Rendez vous de Carnet de Voyage

My Stand

I spent a fantastic time in Clermont Ferrand meeting old and new friends. I am so looking forward for the next Urban Sketching Symposium in Barcelona to meet them all again.

I went to Clermont-Ferrand, for the pure curiosity of knowing what it is about. Their website was a little confusing even if it is (partially) translated to English. And although I had asked some people who where there before, many things  were still not clear to me. For esample the festival used to be every two years, that is why you find in some places still the word Bienale, but due to its success now is every year.

my books

Like Graphic Novels, illustrated Carnet the Voyages are very popular in France. French publishers houses are more open to ideas and projects that the ones from other countries. That is one of the reasons to go, but also to get the opportunity to meet many great artists and get inspiration and ideas.

I arrived on Tuesday to Clermont Ferrand. I got a place to stay with a wonderful local family thanks to Coach Surfing (that is also a great way to travel and meet people: people host you for free in their houses, we got a USk group there too)

After eating something I went back to the station to draw with David Magli "Emde". I decided to draw something big, since I didn't have much to decorated my stand.

Here is the train station in Clermont Ferrand. Grey and black edding markers and white tipex over a brown supermarket paper bag. ca 80 x 35cm

My highlights of the Festival:

Portable Scanner from Lapin

Materials: Portable scanner from Lapin and a China Sign Pentel Pen from Adolfo Arranz (I bought one in Paris but it is not the same quality)

Buttons: brought by the Belgian Sketchers

Zines: Zines where everywhere. Zines are small little self-publications. They were very popular  as part of the punk-anarchist culture. Just a a Photocopy Machine and you can share your thoughts and drawings. With self publications services online, they are experimenting a comeback. (I see them in Berlin everywhere) Every sketcher should do one. It is also a great way to show your work to potential publishers and  to even to make some money. The Festival got a self publishing shop for the visitors, that was very popular . We should do that in Barcelona, too.

Books I bought:
All zines from Andrea Joseph. Her work is fantastic! I found a lot of inspiration in her zines. Fantastic quality for such a small price. I am sure they will be collectors items in the future.

Luis Ruiz Padron during  dinner

Palestine dans quel etat? by Emmanuel Prost and Maximilien Le Roy. I don't understand French, but Emmanuel drawings and portraits are so intimate.

Zines from Nicolas Jolivot, he got a  series of litle books concentrated in food in diferent countries, I bough one about Guyana and Marroco.

We really didn't have much time to see the city and draw. We did  portraits of each other during the dinners. And on the morning of the 19 before taking my train to Paris, I did walked in the city and made a few fast sketches that I will post soon.