Bon Voyage to a Compagnon d'Esquisse

One of my sketching friends is leaving for Paris soon so we had a Bon Voyage party for her. It was outside on one of our few sunny days. There were flowers, tasty treats, and toasts of various kinds. The hostess provided a very French theme right down to the plates with Napoleon's portrait. It was a lovely morning of friends, food and sketching.

                                            Once again, there was a lion--this time a fountain.

                        And here is the guest of honor, who would not be recognized by this sketch.

                                                BonVoyage! Bring back sketches of Paris!

Sketching Statuary

Friday, the Compagnons de'Esquisse sketched at Versailles Gardens, in NW Portland. The lions were compelling, but they were trickier than they looked.

This one looks a bit wistful...

This one seems to be taking on a humanoid face....

And this one may have a bit of both....

So I moved on to the dimpled cherubs and grape leaves...

And finished up with this statue whose sweet stone face I didn't capture.

I see why classically trained art students used to spend hours drawing the statuary.