Christmas "Exquises Esquisses"

My husband and I have been spoilt for our first Christmas as a married couple! We had decided to host the family dinner potluck party (15 people) at our place on Christmas day, and everyone seemed to rejoice over the warmth of the occasion. Joy, and love were aplenty !

I felt like a child offering my homemade Christmas presents (see my other blog, Mon cher Coco) : orange marmalade, chutney, Christmas cookies and truffles, all wrapped up in hand-made gift bags. But I also felt the intense joy of receiving in front of so many generous earthly presents! To list but a few : from my husband, I got a camera (to shoot more and better pictures for my blogs!) and a set of 2 CDs that he illustrated (with our faces) & compiled for us and our loved ones; we, as a couple, also got books on cooking, fashion illustration, and on independent pop culture magazines. Not to forget the Oh my Lord! gift, a master Vita-Mix juicer-blender from Zuly, my mother-in-law. Read my other blog, Mon cher Coco, for a post on this juicy Christmas...

But yesterday I was offered one more gift, a very simple and precious gift! As my husband was away at work with his twin brother, I decided to focus on my creative skills and on something I had discarded for a long time. Inspired by my dear husband's passion for illustration, I sat down and sketched several studies of bodies, heads and feet... and finally ended my drawing session with the more detailed sketch of a man's head.

I like the idea of developing new self-taught skills through regular practice. I have always found drawing as a great way to focus and apprehend the sensual dimensions of outlines, colours and textures. I naturally started as a kid. When idle, I would always end up looking for a good picture, often taken from art books, in order to copy it in my sketchbook. I was never bored, it kept me busy for hours. I enjoyed this interest in drawing a lot until, let's say, my early twenties when I found other devouring interests like drama and singing. But that's another story.

Marco's illustration work and my first sketches -after a long time- with the help of the Essential Fashion Illustration Men by Chidy Wayne (Rockport Publishers): I chose to draw the face of a curly haired model who reminded me of my chéri when he was younger...Yes, I am a woman in love!

The interest for material, textures, lines and figures is back. "Exquise Esquisse" (exquisite sketch), as Serge Gainsbourg said in his controversial song, Lemon Incest. That's a precious gift that I got from you, Marco! Thank you for another invitation to share in one of your many passions - from the bottom of my heart. Next time, I will try my hands on pencil and watercolours...