A Near Miss

5:22 AM

NOLA Sketchbook
Watercolor on 140 lb. Arches CP
3.5 x 8.5 Inches
Click to enlarge
Though this says Garden District on it, in truth, Kathy and I spent very little time in the "proper" Garden District. It is amazingly easy to get turned around in NOLA. After comparing notes, we realized that we had passed through the Garden District but did not actually tour or spend time looking at the old mansions in the area. This is a fairly easy mistake to make considering the number of mansions in the area!

On a side note...we were warned about directions before we went from the various tour guide books we read. The Mississippi curls around the city in a smile or crescent shape. The majority of the crescent runs east to west, but most folks (like me) get it in their heads that it runs north to south. The mouth of the river, where it meets the Gulf is 5 hours away from the city via river travel. North, south, east and west swapped positions at various times during the day and were seldom at their appointed stations when I bothered to try and get my bearings!

I'm coming to the conclusion that despite being on the go for 5 days from daylight (or before) to dark (or after), we did not cover nearly as much of the city and its delights as I thought we did! That said, there's a LOT to see in NOLA! How we missed the Garden District, I have no idea!
Water Lily
NOLA Sketchbook
Watercolor on 140 lb. Arches CP
3.5 x 8.5 Inches
Click to enlarge
As to the sketch, this was a water garden outside of a home in the Uptown area (I think). We stumbled across these lovely blooms and buds on the first afternoon. They were in a large metal "kettle." I'm not sure if it was an old antique salt kettle, sugar boiler (that they use to make cane syrup in) or something similar, and no one was around to ask.

Let me first clarify that this is is a studio sketch, or maybe more aptly named, study. I spent about twice as long on this as I would have if I'd been on location and I did not time myself as I worked on it. The majority of the time went into the fléur-de-lis and lettering. The rest of it went fairly quickly.

Seeing this blossom and the way it seem to glow from within reinforced the thoughts that this was going to be a fabulous trip and that I needed to be paying attention to what was right in front of me!

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15 Creative Thought(s)

  1. Laure, This is FABULOUS! I love this sketch book of yours. Have you ever done illustrations for books or magazines? Your work is amazing. I am loving hearing about NOLA. I hope there is more. :)

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  2. Oh my , the beauty of this just takes my breath away. GORGEOUS!!!

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  3. This is just gorgeous, Laure!!! WOW!!!

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  4. Thank you, Cris! No, I've not done illustrations for mags or books, just for me.

    Thank you, Teri!

    Thanks, Julie!

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  5. Marvelous sketch Laure. You will have to go back for the Garden District.

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  6. Laure your sketch painting and oh an awesome job on the lettering!!

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  7. Such a stunning page!! Your lettering is exquisite and the fleur-de-lis jumps off the page. Wow!

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  8. Wonderful! I'm not sure what word captures it best. It isn't 'food' but YUMMY sure comes to mind!!

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  9. Speaking of misses, somehow I missed this post! Wow. The fleur de lis is outstanding, and I love the rich colors of the background. Gorgeous!

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  10. Love this beautiful painting! Great colors.

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  11. I thought I was looking at a photo at first! Wowser. This is so pretty. Maybe you can take another trip in the future to see this area and others you didn't have enough time for. It wouldn't have been much of a city if you could take it all in in one trip now would it?

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  12. This is truly gorgeous! Wow, Laure, you just get better and better!

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