In July, I took a drawing class in Paris with Savoir/Dessiner: three days, three locations. I wanted to learn the basic techniques of drawing. While I enjoyed drawing in my free time, I knew there were basic principles that I never had the chance to learn and practice.
Jardin Eugène-Napoléon
On the first day, I was taught how to measure angles and proportions using a pencil. I had seen people holding their pencils in front of them in movies, but I used to read the gesture as “look at me, I’m artisting!”. The point of the first session was to get the correct perspective of the building of the Fondation Engène-Napoléon.
Check out the other participant’s artworks on Savoir/Dessiner’s Instagram. The nice thing about the class is that while each of us practiced the technique they enjoyed best, the teacher had useful and relevant advice for everyone.
Musée Bourdelle
The second day took place at the Antoine Bourdelle museum of Paris. The goal was to produce as many drawings as possible during the four hours of the session, in order to let the hand run free and have more spontaneous drawings. I started drawing with a felt-tip marker, because that’s a style I enjoy a lot in comic books.
This last statue is called Hercules the Archer.
Banks of the Seine
On the last day, we settled on the banks of the Seine river, on the tip of the Saint-Louis island, with a view on the City island and the Right Bank. I combined a felt-tip drawing with watercolors.
Overall, the Savoir/Dessiner class was an overwhelmingly positive experience for me, and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to draw interesting landscapes of Paris.