One of the places I wanted to see during my recent visit to Paris was the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur. The church stands atop Montmartre, the highest point in Paris, and is an architectural masterpiece, absolutely beautiful inside and out…
From the steps of Sacré-Cœur you can see the city of Paris stretching off in all directions. The view was impressive, but I was more drawn to the church than the city below.
After touring the basilica, we headed back outside and were about to head off to explore the nearby neighborhood, but I really wanted to commemorate our visit with an entry in my travel journal before we left the hilltop.
I loved all the decorative detailing on the basilica, but I knew I didn’t have all day to sit and sketch the entire church – I’d have to be selective. So I pared down the view and chose to draw a simplified version of the two largest domes.
There was a ton of detail in the roofs, columned arches, and cupolas, but I had to look past that initially and get the largest shapes positioned on the page first. The details could be added afterwards.
I intentionally made the drawing loose and imperfect. I think the imperfections give it more life and make it feel more spontaneous.
Well, it was spontaneous! I only had a few minutes to draw, but that was enough to lock in the memories and capture the flavor of the ornately detailed architecture.
The sketch was painted a few days later during a train ride to Avignon using only a water brush and my travel palette. I used playful colors (Opera Pink, Cobalt Blue, and Lemon Yellow) and let them combine wet-in-wet on the page.
Later at home I added the lettering, decorative flourish, and journaling.
The title lettering and flourish were done with a Pitt Artist Pen, and, for the list of activities, I used a light lilac Stabilo Point 88 Fineliner. It was a lot of information to try to squeeze into a limited space, but I managed to do it!
FYI – This sketch was done in an 8″ x 8″ HandBook Travelogue Watercolor Journal
I like finishing up travel sketches at home where I have access to all my supplies and a comfortable space in which to work. And it’s fun looking back through my pictures and remembering that it wasn’t all a dream…I really was in Paris!
One Comment
Very nice, Leslie! What a nice way to commemorate that visit. When I saw the photo of the city view from the steps of the basilica, I thought at first glance that there were quite a few nuns in the photo — then I quickly realized they were well-manicured little trees. (You can tell I went to Catholic school.) 😉