(URBAN) SKETCHING IN THE LANGUEDOC

The Haut Languedoc would not be top of the list as an Urban Sketching destination, urban sketching is usually most successful when it has a gritty edge and done in big cities and large towns. Of course we have cities! But apart from Beziers I don't often visit them so my take on urban sketching here is a bit more shall I say 'quaint'. Firstly it's a bit difficult to get your sketches to look 'of the 21st. century' when most of the houses around here were built in the 17th! But as my favourite thing is roofs and chimneys, and these usually have ginormus aerials and satellite dishes attached to them, that can eradicate some of the prettiness of the scene - urban generally isn't pretty.

 

But more often I sketch when I'm out walking, general views of distant villages crop up often and of course when you live in the Haut Languedoc national park, an awful lot of trees...

The further away I am I can get looser, more impressionist, expressive with a sketch - possibly so vague I maybe didn't have my glasses on?

 

 

Hillside Village

 

Back in town, I now go out on a weekly basis with the Carnetistes du Orb vallee (a carnet is a sketchbook), a group of French ladies and the occasional man, brought together by Anna from Barcelona, a city with a strong sketching tradition. And I am struggling, I'm not very happy with my sketching and I'm not very good at the talking either. But thinking about it, when out 'plein air' with my Northern Irish arty pals we rarely go any deeper than 'oh, that's nice', 'I like that', 'great shadows' - critiques aren't our thing. So I need a whole new vocabulary, and not just in French.

 

Week 1. Too big a view, too much paint

Week 1. I quite like this, especially the colour.

 

Week 1 and 2 we were in Olargues, week 2 my work was absolute pants, but the outing was 'interesting' shall we say, as Annick, pictured here with bare foot, had an incident with a friendly dog.
One bare foot maybe gives you a clue? I've never seen a dog so happy at being petted that when it's owner called it back, it rewarded Annick upon departing by piddling all over her foot! Aie, aie, aie!

 

The 4 of us have very different styles, which makes the 'reveal' at the end of the session interesting.

 

Week 3, we were in St.Etienne and yet again I was pretty disgusted with my first effort, I keep saying to myself - don't colour it all in - and then I go and colour it all in. Also I have a big problem being a bit too true to life, I NEED TO ABSTRACT, make the subject my own. ARGGGHH! I am so annoyed, I think what makes it worse is that I was getting somewhere with my pieces in Ireland and now I'm very much 2 steps back.

 

 

Started of good then kept adding bits. STOP IT!

 

My favourite sketches done in France this year are these, below, a forsythia bush and a bare cherry tree in neighbouring gardens, it's about saying just a little, being quieter but in an exuberant way, simplicity and freedom, a lighter touch and not imposing my will on the subject. Now I just have to paint a house this way.