Paris Sketchbook -

[Sugar Smack]

These are pictures from a sketch book I began a week ago. They're all Paris windows and Paris-related sketches, because as you can see, I'm a little fixated on the city. I did these from my own photos and a couple of books. Needless to say, I've saturated myself in that culture this week and I WANNA GO BACK.

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Those don't look like Paris Hilton at all.

Well, maybe the first one, if I squint.

[Sugar Smack]

5. OMG, maybe I should start one of those!

Do you suppose a caricature could ever be done of her? Of Paris Hilton? A caricature? It's quite possible, from what I've seen and heard.

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. LOL.

Your pictures are beautiful, by the way.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

2. Absolutely gorgeous...

you do such amazing pen drawings. The detail's incredible.

[Sugar Smack]

10. Thank you, Lelapin lelaleee~

Can I just say I got sucked into those photographs of grocery shop windows (and the windows themselves when I was there). First off, I'm a foodie where drawing's concerned, if that makes any sense. I love pics of food & had a food portfolio sent out to 62 cookbook publishers. To no avail, but it's okay for now. I love doing the detail & I'm not giving up. Thank you for that, lady!

[tigereye]

35. my husband says be patient, "slick, less detailed" drawings are in style now -

but your wonderful detailed style will be in vogue again before too long.



He wanted to know if you have a drawing blog (sorry if I already asked you that before)

[Sugar Smack]

45. Dang. And it's a good thing you told me that.

I try to vascillate between the slick & the fru-fru. Thank you for the heads-up. I don't have a drawing blog, but if things keep up, I may begin one.

[ghostsofgiants]

73. You should TOTALLY start one!

[lost-in-nj]

3. Beautiful....

my daughter is going to Paris for her honeymoon.......

(sigh)

thank you for sharing


lost

[Sugar Smack]

11. Your daughter will have a blast.

Both of them will, whether they've been there before or not. LUCKY!! If I ever get married and have money and have a honeymoon, that's where I'll want to go. Also, you get splattered with PDA everywhere you turn, so they'll be at home there. People take up busy sidewalks smooching & city people are used to it, so they just walk around them.

Thanks the compliment, Lost! How are ya, lady?

[lost-in-nj]

43. oh sweety

I will be ok.....
"gonna take some time"

LOL







you are an awsome artist

we have so many here in so many forms...




lost

[Sugar Smack]

63. Thanks for that, lost.

Hang in, seriously. You *will* be okay.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

4. Very nice!

[Sugar Smack]

12. Helloo, mon petit chou.

Thank you. It's so good to see you.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

13. And you as well.

[AlCzervik]

6. Beautiful! You are quite talented.

[Sugar Smack]

Hey, Talented, you are quite beautiful.

Your posts make me chuckle/wish I'd thought of it on a regular basis, for which I thank you if I haven't already. Thanks for the compliment, CRS!

[bicentennial_baby]

7. We should open up a joint savings account baybee...

Series.

Are you still gonna do my Paris drawing? I wants it so.

[Sugar Smack]

17. We should. Get rid of that no-Duran-Duran-appreciating philistine and

come away avec moi. Oh, look---> yes, I'd love to do your drawing. And here's a thought. You say you have what, 20 thousand or so photos of your visit there? E-mail me your favorite, or the one you think would make the best sketch, & we'll talk about it. Most definitely.

[bicentennial_baby]

18. Oh dear, that's a task...Pick one?!

Nah, I can def do that. PM me your email addy again, in case I lost it. I'm the absentminded Undergrad, y'know.

[SallyMander]

23. So, umm, not to interrupt

But when are the three of us going to have une tasse de cafe? Or sumthin?

[bicentennial_baby]

25. ASAP baby!!!

You should get to MA early for your wedding...Or, come home sooner in between now and then.

[SallyMander]

27. Will probably be there in June,

definitely in August. Smackers just needs to get her derriere there!

[bicentennial_baby]

28. I'm working on getting her here!

Trust me!

[Sugar Smack]

29. The thought of meeting the both of you at the same time

in the same place. I can't comprehend it. I would love to. And it's realistic for me at this very second because it's still April and that gives me roughly 4 months to consolidate all the change from under my sofa cushions.

[bicentennial_baby]

32. I told you that I would help you out with the $$

Series baby. I can, and there's nothing I'd rather spend my dough on. I MEAN it!

[Sugar Smack]

46. You know, I am going to have to call ya

before the month goes by. I miss you. I would love to meet you right smack in person. And the divine Miz Mander. You are so kind. I may seriously have the resources by then, and we shall talk.

