[Update June 29, 2024]

A whole more bunch of lines...

This time the national symbol of the French and the most iconic building in Paris: the Eiffel Tower.

By the way, did you know that the Eiffel Tower is considered an ephemeral structure since it was originally built for the 1887 World's Fair and was supposed to be demolished twenty years later, as I recently read?

Anyway, had a lot of fun experimenting and many insights here again.

Started off by scribbling the Eiffel Tower and used a slightly bigger brush for most of the painting in watercolor. I also experimented with the frame and some "loop lines" (using colors from the palette on the left and for the Tricolor on the right).

Reference photo: @AlexAzabache (Pexels)

 

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To bring some of my unfinished project ideas to life, I want to start with a submission to Barbara's wonderful class.

Her class is full of amazing tips. For example, her idea for a plastic picture grid, as well as using the time to simplify reading the direction of perspective lines.

Additionally, I enjoyed that Betty Edwards' valuable insights are incorporated here once again. These insights are truly invaluable.

Buildings and urban sketching, as well as landscapes, are usually not exactly my cup of tea. However, I have noticed a growing change.

Even though I initially felt a bit skeptical with this class, I found myself drawn to the idea of choosing a building by Friedensreich Hundertwasser as my theme.

So, I have chosen the Hundertwasserturm, also known as the Kuchlbauer Tower.

According to Wikipedia, there is the following interesting information about it:

"The Kuchlbauer Tower (German: Kuchlbauer-Turm) is an observation tower designed by Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser on the grounds of the Kuchlbauer brewery in Abensberg, a town in Lower Bavaria.

The 34.19 meter tower was conceived and designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who died in the year 2000 during the tower's planning phase. The tower was completed after Hundertwasser's death under the direction of Leonhard Salleck, owner of the brewery, with architect Peter Pelikan overseeing construction.

The cornerstone was laid on 23 April 2007. On 8 August 2008 the gold-plated observation ball, with a 10-meter diameter and a weight of 12 metric tons, was installed on top of the tower. The tower was opened to visitors in January 2010.

Inside the tower is a collection of 4200 Weissbier glasses, along with an exhibition on the brewing process and an explanation of the Bavarian Purity Law."

The English description does not mention that the building was originally planned to be more than twice as tall (specifically 70 meters). But the mayor of the city and the heritage protection were against it to "preserve the city's skyline". This led to legal disputes, causing significant delays in construction and completion.

I was not aware that this was Hundertwasser's last construction project when making my choice. I would love to see his originally planned version of the tower.

Depending on the source — mainly from Pinterest (unfortunately with any copyright information) — I found this forshortened view from bottom to top particularly appealing. The colors and other details vary depending on the references, as I now realize.

Unfortunately, I relied too much on the original (even though I had planned to use my "artistic freedom" and depict it less faithfully to the original before starting the painting). I would have liked to be a bit more loose in my approach, but after a long break in watercolor painting, I am overall satisfied with the result. Perhaps I will give it another go.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the project a lot, as it supported the use of wobbly and crooked lines that I love so much. It is enjoyable to look at. I hope you like it too.

* For some reason, my review from January was no longer included — but I was able to edit it?? After adding a space, it is now visible again, but also as the most recent entry... Strange!