The picture above is the base image used to create the Petit Palais art design. Petit Palais is located at Av. Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris, France. Click on the picture to see the abstract version in my shop.
I didn’t visit Petit Palais during my extremely short stay in Paris. Actually, the image above is a mirrored version of the original photo I took at the time. As I mentioned in Becoming a Design Magician and Celebrating Anniversaries I took most of my photos in the wrong size. Even worse, I was in a taxi heading to the Arc De Troimphe while I took this photo. So… the car was moving and I was rapidly taking shots and hoping I got at least one good photo. Well… I didn’t and I had to figure out how to work with the best photo I could use to make this design. One thing I really love about Painsthop is rotating mirror. That effect has worked miracles on the worse photos. I discovered how truly valuable that effect was while making this album and this particular design. I honestly think this is one of my best designs I ever made.
I’m writing this post in 2023 but dating it on the day I actually finished Petit Palais. This design was the last one I made in 2022. The rest: Eiffel, Louvre, The Kiss, Arc De Triomphe, Notre Dame were all made in 2023. This design has singlehandedly helped me finished my album. There were many times where I wanted to quit. I had no hope that I could finish and even if I did all the design would look like crap. But… I had this design as my wallpaper on my work computer and every day I would look at it and there were moments where I thought if I can make this I can continue and finish album. I could make something truly beautiful in my eyes and make my best album. I think I did. I think my past self five years ago would be proud. I know that probably sounds crazy but after everything that’s happened throughout this journey and especially after I came back from Paris, making this album feels like a miracle.
Mona is the last speed art video I will ever make. I didn’t want to compromise the quality of my videos anymore and I think showcasing the final design and focusing on the music by making synthwave mixes would be a better idea. Plus, it would take less time to make video albums. Instead of making a video per design, I can make one and feature every design. The final video looks incredible. I truly believe I turned a corner with my work. Sad that is might be last album though…
Anyway… I only talked briefly about Petit Palais. I wanted to originally make a design of Palais Gariner. December 10th was the last full day in Paris and I had a lot to do. At the time, I had a Covid test scheduled for the evening but I wasn’t sure I would leave Arc De Troimphe and reach the clinic in time, so I thought to get the test done in the morning. It was a better idea so I’ll know right away if I had Covid or not before continuing my travels for the day. I had a backup plan if I got sick. It was worst case scenario but I needed to have a plan just incase things went wrong.
So… the day started terribly at the hotel while eating breakfast and I felt horrible while getting the test done. I don’t want to go into details here because I talked more about on my Mona design. However, I tried really hard to forget what happened and focus on being in a dream because despite what happened I was in Paris. Me… someone who wanted to visit this place for close to 20 years and I wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of this experience. That includes myself and my insecurities.
After I had the test done and was clear of Covid, I took an Uber to Sacré-Cœur. I had plans to make a design of Sacré-Cœur but the pictures were just horrible. I tried working with them but even rotating mirror couldn’t save the pictures. You can see one of the best pictures I took to the left. The Uber driver was super friendly and the conversation we had actually helped uplift my mood. Honestly, I still felt like was in beautiful dream. Aesthetically, Paris is just so beautiful. The architecture and views are stellar, just heavenly. I’ll talk more about it on the Louvre post but there were many moments I was just in awe of Paris. The picture above Sacré-Cœur is a view of Paris from the church. I took several pictures here and these pics look a hundred times better then the pictures I took of Sacré-Cœur, lol.
I had plans to walk from Sacré-Cœur to Musee D’Orsay. It started raining again on the way but it wasn’t heavy and actually reflected my mood in a lot of ways. It was beautiful yet the scenery was kind of somber. The walk itself was incredible. By the time I hit Palais Garnier, I was running late to reach Musee D’Orsay. I was at the side of the building and knew that I had to walk around the corner but I had to cross a roundabout to get there. Honestly the area was a bit intimidating, I wasn’t sure how to get to the front of the building even though I knew I was right there. I was running late and I just made a decision to take photos of the building where I was at the time. Again… horrible photos and there was a poster that was torn in half hanging on the side of the building. I knew the photos weren’t going to be great to work with and my backup plan was to take photos of Petit Palais. However, I wasn’t quite sure how to fit it in my schedule.
However…. after I left Musee D’Orsay, I took an Uber to Arc De Triomphe and that’s when I saw Petit Palais and immediately grabbed my phone and took as many photos as I could within seconds. I knew there had to be something to work with between Petit Palais and Palais Garnier and that’s the origin of making this design.
The first photo in this post is what I think is an apartment building next to Sacré-Cœur. I’m not sure but I love the look. It’s so narrow and I don’t think I ever saw a building like that before. I was intrigued and just had to take a picture.
Credits
Programs used: Paintshop Pro 21, & Adobe Photoshop
Design Base: Photo of Petit Palais plus a digital abstract drawing I created.
Art Design created by me (Katherine Barnett|BeatnikBlends)
Click here to view Petit Palais in my shop.