Painting Pont Neuf in Paris was one of the highlights of my visit, this is the third painting I did when my husband and I visited the City of Light a couple of weeks ago. This bridge was right outside our hotel so we dubbed it “our bridge” so naturally I wanted to paint it. And I think my husband wanted me to paint it too. We both walked around the crowded sidewalks scouting out a place for me to stand and paint. Vendors were set up with their souvenirs to sell so there just wasn’t much room.
On the day I painted I squeezed between two vendors and one vendor was happy to move his stands of postcards so I would have the perfect place to paint. That same sweet Frenchman offered me his jacket when the sun went behind the buildings and it got a little cooler. I turned down his offer, but what a sweet man!
Here you can see how crowded the sidewalk was. And you can see my little rolling backpack where I keep all my art supplies. This was a challenging time of day to paint because the sun light was getting more and more orange and the shadows on the water were changing rapidly. And um, my subject ended up being a little more challenging than I thought but then again it always is when it’s a complicated building. Or lots of buildings. But I love painting architectural subjects so it’s all fun. Plus it was a 12″x16″ canvas but it all worked out, just took longer than I expected to.
Above is the beginning of this painting, laying in the design and using a wash (oil paint plus turpentine) to compose the painting. It’s easy at this stage to wipe off things and move them around.
This was a great painting day and I’m so pleased my painting of the Pont Neuf came home with me. Painting Pont Neuf in Paris is definitely something I won’t forget!
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