Paris Sketches - Rodin, Bâtiments, Fontaines et Jardins

As most of you know, my boyfriend got an internship at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris (yep, PARIS.), and I got the unbelievably fortunate opportunity to tag along with him.  We arrived here on October 1st and I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm here.  And since I'm not taking a class or working, I've been thinking about how to make the most out of being in this art utopia.  In an ideal world, I would love to volunteer in the botanical or paleontological illustration programs at the museum, but we'll see what happens.   Hopefully once we're settled down in our official apartment I can clear my thoughts and make room for ideas.  In preparation for the Parisian inspiration, I packed up a couple sketchbooks - one large moleskin journal and one small notebook to carry with me everywhere - as well as all of the drawing supplies I could fit in my suitcase.

Here are a couple doodles I made before I left.  Clearly I had Paris on the brain.

And these are my first official "Paris sketches".  The first two weeks of finding a place to live and exploring have been prettyyy busy (it's already been two weeks, what?!), so I haven't done much.  But once I get over my fear of going out and inevitably getting lost on my own, I will start sketching more of this wonderful city.

sketch of Les Benedictions, by Rodin

sketch from the view in my temporary apartment in Place d'Italie

sketch of horses on the Fontaine de l'Observatoire

sketch of the walkway by the Jardin des Plantes at the Museum of Natural History

I drew a few of these from life, but since I haven't been to the Rodin museum yet (soon...) I drew this sculpture from a book I found in our landlady's living room.  She also has some books on Matisse and Delacroix... I aspire to some day have a French artist book collection this amazing.

Rodin (ref. photo)

apartment view (ref. photo)

Fontaine de l'Observatoire (ref. photo)

Jardin des Plantes (ref. photo)