Paper Planes: France

Jennifer Cheung

Welcome back! For this month’s post, I decided to revisit my 2015 trip to Paris, France. I remember that while walking along tree-lined streets and cafes, I saw incredibly well-dressed men and women pass me by. In addition, (on a less glamorous note), I couldn’t help noticing mow many people smoked cigarettes in Paris than in San Francisco, and how many cigarette butts littered the sidewalks. So, to capture both of these observations, I decided to illustrate a Parisian woman next to the iconic Pont Alexandre III, donned in bold colors and patterns while smoking a cigarette. But please note! While I’ve drawn someone smoking, I don’t condone it, because smoking kills!

The original image of Pont Alexander III in Paris and the watercolor illustration before they were edited together.

After Photoshopping the illustration onto the photo, I felt that something was missing. In order to make the image more interesting, I added a frame around the illustration and made the rest of the photo surrounding the frame black and white. In doing this, I hoped to create an illusion of a painting, hinting at all of the precious artworks residing in Paris.

The final image of a framed “painting” of a Parisian woman leaning on the Pont Alexandre III.