[bicentennial_baby]

52. Yes pweez...Let's make a phone date!

The way my sched. is right now, appts are required!

Wuvs you.

[SallyMander]

34. OMG OMG OMG

This is altogether too exciting. I think i need to go take a cold shower.

[RainDog]

9. Those are great!!

thanks so much for sharing them. if you go back, will you pack me in your suitcase?

[Sugar Smack]

22. Oooh, now that'd be a good idea except it'll have to be

a suitcase-within-a-suitcase, because I fully intend to stow away in someone else's bag too. Thanks for the compliment, RainDog. If you go to Paris it's hard to part. Really hard.

[annabanana]

14. I think you're just HUNGRY. . It's all food.

Go. Have a little nosh.

[Sugar Smack]

26. First of all, yes. You completely busted me.

I made the somewhat embarrassing disclosure to Lelapin upthread that I'm pre-freaking-occupied with drawing food. I do these in the morning and late at night, when appetite gnaws. Then I look at the photos, and the thing is, Paris HAS other things. I'd considered spending next week at doing a few of the others- sculpture, insane architecture, fountains at the Pompidou.

Will go nuke cocoa.

[Guava Jelly]

15. I'd give anything to sketch as well as you.

You are gifted.

[Sugar Smack]

30. That's damned sweet, GoPsUx. You

are kind to say that. Thank you. Recently I got into the work pretty intensely & wound up crosseyed and with a sore wrist before I knew it. I know you do that with your music, I KNOW you do. Your ego completely disappears. It's a really good feeling.

[Guava Jelly]

38. Heck I know exactly what you mean

I sculpted an architectural detail today..All day..

Something very close to this.

[Sugar Smack]

97. Wow.

Hey, by the way, your sig pic is just as sexy as the former, only not as mobile and overt.

[lizziegrace]

16. I really like your style

I hope someday you make prints of those. I know I'd buy a few to hang in my kitchen...



wow...

[Sugar Smack]

36. Geeze, how've you been??

It's good to see you. I hope you're getting some NICE surprises here and there. You deserve it. Sometimes I've found myself saying, "An even keel, is that too much to ask??" I hope for good things for you.

Hey, thank you a lot for what you said. The idea of making prints of some of the drawings tickles me. And having them hang in the kitchen! Food, especially Paris food and then pretty food on top of all that, inspires me.

[lizziegrace]

37. Life is full of surprises

not many are good though, but I can always hope, right??

You should be illustrating cookbooks or making prints for little cafes and bistros.

[Sugar Smack]

67. D'you know how much I'd love that?

I would LOVE to be doing stuff like that. I'm not quitting on the cookbooks. Also, I couldn't help but notice out little town here in NC is becoming LESS "gentrified" or "corporate". More mom n' pop stuff.

And what you said, life is full of surprises. If you could have ONE day, just one to rest, it would maybe help change the tenor of your luck. I hope you get a GOOD surprise.

[ghostsofgiants]

19. Awesome!

I've made it my goal to fill out my sketchbook by the end of the summer. I have lots of spare time at work to draw, which is awesome.

[Sugar Smack]

40. Oh, that's GOOD.

And thanks for the compliment. Oh, if you could do that--I mean, fill up a sketchbook--do you know how great that'd be?? If you're anything like me, you go out and get a really gorgeously-bound sketchbook. The kind with acid-free paper so your work will be preserved for at least six hundred years. And the waterproof pen.

I did that, several times over. I have a few of these because I froze at the idea of just fucking up. About a week ago I decided to let all hell break loose because I was really pissed at being frightened to start drawing again. So the sketches are in there, whether they're bad or whether I like them. Do you have drawings you did as sort of a "kickoff"? Would you post some on a thread?

If you see what I wrote to GoPsUx, your ego completely disappears when you become involved with it. That's great you have the kind of job you can sketch at it, too. I'd love to see your work again.

[ghostsofgiants]

42. Oh, I have a really nice Moleskine sketchbook...

That Heidi and Call Me Wesley gave me as a birthday gift a couple years ago that I haven't put to any proper use yet. I started with it last week, I only have three drawings in there now, but sadly, no scanner to share them. I'm also doing a flipbook think up in the corner of the pages, which will be a hole with ants crawling out of it, haha. As soon as I can, I will post scans though.

