What a day and what an experience thus far.  I took my first trip into Paris with my program director; We traveled from Vernon to Gare Saint Lazare, which was another favorite spot of Monet.  Our journey was to purchase supplies from the original Magasin Sennelier from 1887.  I was mainly seeking a roll of oil ground canvas and was being shown a sample book with various surfaces; the gentleman helping me spoke English and was very kind; unbeknownst to me.. I was speaking with a legend because it was Monsieur Sennelier himself (the grandson of the original founder). 
  The entire store was beyond amazing and I could write an entire post about it.  Everything was done with care and personal attention.  I had quite a shopping list so we were busy while we were there.  All the products are the highest quality and it makes me so happy that a place like this exists.  I was also being helped by M. Sennelier's daughter who will follow him as 4th generation owner.  The journey to bring back the materials involved carrying my roll (over 2 meters long) through Paris back to the station - the last picture below shows my canvas roll stored by the bike rack on the train back to Vernon.  I felt like a true artist, bringing my canvas roll and supplies back to Monet's estate
  Lastly, I'm sharing some photos of the delicious food that I've been enjoying.  I know I've only been his since Saturday, but it's been absolutely wonderful.  I can't wait to start painting tomorrow!

  As a Studio Ghibli fan, I really enjoy all the art books and extra materials that the studio has available.  A series of books that I'm very fond of are the storyboard collections.  This storyboard collection is from The Wind Rises, which is one of my favorite Ghibli films.
  For anyone unfamiliar with the animation process: the director (in this case, Hayao Miyazaki) drew these storyboards in preparation for the film.  The storyboards are the basis for the movie and it shows the major scenes and shots.  It also includes camera instructions and additional notes to show the movement and backgrounds.  Although the storyboards are a functional part of the film making process, they inspire me as a painter for purely artistic reasons.
  Something to keep in mind for anyone looking to purchase these books is that the storyboards are all in Japanese; Although I don't know Japanese, I'm interested in the beautiful artwork.  This storyboard collection is especially nice because it's mostly painted with watercolor.  The book comes in a textured paper slipcase which is sturdy and keeps the book and pamphlet together.  Every part of this book makes me really happy.
  Hayao Miyazaki is one of my favorite artists and his artwork and films inspire me a lot.  It's amazing to me that he draws all these beautiful scenes from his imagination with such clarity.  I'm sure that he uses references for certain things like the planes and some scenery, but the design and composition of each shot is magical.  The other thing I love about his drawings is his line work.  Miyazaki sums up a whole scene with a few lines.  Sargent is another artist who had the ability to simplify a whole scene with simple lines.  I also see many parallels between these storyboards and the croquis (thumbnail sketches) of many 19th century artists.  Bouguereau himself would do these sort of sketches in preparation for his large oil paintings.
  Flipping through these storyboards really feels like watching the movie again but in a manga format.  Miyazaki's artistry, imagination and storytelling ability all combine to create these great images.  He's truly a master and I look forward to his next film which he's working on now.  Check out the pictures and video below.

  I'm almost done with a mastercopy that I've been working on for a while now.  I started it as a demo for my watercolor class and I'm pretty happy with the way it's coming together.  I'm doing this as a monochromatic mastercopy of an original oil painting by a Dutch painter named Pieter Claesz.  The original is titled: Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill (1628) and is at the MET.
  The last mastercopy I did was during my semester at the Florence Academy, but I'm going to keep doing them because it's really good practice.  Maybe I'll do a full color one next..