portraits
In the summer of 2025, I travelled to Paris for a portrait intensive with Studio Escalier. My friend Grace and I rented a small flat in Montmartre and sketched and painted for 5 hours a day, in sessions interspersed with critiques and live demonstrations. I learned so much about form and light and colour, and learned to love portraiture.
more writing
week 2
After our week studying light and form through sketching, we were brought into the deep end to explore them in synchrony with colour. We painted alla prima ("at first attempt"), which meant that instead of working in layers, we mixed the paint for each "patch" of colour and applied it directly.
week 3
there was a pâtisserie across the street from the studio and the cashier in there was so pretty and so nice to me, with my shy french and my indecision. marie went in with us once, on our half-session break - she bought six chouquettes to share, no hesitation, and told us about her past lives as a sushi chef and a dilettante here and there. we were the same age, but her life had a different hue...
week 4
last days in paris. I went on a pilgrimage with Grace to watch her eat a whole baguette, finally made friends my age, and travelled to see Monet's garden.
