Paris Sketchbook

By MR Michael T Defeo

I am a 3D kinda guy, not really a 2D guy, so opening my sketch book has always been a little scary. Like Indiana Jones in the Holy Grail, I'm taking a step off the cliff on to the invisible bridge by showing this work (ya, I'm a geek). Somewhere in 2009 I decided I needed to challenge myself and learn how to draw better. So I drew every day. After a while I found the courage to show one of my early sketchbooks to my friend Peter DeSeve. He was kind but gave good crits of the work, which was done in every medium you could think of. The main thing I took home that day was his comment to start by picking one medium and sticking with it for a while. So what did I do? I picked the hardest and scariest thing for me... INK! For about 4 years I only drew in sepia ink with a fountain pen, I also used a water brush for shading.Eventually this style emerged and I filled dozens of sketchbooks over the years.The challenge was great and always scared me as soon as I touched my pen to paper. All of this happened as I was leaving Blue Sky and began work for Illumination Entertainment, I was spending about 1/3 of the year in Paris working for them. So this book is not so much a traditional artists sketchbook, as much as a visual diary of that time in my life.I am still challenged every time I draw but it has been a great learning experience for me. I still can not draw the way I would like or like the many artists that have inspired me, but as the French say "C'est pas mal",which literally translates in English to "It's not bad". But I like to think of that phrase as saying, "there is always room for improvement". So with that, I take a step off the cliff and give you... a slice of my life in Paris

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1503131084
• ISBN13: 9781503131088
• Release Date: November 2014
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.0" x 0.2" x 8.5"