[Sugar Smack]

50. Man. How sweet.

I will really like to see what you come up with. Fancy sketchbooks would kind of terrify me because of all the potential I'd feel I'd have to live up to. It's completely irrational, I know. I have one with a protected-cardboard black cover. Although I toyed with the idea of putting a goofy sticker on it. No distractions.

[ghostsofgiants]

58. Haha, Moleskine books intimidate me, haha.

Why do you think it took me so long to start really using it?

[Ptah]

20. Excellent drawings, Sugar Smack.

Thank you.

[Sugar Smack]

41. Thank you, Sunflowah.

Maybe I'll get to do a walk-in-Paris, with photos, some day.

[Ptah]

47. Your drawings are already a walk-in-Paris travelogue.

The only thing missing is that bakery where I am the baker,
happily placing oven-fresh loaves on display for sale.

hint hint

[Sugar Smack]

53. Coming. Right. Up. Do you know how much it

means to me that you said that? I'll make you some ink-bread, and accompany you to L'Apin Agile when next we meet in Paris.

[Ptah]

55. We'll always have Paris.

[SallyMander]

21. Cherie!

Comme je t'adore! Et les dessins sont trop merveilleux!!!

[Sugar Smack]

57. Petite fleur, merci bien,

Mon francais est terrible aujourd hui.

That's it. Twixt you & BiBaby I'm given another charge of Paris. Thank you.

[SallyMander]

65. ...

C'est tout.

[PeaceNikki]

24. BEAUTIFUL!!

I love them all!

[Sugar Smack]

59. OMG, I was going to PM you about this thread & then I went crosseyed

Thank you so, so much, PeaceNikki.

I'm going to TRY to do something other than food, which is going to be a challenge. I looked thru my album from the year 2000. There's OTHER stuff there. Little dogs. Street musicians, lingerie hanging around in store windows. Weird little cars. Oh, wait. I have some photos:



No, really. I have some others.

[ThomCat]

31. So when are we planning the DU trip to Europe?

And how many of us would want to stay there for a long, long time.

[Sugar Smack]

60. Well, we can put someone organized to organize us first-

Then, we can all rent a plane and get av8er Dave or maybe Aristus to fly it. If we have nowhere else to land, we could just use the Seine. Or, I hear there's a big field behind Mount Martre.

Once we're there, we can group off like in that commune thread. We have to know someone who speaks fluent French. And Paris is just right for Cat Whisperers.

*Raising my hand for "long, long time"

[tigereye]

33. sugar, you need to find a writer so you can illustrate his/her books

your work is always stellar!



I feel like someone should write a kid's book just to use your wonderful art!

[Sugar Smack]

61. Hey, tigereye-

I really appreciate what you said. Thank you. If I can keep drawing & not burn out, I hope to continue work on a local-interest children's book I'd written. It's the burning out that's the scariest thing I could ever think of. Fortunately, it HAS happened before and passed.

Also, your feedback upthread was very helpful and also reassuring.

[Skittles]

39. I like that bag of penises

[Sugar Smack]

66. Skittles, I was hoping for two things. One, that I'd see you.

Two, that SOMEONE out there would say what you did because, after all, it does look like a bag of penises.

*It Had to be You* (musical notes)

[GOPisEvil]

44. Roomie! You are teh talented!

I am consistently impressed with your art.

[Sugar Smack]

68. Roomie. Let's go to Paris. Okay?

Thank you for the compliment. Thanks for a lot of things, come to think of it. I could explain it if I were not so tired, but when I see your username I remember that you are one of the last of the true gentlemen. It manifests itself in your writing, your general philosophy, your independence, your kindness and your demeanor.

[BarenakedLady]

48. Lovely

I'm working with pen & ink in my drawing class again this semester. I wish I had a good handle on it like you.

[Sugar Smack]

69. Oh, Hey BNL!

I really like black and white. I miss the classes I took in art (only a few, they got so expensive). Thanks for saying that, m'darlin. I always wonder how some people develop a style, a real one- it seems like some just *have* it (I don't feel like I do) and others need to draw the everlovin' shit out of everything before a style starts to poke through. Pleasepleaseplease post a thread with yours when you select a set of them.

[BarenakedLady]

84. I haven't really done all that much

I never feel like I quite "finish" anything.

[RetroLounge]

49. Those are great!!

Can I model for you?



RL

[Sugar Smack]

70. "Can I model for you?"

You know, I *loves* you. You're just gorgeous all 'round. According to the suggestions upthread about my subject matter, you'd have to be lying in a bread basket or posing at a fruit stand or in-dul-ging in a petit four.

Petit four- Not "trois" "Quatre".

