Nude

Experimenting with wet-in-wet watercolour, 2 versions based on a picture of craig mullins.

Eekhoorntje

This little squirrel was eating the nuts we left in the birdhouse in our garden. The birds did not seem to mind. Een eekhoorntje at de nootjes in het vogelhuisje; eigenlijk voor de vogels bedoeld, maar pimpelmeesjes bleven gewoon dooreten. Onze achtertuin op 1e kerstdag.

School in Brunssum

Brunssum, a sketch done on location, of an old schoolbuilding being torn down. It makes place for an annex to the hospital. There was still a little snow around. Sloop van het Delta-college gebouw, Brunssum

art class 10&11

Week 10 was pastels; I was not pleased with the result. Now moving to watercolour, experiments in wet-in-wet, that's more to my taste. Modeltekenen: de afgelopen week eindelijk aquarel: veel leuker dan pastel. Experimenten in nat-in-nat.

Faces

Not the regular artclass, but experimenting with brush and watercolour.

Weihnachtsmarkt

Yesterday I visited the Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen. It was freezing. This is next to the reibekuchen und backfish stall Fuhrmann.

Gistermiddag op de Kerstmarkt in Aken. Vrieskoud, zelfs de Glühwein hielp niet meer.

Art class 8&9

The results of art class of two weeks ago was horrible, to be forgotten quickly.

But I kind of liked the drawing of last saturday: see above, a drawing of the teacher herself.

Drawing from life is very hard, also considering that I have to master new techniques like pastel as well.

Modeltekenen: die van twee weken geleden wil ik graag vergeten. Maar hierboven het resultaat van het afgelopen weekeinde.

Sinterklaas

At December 5th Dutch people give each other presents, often in the form of a surprise, accompanied by a long poem. I made these presents&poems for my family. Sinterklaas surprises, gemaakt voor (vlnr): Gertie, Mart, Bob, Rianne en Brenda.

Rianne's kamer

The student room of my daughter, Rianne, who studies in Maastricht. Part of a surprise present for the feast of Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas). Sinterklaassurprise voor Rianne. Haar kamer in Maastricht.

Leenderheide

While driving to Amsterdam, to the Simple Minds concert, we got caught in a hailstorm near Leenderheide. It was 16.55, Gertie was driving. I made a quick scribble, and made the drawing at home, by memory. Hagelstorm onderweg naar het Simple Minds concert, bij Leenderheide.

Lixhe

Cement factory in Lixhe, Belgium, just across the border. Drawn on location. Cementfabriek van Lixhe, getekend en geschilderd op de kade van het Albertkanaal.

Simple minds

Last night in HMH Amsterdam, we went to a concert of the Simple minds. Although we had a great time, we have heard them perform better in the past. For some time, especially when they played unknown stuff,  it felt like we were missing the click with the audience. Lightshow and sound was terrific though.

Also playing OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark). 80's music, and it should have been left in that era. Gisterenavond Simple Minds en OMD in Amsterdam. Goed concert, maar we misten het contact met het publiek een beetje. En OMD is over de houdbaarheidsdatum.

Art class 6&7

Art class, the last two weeks. Difficult, difficult difficult.

Thesis

Illustration for the 1st thesis of Gertie, my wife. Next to being teacher, she follows a study in orthopedagogics. Subject was child behaviour in relation to its surrounding influences. The drawing is based on a drawing of Rob Carey, of a boy in his class, Manuel. De voorpagina van de 1st scriptie van Gertie voor haar studie orthopedagogiek.

Tarbes Fishmarket

Tarbes. I went to the local fishmarket in the early morning, to draw some impressions before they opened up. The guy supplying the stall was very curious. Vismarkt in Tarbes, voordat de markt open ging.

Tarbes, Cathedral

Had to visit Tarbes and Lannemezan (France) again. Heavy rain. Drew the side entrance of the Cathedral. De zijingang van de kathedraal van Tarbes (zuid frankrijk).

Diving

Aquarel made for the 50th birthday of a friend of mine, Ger Peukens. Schilderij als verassing voor Ger Peukens, 50 jaar deze week.

Art class 5

Live model drawing. I never used soft pastel before, I really liked it. Modeltekenen, het was de eerste keer dat ik pastelkrijt gebruikte.

Maastricht

Maastricht, last friday, on the bank of the river, near Ceramique. Lekker weer, afgelopen vrijdag.

Art class 4

Try out in B&W, charcoal and erasing gum. Annemiek Jongen is complaining I think too much like a draughtsman, not a painter.

Antwerpen MAS

Museum aan de Stroom, in Antwerp. Last friday, at a visit with collegue-architects to Antwerp.

Antwerpen, Spoor Noord

Antwerpen, an architectural visit to Spoor Noord. Antwerpen: BNA excursie naar het park Spoor Noord.

