The ICAA Christopher H Browne Paris Drawing Tour is a seven day drawing course taught by classically-trained architects, with opportunities to visit Versailles, Fondation de Coubertin, Bibliotheque Ste. Geneviève, the Louvre and watercolor and plein air sittings at neoclassical Parisian sites. I had the pleasure of joining the trip in 2017.

Studio Zega + Dams served as our home base for the week. Our instructors, Andrew Zega and Berndt Dams, are masters of their craft in watercolor and architectural drafting, respectively. They collaborated on highly detailed watercolors of the palaces at Versailles for their book ‘Palaces of The Sun King’ and instructed us through their methodology.

We spent two full days in the studio, and the rest out and around Paris, instructed by architects Kahlil Hamady and Leslie-Jon Vickery of Hamady Architects.

Our first evening out was spent in the most grandiose of places to sketch: the sculpture gallery at the Louvre. Kahlil directed us toward the statue of La Compagne de Diane by Simon Mazière, sculpted from marble around 1700.

Back in the studio, we referenced the work of Hubert Robert, a French artist of the 18th century. Robert’s plein air watercolor and ink sketches served as studies for highly detailed landscape oil paintings later created in his studio. In a particularly liberating exercise, we copied several of Robert’s smaller sketches to learn his ink and layered wash technique. This was one of my favorites, with Robert’s original on the right:

The next day we took this exercise out into the real world: Place Des Vosges in Paris. Kahlil and Leslie-Jon showed us how to see values and work quickly, so as to preserve the gesture. Monochromatic watercolor washes were added in successive layers from light to dark; I chose a color similar to the fallen leaves and granite paths.

a sketch at Place des Vosges in the Hubert Robert method, 2017

This ink sketch captures more detail of the facade of the Place des Vosges and the energy of the crowd below.

Place des Vosges pen & marker sketch, 2017

Tuesday we had a truly incredible private tour experience at the Petite Trianon at Versailles, exploring every room and then having a bit of time for a watercolor study outside from the garden perspective. The goal was to create a small study of the elevation and shadows which would inform a larger-scale rendering.

Petite Trianon at Versailles, watercolor & ink, 2017

The study provided the foundation and understanding of shadows for this much more detailed watercolor of the Petite Trianon. Kahlil & Leslie drafted this particular drawing for us, and printed onto watercolor paper so we could jump right into the color exercise.. Andrew Zega led us through a precise application of paint and a relatively dry brush to achieve the golden tones of the French limestone, including details of shadows, texture and aging. I love how the black windows turned out - no reflections here!

Petite Trianon detailed watercolor study, 2017

Thursday we had an incredible visit to Fondation Coubertin / Atelier Saint Jacques, a technical school, museum and foundry dedicated to cultural arts and traditional craft. Set in 15th century Chateau de Coubertin in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, the foundation has thoroughly modern workshops and sculpture gardens alongside centuries-old buildings and reference material.

sketch of ‘the Royal Rotisserie’ at Fondation Coubertin, 2017

The final day of the tour was spent at three of Paris’ most beautiful libraries: Bibliothèque Ste. Geneviève, Bibliothèque Richelieu and Bibliothèque Mazarine. The instruction of the week came together in the small painting I did at Bibliothèque Ste. Geneviève, with five successive washes that went from white to almost black. I finished the drawing later in my hotel room with the ink sketched on top.

On our last day, the group was given time to practice sketching techniques learned throughout the week in a location of their choice. I wandered around the Marais on my own and came across this beautiful courtyard. I wanted to practice rendering trees and their different types of leaves, as well as the railings, chimney caps, and cornice details which are just so fun to draw.

ICAA Paris Drawing Tour 2017

ICAA Rome Drawing Tour 2018