Francophile Friday: Doors to Adore

ink & watercolour illustration, photo inspiration many thanks to Virginia Jones

It's safe to say that my fingers have such a workout with everything I do, they'll never, ever become fat.  Yes, I'll sleep happy in that knowledge tonight.

Hot on the heels of finishing a lovely commission of daughters-in-Paris illustrations for a private client, I patted myself on the back but still needed a drawing for today's post.  What to do?  On browsing through my stash of beautiful photos loaned to me by pals, I stopped at this and thought, "Ah, I love doors and haven't drawn any in a while ~ and my, how fortuitous: this scene should be fairly quick to draw."  {Insert deluded laughter here...} 

Regulars at Virginia's Paris Through My Lens  might remember this especially special photo of hers. Thank you, dear Virginia ~ oh, so magnificent!  Although cemeteries scare the BeeGees out of me, Père Lachaise in the 20th arrondissement of Paris is one that I might bear making an exception for.  Unlike the doors in this location, I promise to leave these in place with the utmost respect.  And on that note...

Happy Francophile Friday to you!

20 comments

  1. Amazing drawing Shell -- the detail work you do just boggles my mind! Just pretend these beautiful doors open into a cute little boutique selling French perfume and shoes and handbags and such and not to someone's final resting place.

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  2. I thought these were the doors to a beautiful apartment building.
    The details are amazing. What a workout for your fingers and a feast for our eyes! (Insert joke about eye fat here.)

    Anything that scares the BeeGees out of one has to be a good thing. ;-)

    "When one door closes, another opens." Muahhahaha!

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  3. But it is an apartment, Cali. And "you can enter any time you like, but you can never leave." Oh wait, wrong group. That was the Eagles.

    WV: Allown. All allown

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  4. Oh my! Lugubrious yet lovely—as is Virginia's photo (as is Pere Lachaise, for that matter). Why don't you go soak your hardworking little digits while we admire your handiwork?
    My WV: bomshel (!)

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  5. It was a nice choice. Love the blue.

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  6. Altadena Hiker: LOL. Hotel California for this gang?

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  7. Mon chère amie, once again you have taken one of my photos and turned it into such delightful work of art. I am so pleased that you found another to work your magic on. I am very touched.
    xx
    V

    PS. Dangle those digits in une verre de champagne! :)

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  8. Thanks, Katie!! And I like your idea very much. The boutique would specialise in fragrances with notes of moss, frankincense and lilies.

    LOL, Cali! Here I was trying to be ever so reverent. And I've never heard an eye fat joke ~ trust you to come up with a first.

    Hiker ~ I see you and Cali make a good duo.

    Thanks, Alexa ~ they are wrapped around a warming coffee as we speak.

    Margaret ~ it's nice to see some colour in such places.

    Thank you again, oh Virginia!! The pleasure was mine. I'll transition from coffee to bubbly as the day wears on. ;)

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  9. Congrats on finishing your commission! "Private client" sounds very mysterious and sexy.

    I like the Bee Gees so I don't want them scared out of me, but I feel the same way about cemeteries. I will do as the others suggest and envision something more enticing, like a bakery or fried chicken shack, behind those gorgeous doors.

    Happy weekend, Shell!

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  10. Superb drawing; I love how there's detail and gestural quality within. I like Katie's idea of thinking of them as doors to a cute little boutique. :)

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  11. PCN ~ aaahhhh, yes, mysterious and sexy. You always manage to bring Robert Downey Jr into the conversation for me ~ thank you. And happy weekend to you, too!

    Thank you, Ms M! A boutique or fried chicken shack it is.

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  12. Shell if you want to keep the BeeGees in you when visiting Père Lachaise (or any cemetery) just be sure to hum Stayin' Alive!

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  13. Well drawn and extremely well spoken dear.

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  14. Thanks, MmeB! Happy Sunday afternoon to you. Hugs to the kitties.

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  15. Oof, look at that detailed scrollwork. I hope you got a hand massage after. Even if you didn't, maybe our love for your illustration will make your tired fingers feel a little better. This is quite THE beautiful door. Fascinating that it is tucked away in a cemetery.

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  16. This is a door leading to death, i.e., a cemetery??

    If so, I knew there was something I didn't quite like about this one, ShSh.

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  17. Amy ~ no hand massage, but you're right ~ everyone's appreciation has been a soothing balm. ;)

    Cafe ~ death seems such a harsh word. I prefer to think of it as a door leading to the Stairway to Heaven ~ that's if we're not thinking of it as a boutique, apartment, pastry shop or fried chicken shack.

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  18. I recognized this one immediately from Virginia's blog. And I'm sorry I'm late, but not entirely so, because I've enjoyed everyone's comments so much (especially Katie's most recent, which made me laugh).

    If I must die, and apparently eventually I must, then my fondest wish would be to be buried at Pere Lachaise. I know of no more serene or beautiful resting place.

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  19. Petrea ~ if talk surfaces of people hearing Stayin' Alive echoing around Père Lachaise, we'll know where it started.

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Merci, grazie, thank you for joining our conversation lounge. Your smile lights up the room. Even more beautifully than our crystal chandelier. x

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