Artists

66 Artists & Illustrators``````How do you choose what kind of palette to use?I found my palette year after year with practice and talkingwith some others sketchers during my trips. I carry a verytiny bijou watercolour box, with 14 colours in it, but I mostlypaint with three of them: Alizarin Crimson, Prussian Blueand Yellow Ochre, mixing them to get a variety of tones.``````What is the secret to good urban sketching?The storytelling. It’s not about painting a nice postcard froman emblematic place, but to find a personal vision toexpress your feeling in front of a place or a situation.``````How can I make money from my sketches?Get in your mind that what you’re doing is valuable, andeven if you spend a few minutes on a drawing, this is theresult of years of training. So, please, never give a sketchfor free to someone who will benefit from it, such as a localrestaurant or publisher. You have to adjust your pricedepending on the commission. You will not ask the samefor a local store, doing cards or t-shirts, as for a big``````sketchbook behind my bag, which helps. But, most of thetime, people are really sweet and are amazed just to seesomeone drawing, whatever your level.``````What’s your approach to planning out a new drawing?While travelling, I first have a quick look at theneighbourhood to see what is most relevant and usuallythe subject comes naturally. I’m looking for the bestperspective, most of the time from very close up. Before Istart sketching, I think about how to compose my drawingand what I want to focus on. Then my technique is alwaysthe same, I start with a line drawing with a black inkpen (auni pin 0.02cm), and colour it with watercolour and pencils.All of my illustrations are finished on location.``````What’s your favourite Paris location to sketch?Since I was a kid, it has been the Natural History Museum,especially the galleries of Comparative Anatomy andPaleontology. I love dinosaurs, sketching their bones anddreaming about how they must have looked.``````ABOVEMarket Truck,inkpen,watercolour andcolour pencils,21x15cmBELOWLe CyranoBistrot, inkpen,watercolour andcolour pencils,21x15cm65 Your Questions.indd 66 08/06/2016 12:15