Saturday 20 August 2011

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.



8 comments:

  1. That 'Blue' on the bridge sings out beautifully, and I like the quiet reflection of it below. I don't remember the bridge in the film, will have to watch it again.

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  2. All brilliant Valerie, photos as well. Lovely painting, and the story that goes with it. My, you do get about my friend. All the best Valerie.
    Vic.

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  3. Thanks Andrew and Vic for your lovely comments.

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  4. Great job on the water and reflections. Water can be so beautiful in paintings but I am very intimidated by it. I can tell from your works that you are not at all. Well done!
    Doug

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  5. Your work is lovely. Love the reflections in the water. I will continue to enjoy your blog. Happy to have found you on Michaels blog.

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  6. The painting is beautifully 'soft'. Love the reflections.
    Imagine it being 'nippy' in August. I love it!

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  7. Thanks Douglas, Joan and Mary for the comments :-) It seems my water here is quiet popular but funnily enough, I haven't done much to it. All I did was painting some dark green/brown with turpentine in the dark area and the light area is actually my underpaint which is pink. Then I added some bridge reflections. That's all. That shows that sometimes less is more..

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