Banlieu

Based on the Aphex twin video "Come to daddy". Reminds me of Bobigny, Usti, Sheffield, Tyumen, Neuköln.

Zabrisky house

Idea for a house in Zabrisky point, Death Valley. Based on the Movie and inspired by Bea Meira. Ontwerpidee voor een huis in Death Valley, Zabrisky point.

Art class 3

Raaf en de vos

Contemporary version of the tale of the raven and the fox. Made this for the Moleskine exchange, Ians book with the theme "creatures of imagination". Aktuele versie van het verhaal van de raaf en de vos. Gemaakt voor de Moleskine exchange, Ian's boek.

Kip en ei

Hen with the golden egg. Kip en de gouden eieren.

Art class 2

2nd lesson: we did portraits, using charcoal. No easy thing, as I am used to small Moleskine formats. To be honest, this drawing does not resemble, but at least I got the proportions OK. I count my blessings. Les 2: portretten met houtskool. Deze tekening lijkt niet erg op het model, maar de verhoudingen waren in ieder geval goed.

Art class 1

Portraits and human figures were always my weak point. Looking at the progress Rob Carey made, I decided for some action and joined an art class. Each saturday morning I will try some real life drawing under the guidance of Annemiek Jongen and the critical eyes of the rest of the class. I'll post regularly to show the progress. If any.

Dit jaar volg ik elke zaterdagmorgen een cursus portret en modeltekenen in Landgraaf. De menselijke figuur was in mijn tekeningen altijd al mijn zwakke punt. Les 1.

Light

Tried to capture the light, fireworks and sound of the Green Day concert. Impressie van het licht, geluid en vuurwerk van het Green Day concert.

More Green Day

More pictures of the Green Day concert in Cologne, last monday.

Green Day in Köln

The post-punkband "Green Day" in concert in Köln (Cologne).
I went there together with Mart and Rianne (my son and daughter). Probably the best rock concert I ever saw, better than the punkbands of my youth anyway. The energy of these guys. Incredible.
Gisteravond: concert van de post-punkband Green Day. Geweldig concert. Wat energie hebben die mannen!

Paris, Notre Dame

While sitting on the Pont des Arts (see below) a Maria procession passed under us. A little later, as we walked along the Siene towards the Notre dame, the procession floated by. 13 boats with pilgrims, a blue lighted Maria statue in artificial smoke, singing pilgrims, and loud prayers by the Bishop of Paris. And the brightly lit Notre Dame in the background (it was late evening). Quite surrealistic.
15 Augustus s' avonds: een Mariaprocessie op de Seine, net toen we voorbij de Notre dame wandelden.

Paris, Rue du Bac

We were sitting on a terrace near the Gare d'Orsay, where I sketched an artist who was selling his own work, on the bank of the Seine. It was hot and he sat in the shade of the roadsign. Every 10 minutes he had to move to stay in the shade. Parijs, deze tekenaar zocht de schaduw, aan de oevers van de Seine.

Paris, Pont des arts

Paris, the "Pont des arts". Each evening young people would sit on the bridge over the Seine and picknick in the warm evening sun. The Louvre on one side, the École des beaux arts on the other. Boats below. Spanish guitars. Friends, food and wine. How romantic can you get.

Paris, Porte de Clignancourt

Visited Paris a few weeks ago. They sold old rusty cast iron statues here, in the antiques part of the flea market of Porte Clignancourt. Bezoek aan Parijs, hier vekochten ze oude roestige gietijzeren beelden. Porte de Clignancourt.

Stutz blackhawk

Seen at the Cruise-in (Heerlen/Kerkrade): this rare Stutz Blackhawk 1971. What a design! Elvis bought the first, when it came out. Gezien bij de Cruise in: deze Stutz Blackhawk 1971.

Sofia Loka

Drawing of the furnace of the stone wool insulation plant of Sofia Loka, Slovenija. Knauf. The steel Cupola melts the stone up to 1700 degrees. The fluid stone falls on the spinners, fast rotating wheels, thus forming fibers. Tekening van de steenwol oven in Sofia Loka, Slovenië. It was no pleasure making the drawing: fumes, wind, heat and ear splitting noise.

Tuin

My back garden, for the moly exchange book of Scoach. I made a walk through my backgarden and sketched Marsha and Yana. Schetsen van de achtertuin, Marsha en Yana. Voor de Moly_58 exchange, Scoach boekje.

USS West Virginia

Experimenting with two kinds of brushpens, both Pentel, waterproof and non-waterproof. I used a famous picture of the attack on Pearl Harbour, the USS West Virginia. Actually an idea of Bea Meira. Uittesten van twee soorten brushpens; een tekening van een gezonken schip bij Pearl Harbour.

London, Westminster

The last of the London sketches, on Cowley street, the backside of some houses just behind Westminster Abbey. De achterkant van enkele huizen achter Westminster Abbey.