Enjoying longer days

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Thursday afternoon I always drive my daughter to her dancing class. It is not far, but far enough that makes it not worth to come back home during her lesson, so I always stay there. I usually bring a book, or some work, if I am working on a digital illustration. I never go out and draw during that time because it's been always dark and cold, and time is really short to look for a place and to draw and finish color in place. But today it wasn't dark, I'd been drawing in the morning too, working on a commission, and I was left with the will of going out again just for the fun of it. So I went.

I was lucky because I found a little path I didn't know about, that brought me near the center of the town. And right there, just walking a bit, there were several nice houses for me to draw! I had 30 minutes to choose the place, sketch and be back, so I just picked a sunny spot where I could put my stuff and did a very very quick sketch of one of the houses. And I was even there waiting for my daughter to come out 3 minutes before the class was over!

The other good thing is that I have houses left to paint for next time :)

Little Panda - Pequeño Panda

http://www.carolinadeluca.com/illustration

It is true what it is said that, sometimes, while drawing, the pencil becomes alive and with its own will, and ideas evolve and take ways we didn't think in the first moment. I guess it is just that one can be so focused in something that thoughts come up almost unconsciously, aided by the images we have already drawn. 

Little Panda (Pequeño Panda) was born in this way, during the illustration process of the wishes of a godmother to her baby godson. My pencil became alive and my drawing evolved to the figure of my little son and his doudou, his inseparable fluffy toy, a little panda bear. All at once I discovered that the Little Panda was the image of my boy, and that the little rag mouse was that of his panda bear, his friend, his solace, and maybe his secret confident...

Now Little Panda has life on his own, as a character, starring what it will be his first book.

Illustration for Little Panda book cover

I have previously described a bit what is involved during the creative process. In fact, you might be surprised to hear that it starts as soon as the project has green light. From that moment and until I have a more or less clear picture in my head, I think about it last thing before getting asleep, and first thing in the morning. And intermittently during the day. When the idea starts to form I just get very anxious to draw it, but I am already more relaxed inside. 

Before starting thinking, or before starting drawing, the first thing is to decide the format. Yes, the format is very important. Because we tend to think only the content matters, but not, the way we place it, the "white" around it, is also a very important part of the composition. Once this is settled, I start to sketch. 

When I started sketching, I already knew I would use the relationship between a kid and his toy to illustrate the different concepts I had been given. I also knew I didn't want the kid to be a human kid, but an animal. But I hadn't still decided exactly which animal. I also knew the doudou would be an animal too, but didn't know what yet. I had three or four choices for them, and I started sketching. After two or three sketches, Little Panda popped up as the main character. 

When I was satisfied with it, I got to his toy. What interested me is that the toy would have features that would immediately give the sense of movement of a rag doll. That's why I made it with long legs and long arms. Long legs and long arms can just hang or have some expression. Then I made strips so that I could color it a bit more, and provide some contrast with the panda's black and white colors. And well, I chose a mouse because it seemed to me a panda and a mouse were a good match :)

I did the sketches for all the concepts, carefully working on both the body language and the expressions of the character. Because a good sketch is crucial, as it represents 90% of the total work. 

Some of Little Panda sketches

Only when the sketches were given green light, I started the final artwork. 

First of all I prepared the paper, marking the format I was working with. In this case, all illustrations were to nicely fit in a 15x15 cm square. Then, I just drew everything again very very carefully, trying to always keep my paper clean, making sure to always keep the same proportions between the panda and the mouse, between the panda head and his body, between the mouse head and his body and legs, and all this sort of things. I carefully worked on the body and face expressions, first using a soft pencil for all drawings in parallel, and later on, when happy, using a waterproof marker to finalize the lines. 

