Stephanie Bower


Stephanie Bower | Architectural Illustration: www.stephaniebower.com | Sketching Workshops: www.stephaniebower.com | Sketches: on Instagram at @stephanieabower & http://www.flickr.com/photos/83075812@N07/ | Urban Sketchers Blog Correspondent www.urbansketchers.org | Signature member of the Northwest Watercolor Society

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Attempting the Impossible!

Galeries Lafayette.
May 20
OK, I taunted the sketching gods by 
attempting this one!  

With all the rain and a Catholic holiday on Monday, 
the department stores were packed. I took my first
Metro ride and went to Printemps, C&A, and finally 
to Galeries Lafayette's flagship store on 
Boulevard Haussmann.  
It is an amazing store, opened in 1895.
 
Both Printemps and GL have the biggest shoe departments
I have ever seen in my life, occupying an entire floor. 
Also at both stores, lines of Asian tourists were waiting to 
get into the Gucci store-in-the-store to buy some 
pricey souveniers of Paris.

I managed to snag the last remaining 
seat in the cafe and sat with my cafe 
au lait and pain au chocolat and sketched.  
About 10 minutes into it, I realized this was 
pure insanity!  The scale and detail were 
totally overwhelming.  

I kept thinking how if this were India, there would be 
a crowd of at least 25 curious onlookers around 
me watching me draw.  But in Paris, I don't 
think anyone even glanced my way.

Now that I can see the sketch on a small screen, 
see some wonky perspective, but at least it 
does capture the moment for me.

Hopefully you'll see these sketches get
better and better as the weeks go on...

4 comments:

  1. You conveyed the height and dome very well! What an amazing store!

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  2. Stephanie: This is so much fun! I love reading your blog and seeing your beautiful drawings. You may think they need work, but they do a great job of taking us to beautiful Paris. The Palais du Luxembourg is one of my very favorite places. I'd love to know what the color scheme for the flowers is this year. Keep up the good work! Karen

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  3. Oh my, Stephanie. This is indeed ambitious! But you pulled it off nicely.

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