides.

This store has a fabulous stock of paper and supports of all different sorts - I came away with all sorts of new goodies which I just can't get in the UK. In this respect, I even thought it was at least as good if not better than the Dick Blick store in San Diego (see tomorrow's post), If you can't find what you want at your local store try giving them a ring! They don't currently run a mail order service from their website but I'm currently thinking along the lines of contacting them next time I want something not stocked in the UK!

They also had an excellent range in both pastels and coloured pencils - and pens and pencils. I can't find my notes so I'm not going to say exactly which ones they had but will update this page once I've contacted Patty. I do know though that they were stocking the Terry Ludwig pastel sets - including the Terry Ludwig dark set which helped to produce lush darks in the workshop.

The store is also fantastic for having a great supply of small pieces of kit and useful items which make one's artistic life easier at times - and makes browsing filled with lots of loud sqeaks of "Oh look what they've got here!" They had all the material and tools which Dianna had recommended to hand - which was great as some of them were very difficult if not impossible to find at other stores.

You have been warned - DO NOT ENTER this store with any plastic in your hand unless you're prepared for a large bill or can exercise masterful restraint or have spent your art budget for the next six months already and have promised to be really good!

Links:

• San Clemente Art Supply and Framing - Home
• Schedule of Classes (the first section is for the Fall and the next section covers 2007- keep an eye on it as it is regularly updated)
• Store Directions

Technorati tags: art, art business, art supplies, coloured pencils , colored pencils , paper , pastel , pastels , pencil , pencils , shopping