One of the Little Panda final illustrations, before putting color in

Time for the final final step: coloring. 
I scanned everything, just for safety, and printed a copy of the image above, for coloring tests. I chose this one because the bodies of both the panda and the mouse are clear and complete. These illustrations were to be done with watercolors, and we cannot remove them once put in, so testing colors is a good thing to do. For the black parts of the panda I used black and indigo, letting the watercolors mix in in the paper. The mouse was to be orange with touches of blue and violet. The first test came out nicely, so I went back to the originals to color them.

And voilà, this is the final result!
Little Panda and his mouse are very good friends, and they hope will share many adventures in the future.

Final set of illustrations for Little Panda (Pequeño Panda) book (click on the image to view it larger)
To see the full set of illustrations individually and larger, check my Facebook page: https://business.facebook.com/imaginecarolinadeluca/posts/1321770401173075

Time out

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After two intense weeks of school holidays, it felt I needed a bit of time out.
I didn't stay in my pyjamas all day, but I finished all immediate work, prepared this afternoon drawing classes, and I had this bit of time out drawing just for fun. And it was as great as it sounds :)

Green, green

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Everything is green in the fields around where I live. Only in the mountain spring is still making its way to the top, and some greys and browns from the branches that have no leaves yet are mixed with the bright and intense green of the leaves that just came out. It is beautiful. Fields are full of dandelions and other flowers, and the colza fields are just in flower too. 

This afternoon I had a little moment, so I went out to quickly capture this explosion of green. I wanted to get closer to the colza field at the bottom, but I was afraid of sitting too close to the route, so I had to leave the field beyond the farm. This is a view of Chemin des Noyers from Chemin des Hivouettes, right before the poney club in Crozet. 

Click on the image to view it larger

Drawing from the sofa

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Today I really wanted to go out to sketch, as with the school holidays starting this Monday, and then some work I have to do, it really felt like the last opportunity in a while. But for different reasons I had to stay home. So in the end, after realising it was now or never, I just drew from the sofa. And yes, it is way funnier to draw your own mess than actually tidying it up!

Click on the image to view it larger

Raining, inside and outside

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When I am in between projects I always take a morning, an afternoon, or a full day for myself before starting with the following one. It is like when you have just finished a book, you have the next one to read waiting on your bed table, but you cannot start one straight after the other, so you switch off the light instead. 

Today is one of these days for me, when I usually just take my stuff and go out to sketch. But today we have a steady and constant April rain, so I decided not to go. After a while I rethought it and decided that it didn't matter the rain, that I'd go out... and then I didn't have time to do it anymore... so I just let it go, and drew what I felt. Inside and out.

Dying Sea

http://www.carolinadeluca.com/illustration

It is always more difficult to show negative feelings that good and happy ones. We all have our Facebook walls full of happy pictures, happy messages, always having fun, always smiling. We only share negative things and show our anger when it is caused by something that does not affect us deep inside, and sometimes because it just makes us seem better. But then little of us do something real about it other than a rant. We live projecting this fake image of happiness and a perfect life, but in reality, our lives are complex, plenty of ups and downs, and full of contradictions. 

I guess this is why it is more difficult for me to share my last illustration. It expresses my sadness about something that is not me, but it came from inside, so I guess that makes it very personal.

This is about a dying sea, being eaten by ourselves, by our cities, our garbage, and our profound egoism. To me, this inspires a very deep sadness, and as much as it costs me sharing my feelings, I do it with the hope you will get caught as well by it. Maybe later things can start to change.

(Click to see the image larger)

A beautiful Spring afternoon

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Today I had to go to Villeneuve, I had time, and it was a warm and sunny Spring afternoon, so, what else could I do other than taking my sketch set with me? :) 

For the first time in a while, today, my feet didn't go freezing while sketching, even though it took me a while to complete this panoramic view. A couple of bees came to say hello, birds were singing the whole time, and I could even sketch a couple of bushes with small yellow flowers. Oh yes, Spring is already here! 

Click on the image to see it larger

Break and back in Vesancy

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Yesterday it was snowing, and today Spring came back again. In fact, it's been like this during this whole winter, but I just said it the other way around (one day it was warm and the day after winter was back again). 

