Tuesday, July 29, 2014

No Dogs Allowed: from Sketch to Painting

The Square des Missions Étrangères near where we lived in the 7e, is a lovely place to relax with a friend, a book, or an ice cream from Le Bac à Glaces just down the street.

But dogs aren't allowed, nor are they welcome in the more than 400 small neighborhood parks in Paris. I thought Parisians loved dogs!

Seeing sign after sign prohibiting dogs from entering small parks in Paris gave me the idea for my first picture book, Paris-Chien: Adventures of an Ex-pat Dog.

Here is my photo of the Square des Missions Étrangères.


I made a sketch in pencil then went over it with a waterproof brush marker.


I scanned the sketch and printed it on watercolor paper with my large format Epson Artisan 1430,  and painted in gouache. I prefer Linel and Winsor & Newton.

Here is the final version which appeared in the book.


Bonnes nouvelles! I am happy to report that the dog park situation has changed.

 The first espace canin de liberté in Paris, where dogs can run, play and socialize freely, opened in late 2013 at Square Jacques Antoine near Place Denfert Rochereau in the 14e.

It's in French, but you can still enjoy the video.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Jackie, thanks for posting your process. I've just started playing with gouache and seeing how you paint is great! I love your work.

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