To approach these watercolours, I need to rely on a solid foundation in drawing. For that reason, I regularly practise copying, particularly portraits by the great classical painters. I often return to Sargent and to the draughtsmen of the late nineteenth century, whose accuracy and sense of construction remain an essential reference for me.

When I am on location, I sometimes draw. In those moments, the drawing can quickly move away from reality: forms become more fluid, a certain freedom emerges, and I occasionally look for a more romantic sense of balance. These explorations can later feed into my watercolours. But such situations remain rare.

Most of the time, I prefer to work directly in watercolour, without a preliminary drawing. This more immediate approach is better suited to the way I respond to the subject.

I practise watercolour only during my travels. The rest of the year is devoted to oil painting. This alternation creates a kind of rupture: after sometimes spending several months away from watercolour, I find myself facing the subject with a certain fragility. Doubt sets in, accompanied by the feeling that I am no longer quite at the level I once was.

But it is also within this uncertainty that the work begins.