This week is a busy one for me, and I am quite tired, but some time ago I learned that the only way to not be a zombie during the whole day is to just keep drawing. My mom is visiting me, so I thought it would be a nice occasion to go back to Vesancy, get lost in its small streets, and sit to draw for a little bit. So off we went. My mom loved the village, and kept walking around while I stopped in the little Rue de la Fruitière to sketch a corner I had seen at the beginning of our tour. 

And she also took some pictures of me...

Going out... after a month!

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This morning I went out to draw, after almost a month and a half! 

I've been very busy, and although I missed my sketching promenades a few times, I was so distracted with work that days kept going and going, a month passed by, and I almost didn't realise. But yesterday, with the biggest of my ongoing work projects almost finished, first came a very intense tiredness (I was literally falling asleep every time I sat down), and today, after having slept, the realisation of how long it was I didn't get out to sketch.

This morning I had a bit more than an hour, so I took my stuff and the car and started looking for THE place to draw. The problem about having been so long without my sketching routine, is that, without realising, I was much more exigent choosing the spot, probably because it was the first time after what I felt it was a long time. So I spent like more than half an hour doing turns, parking, getting down, walking a bit, saying to myself "no, this is not THE place", getting in the car again, driving for a while, stopping, getting down, and so on. After a while I realised that if I continued like this I would not have any time left to sketch, and I just stayed where I was, in Echenevex, in a little square facing a corner in Rue du Bourg. Of course, after that many turns, I couldn't finish but a house before I had to leave, but OK, I plan to go out sketching more often from now own :)

Poster for a Scientific Conference
2016 edition

http://www.carolinadeluca.com/event-posters

Last year I made a poster for a scientific conference that took place in Amsterdam, do you remember that poster? 
It was a conference about tracking detector mechanics, and I explained a bit about the idea behind the illustration and the poster design here. This year I was contacted again to make the poster for the 2016 edition of the conference, so this is what this entry is about!

These conferences usually take place every year, and usually they change venue every time. For this edition, the meeting will take place in the German city of Bonn. I have never been in Bonn so, before starting with the real work, it took me a bit of documenting myself to get a feeling of the place. And yes, behind every illustration, every poster, every graphical work, there's always some investigation involved.

I watched some documentaries, asked some friends, and did a small research about the the personality of the city, and about its emblematic points. When this was clear, I decided what I wanted to emphasize from all that, and I started drawing buildings, walls, skylines...

I drew various buildings, that I've just dropped together in this image above: the ancient city house, a piece of an ancient wall that is still standing, the ancient post office, the University, the Cathedral, and then a skyline. 

Bonn is also the place of birth of the great Beethoven, and so I drew him as well (but this will come later ;) ).

Then, I turned the city into a particle detector.

I decided what structure I wanted to give the poster, where the text should be, where the image would be, and so on. After that I drew the basic structure of the detector I wanted to build, and I cut the various buildings into pieces, using my computer, and deformed them to fill in the detector structure I had created, trying to build Bonn as realistically as possible.

Once this was done I started painting the various parts, using the real colours the buildings have, and sometimes tuning them a bit so they would be more outstanding, more contrasted, more balanced... 

When I had the broken Bonn ready, I drew the cables, the cable boxes, and the metallic structures that also conform a particle detector, and merged them with the rest of the city. When this was done, the detector was already built!

And now what I'd promised... a bit about Beethoven. Well, I invite you to look into the poster and see if you can find him. If you did find Wally when you were children, then you should be able to find Beethoven too!

Learning to keep proportions

Another exercise we are doing with my 10 yr students, starting to learn composition and to reproduce proportions when drawing. They are now half way to finish the exercise, and the class is tomorrow, so I finished mine today. 

