Zine Drop in Progress and a bridge collapse

Dear Sarah - Day 266 of our daily drawing exchange

Hi Sarah!

Well, another busy day in Paris! We began by getting copies of Found Zine made and then started folding and cutting fuelled by shots of espresso at Le Flaneur, an appropriately named café around the corner.

Dani and I then parted company as her project today required her to navigate around Paris using a map of Disneyland and my project required a trip to the very edge of town and the first bridge over the Seine I was able to cross on foot (technically the second in Paris as the first is an overpass for the Peripherique, the terrifying ring road which, I believe, is only for vehicles).

For each of the next ten bridges, I had to find a suitable place to leave a zine - somewhere that was visible to passersby, sheltered from rain and wind, and on (or close to) the bridge.

No two bridges are alike in any way, other than the fact they all span the river. The railings are all constructed in totally different styles and with a huge range of material, so each bridge posed its own particular challenges when it came to finding a good drop spot.

As I went along, criss-crossing the river, I talked to myself (well, to my phone, as if having a conversation) and described what I was seeing, how my mood was changing, what caught my attention, dithered aloud about zine placements… A mad woman muttering to herself…

The psychogeographers and flaneurs of days gone by did this sort of thing (sans smart phones, of course), noting what drew them this way or that, how different parts of the street made them feel, what caught their attention…

Despite the fact the route was pretty limited (I didn’t have time to wander too far from the river), there were a LOT of decisions to be made - stop and photograph that piece of sculpture? That cool building? That wild mural? The kissing couple? The great garden displays near the Jardin des Plantes?

Tomorrow, I’ll tackle the next section of river where the bridges are closer together. I have a 37-minute observational project component I’ll tell you about tomorrow (if I have the nerve to do it).

Anyway, all that was the school/project part of the day - followed by a couple of cool expeditions initiated by Dani after we met up again many hours and kilometers after we parted company in the morning. She had to procure some fancy mustard for her hubby and then we headed over to check out the incredible dome at Galeries Lafayette. The photos/video do not do it justice.

Gotta’ go - the geriatric feline needs her infusion.

Nikki

Hi Nikki,

The Galerie is fantastique! As is your description of your zine dropoffs on bridges. I too walked over a bridge today, also muttering, also experiencing mood changes. I also did something I have not done in the 266 days we have been doing this drawing project: I ripped up two pages of drawings and threw them away. Here’s why. I parked my car on the Esquimalt side of the Johnson Street bridge, and walked around trying to find a good vantage point. It was windy and a bit cold as I balanced my sketchbook on a railing and took out my pen. That was when I made my first mistake: I tried to draw the entire span of the bridge. The old Blue Bridge was all angles; the new bridge is curvilinear and really complex. It’s quite lovely (after all the angst over replacing the Blue Bridge, I think most people like it) but it’s a b*tch to draw. For me, anyway. What I should have done was frame a section of the bridge and draw that. I made two attempts at the whole span—both complete failures. My mood darkened. My attention was caught by a repeated Indigenous motif on the walkway. I tried to draw it and messed that up, too. My mood darkened further, so I stopped drawing, walked across the bridge, bought some leggings, a London fog, a pencil, an eraser and a tube of Sap Green paint, and then walked back to the bridge. On the city side of the bridge is an art installation called Commerce Canoe. My mood had brightened slightly with the purchase of art supplies (and a sugary drink) so I drew the canoe and the reeds (they are not tulips, apparently). When I came home I ripped up the awful bridge drawings (trust me, they were bad) and added some colour to the canoe drawing.

Last night I read The Drawing Lesson, a graphic novel for kids about learning to draw. It’s by Mark Crilley, and it’s excellent (see below, along with a photo of my bridge-nemesis). The book is not just for kids. If I had followed his instructions in Chapter 9: Creating a Composition, I might not have fallen into the morass of drawing despair.

XO S