[Shine]

51. Very nice! Oooh la la!

I know I've told you this already, but it bears repeating:

YOU ARE VERY TALENTED and if you aren't already, you could be making money from your artistic skills doing graphic design, or at the very least, free-lancing out to restaurants.

[Sugar Smack]

71. Hey, Shine.

I want to thank you for that. It really, truly looks like freelancing's the only option with regard to stuff like this, which I would so enjoy doing. Like I've said, I'm so goofy about the Paris food I could do that tirelessly. I need to spread myself thinner, but GAWD I'd love to do cookbooks.

[Fox Mulder]

54. Those are some great looking sketches.

You're very talented.

[Sugar Smack]

74. Thank you vey much, Fox.

Have a sweet night, and please to post more in the Lounge. I enjoy you.

[swag]

56. Such a great artist you are.

Thanks for posting these! Very inspiring.

Maybe I'll be able to afford France some day when the dollar gets off its suicide kick.

[Sugar Smack]

75. Swag-

Wow. Thank you. When I see your name I don't know whether to think of your written posts or your sexy paintings of sink pipes(your work is so stunning) or your photos that I love. So thank you for that, saying they're inspiring.

We talked upthread about your ego completely disappearing when you commit to your artwork, and I haven't done that in nearly 2 years. Dad & I were talking about Paris last week. It was such a talk I got to drawing the first of a series of epiceries, the first for him. The photos my family took are the ones I'm drawing from.

[Brigid]

62. These sketches are great!

They kind of make me think of Jack Dawson in "Titanic."

[Sugar Smack]

76. They do???

OMG. Brigid, thank you! God, that's sweet, and you know, I can't draw portraits worth a damn. If you draw, and in your formative-drawing years, and someone asks you to draw them and they get so mad they're apoplectic and fairly purple-faced, that's when I sort of shy away from that sort of thing.

*lol*

[Richardo]

82. But: apoplexy and purple-faced rage makes for good cartoons...

...as you've shown us time and again (but not often enough)

Thanks as always for sharing your talent with us, Sugie!

[Sugar Smack]

96. Hah! :D

apoplexy & purple-faced rage make for a fine caricature, you know? Boy, oh boy, not to be coarse, but WTF would I ever do without you? Frankly, and this may just be a passing thought, but it has occurred to me that I miss our movies. A lot. Quotes signifying everything. Thank YOU.

[Aristus]

64. Wow, Sugar Smack! Those sketches are gorgeous! I love them.

Heck, they make ME want to go back to Paris, and I was only there for one day fifteen years ago.

I know what you mean, though. I'm a real Germanophile, myself. I lived there for two years, and I daydream all the time about going back. That third sketch reminds me of a wonderful Backerei (bakery) in the town near which I was stationed. Their baked goods were out of this world...

[Sugar Smack]

77. You need to go back for fifteen years one day.

I appreciate what you said. I have always wanted to go to Germany. Always. My bro went & my dad (who taught German for 16 years) went, and everybody I know and their cousin went. And they all came back with these great pictures of beer halls & laughter and fab-u-lous stories. I remember seething w/envy, but it lessened when I got to study in Paris.

My brother and I grew up SPOILED by our Oma & her jaunts to German bakeries. Oh, do not get me started.

[Aristus]

87. No, no. Go on; Start. :-)

Nussecke? Pretzel rolls? Other yummy stuff? Tell me!

[Sugar Smack]

90. Opera (which is technically Viennese), marzipan,

pink-iced BUTTER cookies, like made-of-butter?? Sacher torte?

Oh, Lord.

[Aristus]

98. Sacher tort? Bring liquids. Lots of 'em.

That stuff is RICH!

[Sugar Smack]

99. Linzer cookies. Black forest cherry cake.

Geeze. You make me want to divide up my sketchbook!!!!!



My Oma lived next to an old-world bakery. About 10 years ago I worked in one. We made linzer cookies & they were fragile and SO RICH! Filbert dough. We made tortes, cheesecakes and pear Franchipan. WOW. OK, I'm feeling off-kilter lust here. Thank you for all the mental pictures!!!

[Aristus]

100. Wow, Sugar Smack. This is like food foreplay...

I wish I'd had the chance to check out the bakeries in Paris...

[JTG of the PRB]

72. Amazing!

Your drawings never cease to amaze me!

[Sugar Smack]

78. *jtg, I TOTALLY FORGOT to pm you back about

your story****!!! I'm sorry. I would give you the sci-fi version of it(my lame excuse). But I really liked it. I think you're excellent at fact and fiction. I'll be in touch with you soon. Thank you so much for the compliment.

