Double portrait

Mother and daughter: acrylic 70x50cm. At the atelier of Annemiek. Was hard to do, to keep style and relative sizes the same.
 

Montzen

On the same trip through Belgium, an old factory in Montzen. The rain was pooring down.

Moresnet

Made a trip across the border into Belgium, to Moresnet. This part of Belgium speaks German.

The bridge was constructed in the first world war, for German troops movement to the Ypres and Somme fronts in Belgium/France. It's still in use today. Actually, the bridge is located in a former country: Neu-Moresnet, which existed just before the first world war  The Germans invaded and conquered the country to make this bridge. After the war it was handed over to Belgium.

Agios Nikolaos

 Agois Nikolaos, as seen from a terrace overlooking the harbour.

Asterias apartments

 

We had an apartment in the Asterias village complex in Piskopiano. Actually very good 10/10. THis is the view from our balcony, over the hills towards the harbour and beaches of Chersonissos.

Chersonissos

View on the central square of the old village of Chersonissos (better known from the tourist trap at the seaside, the original older village is a few kilometers to the inner lands). View from the terrace of "the village Inn".

Crete: Spinalonga

On one of our holydays we made a trip to Spinalonga, an island on the coast of Crete, which served as lepercolony. Untill 1950 or so, not even that long ago, It was very interesting, there were still a lot of remains of the colony there. I made the drawing on the boat returning to the nearest port, Elounda. I had only 10 minutes to make the drawing, before the island was invisible fron the boat. There were a few other tourists next to me, watching me making the drawing. They were completely in awe how I made the drawing, and were filming it all the time. It made my day. :)

Crete, Jimny 4x4

 

Crete, Greece. We rented a small open 4x4, a Suzuki Jimny, so much fun to drive. We used it to cross the inner lands, the mountains and higher grounds of Crete. At times we would drive for an hour and not meet another car or living soul in these deserted villages. This was drawn from a terrace in Kastelli, sipping on a good coffee with a bottle of cool water next to it.

Crete, Piskopiano

Just returned from a holiday on Crete, Greece. A (very hot) week. WE had a great time, and I was able to make a few drawings there. This is the center of Piskopiano, a village next to the better known Hersonissos. In this village our appartment complex was located.
 

Groenburgwal

 

Had a nice day of visit to Amsterdam. Visit to the modern art museum and managed to maka a quick sketch of this scene along the "Groenbrugwal", one of the many canals near the Waterlooplein. 

Hoensbroek Castle

 

Cycled along our castle, yesterday morning. I was struck by the almost graphic quality of the countre-jour (against the light) effect on the scene. So I stopped to make this drawing, in the heat. It was 30 degrees.

Demolition St Jan

 

There is a high school across the street, the St. Jnas college. I have spent a few years on that school and so have my wife and my children. Over the last two years they built a new school in the middle of the terrain, and now it's time to remove the old parts. This sketch is (or better was) the auditorium. It was a large hall for festivities, exams and recieving the final diplomas. It was raised on columns; under it was the bicycle parking. My friends and I used to spend out lunchbreaks there. Fond memories.

Portrait of Berlin

 

Portrait of Sir Isaiah Berlin; well that's what the drawing was based on. Doesn't really resemble, but it was fun to make. No pencil drawing, direct in ink, immediately washed out with a waterbrush, and some gouache added.

Last days of the firestorm

I start with a random line, then another one......
 

Castle Terborgh: Muldermolen

 

Painted on location: the Muldermolen next to the castle Terborgh in Schinnen. 

I was trying out a new plein air painting setup, using my tripod like I do with Urban sketching. Usually I work with a portable easle, but this is quite an elaborate setup. And together with the other stuff, it needs a car to be close at hand. The new setup is more handy, but it needs improvement. I use a pochade box I recieved for a birthday a few years ago, and had it fixed on a tripod with duct tape.

Sketchweekend: Charles Vos Cour

A drawing of the Charles Vos Cour, a modern building complex taking old building styles into account. By the Belgian architect: Charles Vandenhove.
 

Sketchweekend: Kruisheren hotel

 

Another one place we visited during my "Secrets tour", the Kruisheren hotel. It's an medieval chapel (a monastry of the "Holy cross" order) converted into a five star hotel. WE were allowed to sit on the mezannine to draw this.

Sketchweekend: St. Servaas

Together with the Maastricht group we organized an Urban sketching weekend, here in Maastricht. !25 participants showed up, we had terrific weather and everything went great.

I organized two "secrets  tours". With a small group we walked and sketched on different less obvious locations, and I told the participants stories about the city. This was the first stop of the first day: the entrance to the Saint Servaas Basilica, gothic at its best. I only has short time, so I had to limit myself.

Le Corbusier in Ronchamp

 

Two real quick sketches that I made in France. This is the famous "Chapelle Notre Dame du Haut" in Ronchamps, by Le Corbusier. I managed to squeeze a visit to this iconic landmark in between the sketching week.

Unfortunately the front (the other side of the building than shown here) was in scaffolding, as were the famous tainted glass windows. But when I made the interior sketch, the few remaining nuns came in (yes it's still a monastery) and sang hymns and flayed a flute. THat was really special.

Lange grachtje in the rain

Last friday, thunderstorm. These people ware sheltering againt the sudden rain under the arch of a medieval fortification wall in Maastricht. I was sitting on the other side of the narrow alley, sipping on a coffee under the canopy of a terrace.