Visitors at the library

I was at the library of Maastricht, looking for some good books to read.
I was able to make some sketches there of the visitors.
The above guy was sitting next to me and was listening to the vast CD collection. But he fell asleep while listening. He woke up half an hour later, I had finished this sketch by then.

The other man was readig the newspaper in the library cafe.

Maastricht Noorderbrug

The road to nowhere.
This is the old access to the Noorderbrug in Maastricht. Actually, they moved a complete concrete bridge over the river Maas, amybe half  mile long. on the east side it stayed where is was, it was hoisted and slowly turned. On te west side it now lands some 100 meter up north, improving the run of the roads and traffic flow enormously. But the old connection to the former location of the bridge is still there......

Shin-Koyh

The faint smell of cinnamon greeted us when we finally arrived at Shin-Koyh.
(a lunchtime doodle that went a bit too far...)

Toys for Angry Architects

Toys for Angry Architects. Pencil and watercolourpencil (Dürer and Inktense).

Julia in Kees van Dongen style

 

Live portrait session. Julia, our spanish model again.
We had to try out painting using Kees van Dongen style elements.
Kees van Dongen was a Dutch collegue of Henri Matisse and was part of the Fauvism movement, early last century.

The idea is to make a black background, and then paint coloured parts over it in a "woolly" fashion. The black should shimmer through the strokes.
By leaving the connection between the painted areas uncoloured, you create lines with a very different feel then if you had painted those lines.

Below you see a picture of Julia in front of the finished painting.

Anoher one from C-mine

Another location sketch of C-mine in Genk. The whole (former) coal mine is full of machines like these.

C-mine Genk.

I had some time left on Sunday, my wife was shopping. I went to a cultural centre in Genk Belgium, which is housed in a former coal mine. The generator hall is still intact, like it was when the mie was still in function. The large wheel served to roll the cables, who went up the tower, and down the elevator shafts.
Even though it was inside, it was pretty cold.

12 nudes

 

Some time ago I bought a Hahnemühle Kraft paper book.
I made some drawings with black ink and white marker in them.
Just exercises in shape and shadow. 

In total I wanted to do 12 nudes. I will not show all of them, here are 4 of the better ones.

Muscle Tension

Drawing in my Moleskine A4 sketchbook. Ink.

Isabel

Live portrait session, Isabel, the daughter of Annemiek. Acrylic, about 50x60cm.

Rainy night on the coast

Just a drawing, non-waterproof ink washed out with white gouache and watercolour.

Schoolbus

Urban sketch of a schoolbus, standing on a parking lot near my office.
I made this during lunchbreak, even though I had to stop halfway with the watercolour, because it started to drizzle. Finished it at home.
And then there was a nice surprise: Marian Langereis made a fantastic poem when she saw the drawing (in Dutch, I wouldn't dare translating it).

Kijk ze daar staan
de ijzeren jassen zwaar op de wielen
de motor stil
het ontroerend vervoer
zal zonder vragen
je van hier naar daar willen dragen
met uniform wil je weten
met wantsy aan vergeten
kijk ze nu staan
geduldig wachten
in kou en warme nachten
op jou en jou en jou
kijk ze staan
tot elk zijn kant op zal gaan

Chateau Neercanne

First, best wishes for the new year. may it be a happy, healthy and fruitful one.
Another go at the Chateau Neercanne building. I made this with gouache (not on location though).
Maybe I'll turn this into a painting once.

La tour d'Eben-Ezer

This tower stands just across the border from Maastricht, in Bassengen (Belgium). It stands on a hill and is a tower built from silex (I think in English it's called flint, some type of quarz stone). The tower was made by the esoteric philosopher Robert Garcet in the early 60s.
On top of the tower there are 4 large statues, which depict the 4 announcers of the Apocalypse, each looking into another direction.
A strange building. I had wanted to draw it a long time, but it was difficult to be reached.
I made 2 versions, but the other one was pretty grim.

Chateau Neercanne

Chateau Neercanne. A castle exactly on border of the Netherlands and Belgium. It houses one of the best hotel/restaurants of the Netherlands, with a Michelin recommendation.

Just a quick sketch made this afternoon.

Another face

Another face.
Fountainpen ink, washed out with a brushpen, and some touches with a white acrylic marker.

Face

Just a quick drawing during a quiet moment in my lunchtime today.
After a picture of an older man, found on the Internet.
Maybe 10 minutes.
Exercise.

Lemiers

A sketch from yesterday. Even though it was very cold, I wanted to draw the chapel of Lemiers.
It ranks among the oldest churches in the Netherlands, about the 11th century.
But then I noticed the car and traditional farmcourtyard next to it, which was more interesting.

I used prepared paper: a thin layer of acrylic binder. Waterproof ink and watercolour don't stick, and water dries very slowly, which gives uncontrollable effects. That's why I used watercolourpencil.

Lemiers is a funny tiny village. It lies partly in the Netherlands, partly in Germany.
The German border is just 10 meters behind this farm.

The wind in your back

Watercolour on prepared paper. I applied a thin layer of acrylic binder on the paper. Watercolour does not behave well on this surface, but watercolourpencil works better. I used Inktense and normal pencils, washed it out with a waterbrush.

Killer Katze

This is a surprise gift for Gertie, my wife.
Usually I make surprise gifts for all family members, for the celebration of Sinterklaas - St. Nicholas.
But we have grandchildren now who still believe in him, so we can't do surprise gifts anymore after December 5th. They won't understand.
But I made this for Gertie's birthday, printed on a metal sheet, to hang outside the door as warning.