[JTG of the PRB]

79. And thank you for the compliment as well!

I really do appreciate it!

[asthmaticeog]

80. I was wondering if we were going to get to see this one finished...

Any evidence of paw prints has been thoroughly obscured by your skillful hand.

[Sugar Smack]

88. It's really good to see you, asthmaticeog,

You have no idea. Hey, thank you for that, but it's a different one . I'd done the same building twice but with vague differences, sort of practice and repitition. Here's the first which I gave to my dad-


*lol* I'd thought you meant the bread basket. It's not done, so Skittles made a wanton remark & a thumbsup (I love her).

I've also been wanting to get back into sketching cartoons recently.



You're a sight for sore eyes, as always.

[blockhead]

81. Those are great!

as usual...

[Sugar Smack]

89. Oh, blockhead.

Thank you. We don't see near enough of ya here.

[suninvited]

83. Fantastic ...

You have mad skills !!!!

[Sugar Smack]

91. OMG, hey!

Thank you. I haven't got to talk to you much yet, Imagine In Texas, but I love your style!!

[LanternWaste]

85. Those are wonderful!

They are wonderful! Beautiful!

It's great to see some freehand sketches that aren't manga for once. Ad to that the fact that your sketches are amazing, and you've made my day!

From this layman's perspective, you are very, VERY good.

It's hard for this particular talentless hack to understand how anyone can make something so sweet, so homey, and so comforting with just a pencil and paper-- but you did!

[Sugar Smack]

93. Hey, I forget, but where does your name come from?

I think I saw you post back and forth with another DUer about something that would also imply an interest in manga.

Your reply means a lot to me. I want to say thanks, especially since I haven't truly been involved in my sketching for quite some time. What's this talented hack stuff, eh? Your posts are beautiful.

[LanternWaste]

107. Keep sketching...

Lantern Waste comes from C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia.

No, I'm actually not too keen on Manga. It's not my bag of tea.



Well now-- not only are you talented, you're sweet too.

Anyways, please keep sketching and posting them!

[SalmonChantedEvening]

86. You are brilliant!!! Sugz, these are magnificent!!!

I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
There was nobody calling me up for favors
And no one's future to decide

Joni Mitchell

[Sugar Smack]

94. Lookahere- the juxtaposition of that pretty snippet with your sigline

made me guffaw & almost shoot cocoa out my nose! Je t'aime. Unfettered & alive is GOOD. BiBaby and I are in agreement that mental escape to Paris is very soothing.

Thank you SO MUCH for saying that, m'love. You know I think that your writing is the cat's proud butt, right? And I don't say that lightly.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

106. I do indeed darlin

And the esteem you hold me in is something I treasure.

Nous alons au L'Arc de Triomphe, et la Catedral de Notre Dame. I mith my bellth thomething fierthe.

Je t'adore

[hippywife]

92. Lovely, Sugar!

One day we'll be able to say we knew you when.

[Sugar Smack]

95. Hippywife, hey!

Thank you for that, although I can be reasonably certain my epitaph's going to read "she looked busy". *lol* You're making my day, esp. when most of it involved the drudgery of trying to find a new place to live. I'm having fun now!

[GreenPartyVoter]

101. Wow! They look like something from the New Yorker :^)

[Sugar Smack]

102. Oh, GPV,

thank you. I haven't seen a copy of The New Yorker in a long time, but I remember the comics. That was really nice. And if The New Yorker was obssessed with food as I am...

We have "The Blotter" here in the Triangle Area. I may give that a shot. *ee!*

[GreenPartyVoter]

103. Give it a shot! I haven't been to France in 20 years, but your sketches really brought my trip back

to me.

[Sugar Smack]

104. A trip abroad rubs off, doesn't it, whether it

manifests itself in your tastes or your attitude! Were you there long? And also I appreciate your saying that. I was lucky enough to get my hands on some photos we took. I love to go through used bookstores and check out the street pictures of Europe while I'm there. A lot of these books are from the seventies and their details are SO RICH.

[GreenPartyVoter]

105. I was only there for 2 weeks in high school. Unfortunately for me, I

had PMS and the switching of nights and days threw my (as-yet-undiagnosed) bipolar condition way off kilter. But even so I have some fond memories and to be honest some of the crazier stuff turned out to be worthy of storytelling, at least. I have a whole novel in me about the experience but I am just too darned lazy to write it.