A few years ago, Paul was lucky enough to be invited to Paris to present an academic paper. We jumped at the chance to go to the City of Lights. Despite the raw November weather, I was in heaven. And I discovered a fascination with all of the old doorways scattered throughout the city.
This particular doorway really inspired me. It was in a lovely old neighborhood near the Sorbonne. I don't have much experience working with perspective, but by carefully studying the photo and working the angles over and over until they looked right, I was really pleased with the result. I then sketched the doorway onto the Gessobord with vine charcoal and started painting in layers of color.
Obviously I took some artistic license with the doorway. There are some things that make sense in a photograph but I don't think I'm at the point yet where I can make them translate well into a painting. The beautiful, intricately designed metal panels in the windows were one such element, so I made them look like glass instead. The wood panels in the upper windows were not aesthetically pleasing at all, so they were replaced with glass, too. I also filled in the chunk of doorway that was missing in my model. 
The wood texture on the door was fun to paint, as was the stone archway and building. I continued to build up the color and details carefully layer by layer.
Voila - the finished painting. My husband was so thrilled with it that he begged me to let him hang it in his office. How could I say no?
2 comments:
Your doorway turned out beautifully.
Very successful I think Gabrielle. It look like there is a richness of color there, as well as light and dark. It's amazing what can be a good subject for a painting. I think you've just have to be someone who keeps their eyes open to what is beautiful and striking in the world.
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