I should really call this ‘Part 3’ since I already had one Toulouse post before ‘Part 1’, which was when I posted the sketches of the World Cup semi-finals, the first of which took place on the first day I was there, July 14.Call that one a Bonus Track. This is basically the rest of the sketches from July 14 that I didn’t put in Part 1, probably because I was in a hurry. After cooling off at the hotel I headed out into Place du Capitole, and walked over to the nearby Place Charles de Gaulle where I had seen some random sketchers dotted about, and figured I would also draw this big building which is located at the rear of the Capitole. I believe it’s called the Donjon and dates back to 1525-30 (the top was added later). I had to find a good spot in the shade where I could sketch it, and settled on standing on some grass behind a bench. This was the first page of a new sketchbook, another Hahnemuhle A5 portrait size book, which is Sketchbook #63 in the official chronology but was not my main book, I used the landscape one most (Sketchbook #62). By the way those numbered sketchbooks are just my ‘main’ ones in order, and doesn’t include ones such as the small brown book I usually carry, or other ‘side-project’ sketchbooks. I didn’t actually sketch the main Capitole building itself, despite having a hotel right across from it, because it was a very big building full of windows and decorations, and I figured other people would draw that, I’ll draw something else. Looked like it would just take too long, and at the end of it I’d be like, ok well I drew that. I quite enjoyed drawing this, but it was getting into eraly evening already and I wanted to eat something before the big semi-final, so I hurried it along. I did draw some of the lads sat opposite me though, because I really liked the football shirts. The one on the left is a Sporting Lisbon shirt (probably a training shirt), but the one in the middle was a fantastic Mali shirt, and I had already drawn one Mali shirt just a few weeks before in Davis. This was a square where lots of people were hanging out, shaded from that sun, there was a childrens play area, trees and grass, and fountains coming out of the ground that had signs saying ‘don’t play in the fountains’ but on a crazy hot day like this, everyone’s playing in the fountains, as they should. Some older men were gathered on the bench next to me, having an evening drink, I liked listening in. I spoke to some other sketchers, who were Spanish, and wished them luck in the game that night.
I did another quick sketch in the Place du Capitole, of one of the street corners in the evening light. Toulouse is the pink city, la ville en rose, but I was feeling more purple and just wanted to catch how the shadows were drawing you in. I like a quick sketch like this, it’s more of a snapshot, a mood. I couldn’t fill all my time with sketches like this because I do like making a nice detailed drawing (and I draw those pretty fast too), but if I did, in all different colours, that would be quite a fun book to look through. I saw so many styles and colour schemes in peoples’ sketchbooks on this trip that it did give me a new bag of ideas to use in my sketches going forward. I keep thinking I should take a weekend in San Francisco and just draw like this, get as many quick sketches in as possible, playing with colours, see what the end result would be. I don’t know, right now in August 2026 I have been drawing loads of trees, portrait format, full colours, lots of detail, and that is, as they say, my jam. Though I did draw a series of sketches in different colours of the Davis Farmers Market earlier this month, which by this rate I might post on here some time in the new year.
I had Japanese noodles for dinner, an interesting first meal in Toulouse, and then met with fellow sketcher Kalina (who I knew from the Portland Symposium all those years ago) to watch the World Cup in a reasonably crowded Irish pub near Place du Capitole (O’Brien’s, right across from my hotel). France lost the semi-final, as I reported in an earlier post. Spain went on to win the World Cup, but that’s another story. Kalina showed me her sketches from that day, and she had been to a place called ‘Halle de La Machine’ which looked incredible, she sketched this gigantic wooden Minotaur which moved about and she and a load of others had ridden on a platform on its back – it looked amazing, and I decided I’d make the time to go there the next day. While I did sketch the people watching the match (see that earlier post) we also sketch a group of younger people, one of whom was dressed as a pirate, and we had drawn so many pirates in years gone by. We ended up chatting away with them for a while, and it was nice to meet some Toulouse locals on the first night there. Still, it had been a very very long day, and I needed a good night’s sleep for the actual start of the Symposium next day.