One of the good things about me doing their exercises is that I get to use techniques I haven't long used. This one I did it with different graphite pencils and pencil colors. It was a bit since the last time I did a full drawing using only this technique!

And now another challenge: can you name all the utils in the drawing?

Self-portrait

This is me. With my very serious face. I think usually I smile a bit more :)

I did this self-portrait as an exercice for the 10 yr old children who are in my drawing and painting classes. (I always do the exercices myself first to check them out, and make sure they are not too easy, too boring, too difficult).

This one was quite fun to make, and useful to start learning to draw faces, and to learn to identify zones of shadow to give the drawing some volume. So they did it with their own pictures a couple of weeks ago, and the result was pretty great. Kids learn so fast.

Painting on a different canvas

This last month I've been very busy, so I haven't gone out to sketch, or made a drawing for myself. It is always like this, there are times of the year where everything is quiet and I can do more personal projects, and others were work keeps coming and coming. Usually after Christmas, with Spring and Summer at the end of the corner, it's when work starts coming in, everything at the same time :) 

Lasts weeks I've been working non-stop on a longer project, but some days ago something different came up. It was a shorter project, and really different from what I usually do. I was so curious I managed to squeeze it in, and worked on it while waiting feedback on the other. That's time management!! ;)

So I started drawing a tree. An oak. I am lucky because I do love trees, and I do love drawing them. And even more lucky because I have some favorite trees, and the oak is one of them.

First, I drew the structure of the tree. Really the structure, so later I could use branches, holes and intersections as reference points:

Then I started to paint it, with the color palette I'd been asked first, and later on introducing a few changes:

After some color tests, I was satisfied with the result:

Then, I added some roots. A bit realistic, so they contrast with the branches, but with curls, so that they still talk with the part above

And well, today it was the day to make it in its final version, on its final canvas, not on paper, not on a wall, not on anything I usually do. Can you guess what is it? ;)

La Fôret 

http://www.carolinadeluca.com/illustration

These days I am very busy, with little time for personal projects other than taking an hour to go out to sketch... which I didn't manage to do in more than a week :) But between this week and the previous one I found little moments that I profited for myself. 

It was already some time that I had an idea for an illustration, one without any context, but just for the pleasure of drawing, and just for my pleasure while doing it. It took me some days, stealing time from here and there, but today I finished it. It is funny, because it is quite difficult to see a fox... but while I was drawing this picture I saw a fox three times in the same day. I wonder if they are always there, and it was me who just by then I was ready to really spot one.

Luckily, I didn't see any bear... 

Little village life

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Little villages as where I live do not have many services. In fact, in Crozet there's only a bakery (boulangerie), and not much else. But, once a week, the barber comes in with his portable barber shop and parks it in the parking lot next to the bakery. 

Isn't that authentic?

After finishing this entry, I grew curious and looked in the web thinking maybe the man had a website... and I found this article 

http://crise.blog.lemonde.fr/2012/12/14/patrice-et-son-camping-car-coiffeur-pour-hommes-itinerant/

If you are curious too, don't hesitate to have a look!! His, it's a story of courage and survival...
The article is in French though ;)

Celebrating my birthday the best I can!

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Today I'm getting many messages from family and friends, everyone wishing me a great day, so I took their advice and went to draw!  

Since this afternoon I had to go to Pougny, a little village next to the Rhone river, and I had some little time over there, it was the perfect moment to sketch a bit. That zone is a bit further from Geneva and thus it hasn't been as much urbanised as where I live, and it was easy to find a place to park and seat for a while. I didn't really have much time, so this one is a very fast sketch. And that car over there, that's where I parked ;)

Sunny Sergy

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Nothing's better than going out to draw after having delivered a draft and are waiting for feedback. And it could not have been a better timing, as today it was a sunny and not that cold. So I went out and didn't need my gloves nor my hat nor anything special to keeo some warmth. And when I finished, I wasn't freezing cold! 
In fact, this winter is being a bit strange. Not so cold, with plenty of sunny days, and only with a week of snow so far. I enjoy these days, but I can't help feeling a bit worried... 

