DiotimosReading Desk

Art

Two-colour chalk drawing

aux deux crayons

Aux deux crayons names a two-colour drawing technique, rendered by this edition as “black and white chalk.”

From the book

The Gods Are Athirst

Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Meaning

Phrase.

Aux deux crayons names a two-colour drawing technique, rendered by this edition as “black and white chalk.” It appears in an inventory beside watercolour and gouache, describing different versions of Gamelin’s volunteer figures. The phrase concerns medium, not two ordinary writing pencils casually lying on the table. Keeping the list’s distinctions helps explain why the little works are portable finished images that can be sold, gifted or carried, unlike the large unfinished canvases.

Places to read

  1. Chapter II, paragraph 12Frenchà l’aquarelle, à la gouache, aux deux crayons: a list of different drawing or painting media. The narrator inventories five or six volunteer pictures lying about the room.