LET'S GO TO PARIS!

Parisian Artist, Yves Damin

Today I have something deliciously different on my blog! I am happy to introduce to you, Yves Damin, who is a Parisian artist and is my guest on my website today. Just like me, Yves likes to travel, and to also sketch his daily life. He’s never been to Melbourne, but Australia is on his top list of travel destinations. I’ll let him introduce himself and his work to you in his own words. Please visit his sites (links below) and enjoy his wonderful art!

"My name is Yves Damin, I was born in 1973 in Lyon, France. I come from a family of artists, as my father is also a painter. In my early years I was more happy drawing, rather than studying I must say! I could spend hours sketching secretly in my notebooks with my coloured pencils.

When it was time to enter secondary school, I opted for Art School, which was an obvious choice for me. I studied one year at the Ateliers de Sèvres in Paris, where I learnt the fundamentals of drawing and painting. I then studied in a specialized Art School of Graphic Design and Illustration at ESAT (Ecole Supérieure des Arts et Techniques), also in Paris. After graduating, it was time to find a job and I first worked as a Graphic Designer, and then as an Art Director for communication agencies. As this was mainly a digital job, I was a bit disappointed not to practice enough hands on painting.

So I decided in the 2000’s to challenge myself by doing more and more sketching so as not to get frustrated. It was a relief to be back on track with my sketchbooks and my canvases. I joined a few collective exhibitions to find a home with kindred souls.  As a big fan of architecture design, my passion was always to sketch in the city. I became very active doing some paintings of Paris, but also of London (my wife is English) or other big cities like Berlin or Barcelona.

I became part of Paris Urban Sketchers having a few meetings with fellow sketchers. It’s such a strange combination, because for me sketching is a very lonesome activity, and I discovered a very passionate community of people who enjoyed painting as much as me. It was wonderful to meet local artists in various places, such as England, Italy or painting in Greece.

An American publisher contacted me for the book Sketch City, and I was very pleased to be part of this project.  I have the privilege to be also an illustrator for magazines, I collaborate from time to time with French and American magazines: This is a good way to look for interesting topics to illustrate, such as History, Gastronomy or Culture in various articles. I like the journalistic approach of this kind of illustration.

Painting equipment: Most of the time, I use Indian ink for drawing, and I really love watercolour. I think it’s a fast, very expressive technique. It’s easy to carry everywhere, and it gives the artist a lot of freedom. As it dries quickly, it is quite convenient to draw somewhere quite fast and then to move on. It is useful when you like to sketch and paint on location.

For drawing, Pentel Pen brushes are amazing. I use them with Indian ink cartridges. As the ink is waterproof, it won’t smudge with watercolour, even when a lot of water is used. Otherwise, I discovered recently glass pens and coloured inks. It is interesting, because I can choose the colour of the ink; not only deep black, but also sepia, blue, whatever colour I like.

I really wish to come to Australia, the landscape are so different from Europe. Thanks to people like Nick, writing for Melbourne Daily is way to travel virtually for me. I just hope one day to be there and to sketch in Melbourne, it would be truly wonderful!

Thanks a lot for reading, feel free to discover my artwork at www.lexposition.fr

You can also follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/yvesdamin or on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yvesdam1

Kind regards,

Yves

Yves Damin painting on location in Bali

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TEMPUS EDAX RERUM

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SUNSHINE

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BEE

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SUNRISE ON THE RIVER

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REMEMBRANCE DAY

Papaver rhoeas (common names include common poppy, corn poppy, corn rose, field poppy, Flanders poppy or red poppy) is an annual herbaceous species of flowering plant in the poppy family, Papaveraceae.

Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. The red Flanders poppy symbolises remembrance, as the battlefields of WWI were filled with red poppies in the spring following the war, reminding survivors of the blood spilt on the battlefields.

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SPRING PLANTING

It's Spring and it is the time for putting seedlings into the garden so that we have some fresh vegetables on our table in the Summer. Silverbeet, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes have all gone in. Now we water and wait! 

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YARRA VALLEY

The Yarra Valley is the name given to the region surrounding the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. The river originates approximately 90 kilometres east of the City of Melbourne and flows towards it and out into Port Phillip Bay. The name Yarra Valley is usually used in reference to the upper regions surrounding the Yarra River and generally does not encompass the lower regions including the city and suburban areas, where the topography flattens out, or the upper reaches which are in inaccessible bushland.

Included in the Yarra Valley is the sub-region of Upper Yarra (or the Upper Yarra Valley) which encompasses the towns of the former Shire of Upper Yarra in the catchment area upstream of and including Woori Yallock. The Yarra Valley a popular day-trip and tourist area, featuring a range of natural features and agricultural produce, as well as the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail.

The Yarra Valley is host to a thriving wine growing industry. The area's relatively cool climate makes it particularly suited to the production of high-quality chardonnay, pinot noir and sparkling wine. Vine-grazing is a popular activity for Melburnians and there is a large selection of excellent vineyards making world-class wines in the Yarra Valley. 

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IN FLIGHT

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CITY VIEW

At Southbank, looking southwest. The multicoloured building is the South Melbourne Primary School, a new state-of-the-art Prep to Year 6 primary school located on Ferrars Street. The school opened in 2018. It is the first vertical government school in Victoria, and accommodates more than 525 students.

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