I almost never finish a project and start right away with the next one in line, but usually I need at least a day to disconnect from what I've been doing. So after sending in the draft, I took my stuff and went out, not too far, to Sergy, where I've been before. What I realized afterwards, is that I'd drawn this very same road back in October last year. It is one of these roads that make a whole turn, so how could I imagine?

Going back to Farges

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This afternoon I was in Péron again, and I had an hour to draw, so I decided to go back to Farges. I hadn't been there since a long time, years, almost since we arrived in the region and were looking for a house. We then came to Farges to visit a house, and I loved the village. But in the end life brought us to another beautiful village, and Farges is not close to anything in my routine... until now. And it didn't disappointed me, I liked it as much as I'd done back then. It was really fast to find a spot and sit to draw in my foldable stool. This is the main road that traverses Farges, it is called Rue de la République, and it unites the village with the other villages around. With the snow that have fallen in the night, Farges had everything to offer.

A beautiful winter morning

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Winter has arrived. Finally! Now let's hope it stays for a while, just until it is supposed to, not more, not less (I do love spring as well). 

It has been snowing for some hours since yesterday morning, generally very softly, but steadily. The snow we accumulated is not much, but enough to cover everything with a few cm layer which the low temperatures will conserve for a few days. But this morning was so sunny and beautiful. Fresh snow, sun, and an intense blue sky. After two weeks raining non-stop, this was a day I had to enjoy. So I left my ongoing work for the afternoon, and went out to draw. I wanted to get higher in the mountain, so the snow layer would be a bit thicker, but I didn't get too far from home. Just next to my village, in Echenevex, I found this old farm and, well, I felt that was the place for today :)

Have a nice weekend!

A moment in Péron

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Last days it has been raining everyday, every time, all the time. Dark and wet days, very humid though not cold, but still the humidity has a way to making it down to the bones... I had work to do, so I stayed indoors, missing going out to draw. Today it is rainy and dark too, but I had to go to Péron in the afternoon, so I took a moment to draw. I've never been much in Péron, maybe twice, and not in the center of the village, but it wasn't difficult to find a spot. Luckily, because I didn't have much time! The drawing is dark, but so is the day...

Ah, and I'm starting the year with a new sketchbook, quite happy about it! :)

Fun with watercolors

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Nothing is better than a quiet afternoon, a new brush and a new watercolor box to have fun! I love watercolors. A lot. I love their transparency, and the game with the water. As unpredictable as they can be, they allow for a great variety of effects, can be combined with different techniques, and they are prefect to playing with and leave the hours pass by. What a wonderful way to start this year!!

Last page of my sketchbook... 

for the last day of the year

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It was just a coincidence, but some days ago I realized that I had only a page left of my drawing diary, and it was only few days for this year to finish. Obviously, I couldn't resist the symbology of it, and went out today, last day of the year, to honor this 2015 full of drawings. 

A couple of weeks ago, a friend recommended me to go to Mourex, which I didn't know, so off I went... The village is really nice, and really small, I'd almost say it has a single road and one intersection. But as tiny as it is, there were many charming views, although today I was kind of limited because of the rain and, ideally, I wanted to pick a spot where I could park and draw from the car. After many turns (I don't think I've gone over and over on the same road that much ever before), I decided to take the risk and draw outside. It went OK, it just started raining towards the end, so I packed my stuff and left... but the sketch was already done :) I'm still getting used to this new watercolor box, but today it was easier than the previous day in Divonne, and we'll have time to get to know each other better in 2016 :)

Happy New Year!

Marché de Divonne

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This morning I went with my father to the market in Divonne, he to walk around, and myself to draw and use for the first time the new watercolor box Father Christmas brought me. I noticed its pigments are much more concentrated, and so with a tiny bit I already get very bright and intense colors. The color palette is also a bit different, but in the end things worked out nicely, and I got my sketch of the market done :) 

Now, time to warm up a bit again, I get so cold when drawing in the shadow!

