neilink

Text Box: A Corner of Paris A year ago the first chapter of neilink featured a drawing of Shakespeare & Company in Paris. That was the second drawing of a set. This month’s drawing is the first in the set which was done nine years earlier. This scene is around the corner from the other drawing at the end of the block to the left of the Rue de Bucherie, I think it’s at the end of Rue Julien Le Pauvre on Rue Galande. I loved the buildings and the Friterie but the building on the left was boring and the middle was just tables for the Friterie. I decided to replace the things I didn’t like on the ground floor. I made up the Boulangerie but I think it’s pretty representative of the style. The Crepe shop was actually a couple of blocks away across Blvd. Ste. Michelle. It was more of a hole in the wall so I gave it a door and a big open window. I’m always amazed by the way buildings like these fit together in Paris. I assume the two little structures came first and then the larger ones were built around them but why are there no windows above them? Quite often I collect people while doing a drawing. I usually bring a little folding seat and take a long time drawing so people walk by a number of times in the days I’m working. People like to look and comment on how it’s going. This used to make me uncomfortable until I started keeping the drawing in a kind of partially finished state so there was always something to see. I keep working on one section until it’s done and try not to jump all over the paper. Eventually I get to the point where I’m astonished to see that it really is done. This one was strange because I did it from the top down. I don’t think anyone spoke to me until I was doing the shops that weren’t really there. I don’t really speak French but I know when I’m being complemented so that’s good. In this case people started asking me long questions seemingly about why I was drawing something that wasn’t there. I eventually started doing long explanations in English which seemed to do the trick, at least for me. In retrospect I think the Creperie was based as much on a stand that used to be on St. Marks Place in the East Village in New York as it was on anything. This is one of my favorite drawings. I have a 33” by 42” copy in multiple frames over the fireplace in my apartment.

Close Ups

All material copyright 2016 Neil Borrell

www.borrellcompany.com