I was feeling a bit blue-purple today, wanting to paint something but not knowing what. I ultimately went through some old photos from 2013 and found the quintessential one that everyone who visits Notre Dame seems to take—this guy, with the city as backdrop. Gargoyle-ish seemed to express my mood, so here he is. As I painted him, though, I realized how very human they are in many respects—it's really more like a somewhat delicate youth (slender fingers) with a nice physique (chest) has just put on a mask and posed for the artist as a jest. Perhaps that's what happened. I called it "Paris Raspberry" because of the tongue.
Daler Rowney inks, Pelikan India ink, pencil, white gouache, Uniball pen, on 140-lb. Fluid watercolor paper, about 9x11 inches.