Felices Fiestas! Joyeuses Fêtes! 
Merry Christmas!

Vesancy, a village to get lost...

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This morning I went to Vesancy, a little village in the Jura, between Gex and Divonne. I had never been there, but when I was leaving home this morning, a friend told me that the town was beautiful, and recommended me to go. I had no clear plan to draw, but just wandering around a bit until I found something, so off I went!

Despite the fog that had descended this morning, the sky in Vesancy was bright and blue, and the day quite warm for being winter. And I am thankful to my friend because indeed the village is gorgeous, undamaged, and well conserved. The town seems to be built around the château de Gex and the church, and from the cemetery where I was drawing, the houses seem to crow together leaving no space for anything else. 

One other day I will come back, Vesancy, and get lost in your little streets and corners. I'm sure you have plenty to offer me!

A corner in Prévessin

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Wednesday night I went to my weekly model drawing session in Ferney, and when I got there, the model asked me if I could drive her home, as she was with the car in the garage. She lived in Prévessin, and it was only a small detour for me on my way back home, so I took her with me. We arrived to Prevessin from Ferney and at some point she indicated me to turn left. It was dark, but I could see that in the middle of the whole residential area Prévessin has become, there was this small road that had remained almost intact, with its old houses and farms, and with its beautiful corners. So I decided that next time I would have a moment to go out, I would come back there. 

Today I really didn't have much time, but it was so sunny I really had to profit, so I took my stuff and went out. The time was so short that for the first time I had to set an alarm to stop drawing and run to my car. Time can fly when I am drawing!! I chose a spot where I would get some sun, and drew this quiet and charming corner between Chemin de Magny and Chemin du Marais. Today, time was so short I didn't become cold at all :)

Drawing in the fog

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Today the day started sunny, but already in the morning the fog descended from the mountain, and ended up covering everything. In the afternoon, the fog was quite dense, and the ambient very humid and cold. I had a moment, so I went out. Also this time I brought my father with me, and we drove a bit before finding a spot that would convince me. It is sad, but as many beautiful and authentic places as there are around, many others have been turned into urbanizations, and even if they can be nice to live in, they've lost all of its character. Finally, we ended up in Mury, a very small village close to Echenevex, where houses and old farms still live together. As last time, at some point, my father stepped in, and this picture, together with my cold feet, is the result! :)

My father's favorite place

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Today my father brought me to his favorite place, so I would draw it for him, and gave me nice conversation while I was doing this sketch. This is a little road that goes from Chevry to Naz Dessous, called Route de la Source, and that continues high and almost to reach the source of the river L'Allondon. In fact, I found I have drawn it before, but from another location. It is funny since I didn't know the place, but I drive regularly through the road that cuts it high in the top, and just a detour right hand would have brought me here. 

While drawing, at some moment my father stepped into the frame, so that's him over there, looking at the fields. Then, when I was finishing, I got to meet the people who live in one of the houses. They were passing by with their car and stopped, curious to see if their house was in my paper. I love when these unexpected conversations happen, and when people is happy to see and recognize their place. 

I definitely had a very nice afternoon in this very beautiful sunny winter day. Now, time to warm up!

Finding new places

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Today, after a bit more than a week, I finally found a moment to go sketching. I had work to do, but I must say that the cold holds me back a bit as well and I find time to progress with other indoor projects. This morning I had to go to Chevry, so after that, I continued driving until I found this nice place in Véraz, a small village that belongs to the commune of Chevry. It is a small road with no exit called Chemin du Moulin, as there used to be a mill there. Since last time I posted a drawing, the snow that had fallen in the valley has melted down, but the grass is as green as ever, and the cold has backed up a bit. Although even 7 degrees is a bit low when one is without moving for a moment!