Carnaval: Cowrunning 2014

Carnaval this weekend, and it started off with Cowrunning competition on the market of Hoensbroek.
8 teams made large papier maché cows, and run with 2 people under it.
I was captain of one of those teams for 15 years. It still hurts a little to be onlooker, and not being on the field as runner.

Anyway, a sketch of the start of one of the runs: unfortunately my fountain-pen didn't flow evenly, probably because of the cold, that's why the lines are so scratchy.

Terborgh

7.30 AM this morning, the early sun just peeked over the hills, and lit these bare willows and solemn field cross.
Here, in the south of the Netherlands, you will find these kind of crosses on most road crossings.
 I was on my way to work, and stopped briefly for this quick sketch.

Stuck at Vermeer

I am working on a painting now, size 70x90cm, loosely based on the painting "loveletter" by Vermeer.

But I am stuck.
Even though I like the composition, style and story, there is something I don't like about my painting.
Maybe the use of color or the brushstrokes? I know there are some details that need attention, like the hand of the maid, and the whiteness of the faces, but that's not it. There is something more basically wrong, and I don't know what.
I will need to give the painting some rest to figure out what is wrong. Any suggestions would help.

Vaesrade

Quick sketch at dusk, of the churchtower of Vaesrade.
After the (pen)drawing I took home some nice fries, from Mati's Friture across the street.

Painted the (non- waterproof) inkdrawing during lunchbreak today.

Flaming tower

Burning (chemical) waste at the DSM Chemical plant, on an early morning a few days ago. This is more or less the view from my working desk at present.

Simple Minds

The Simple Minds played live in the Palladium, Köln (Cologne) yesterday evening. A fantastic performance!
We were standing close to the platform, to be able to totally undergo the music. And make a few pictures, like this one.

Crossing Breitner

Just wanted to paint/draw something today.
A simple watercolour, based on a picture I saw on Flickr, by Maarten Oortwijn called "crossing the street Breitner style".
Just having fun with colours.

Moscow Metro

Above painting was made during artclass, as exercise in Christianne Knops style. It was based on a picture I made last week the Moscow Metro system, circle line. Mind you, it was cold, very cold that evening. Minus 23. These Russians with their massive clothes were a nice inspiration for the painting. Acrylic, charcoal and pastel, 70x100cm.

Vnukovo

The train from Moscow centre to airport Vnukovo stood still for a few minutes. Just long enough to sketch this little dacha or chapel down below the railway bank.

365: a picture every day

A new year, a new project.
I had the bright idea (with a little help from Pascal) to post ONE picture every day for a year.
I probably will not be able to maintain that for a year, but here is a start anyway.
These are the results of the first two weeks.

The adress:
http://rene-365.tumblr.com/

And as a bonus, my daughter Rianne is doing  the same!
Her adress: http://riannefijten.tumblr.com/

Kremlin

Moscow: it was far to cold to draw outside, minus 23 Celsius is enough to have your hands hurt like they stick needles into them. But a little later we had dinner at Sbarro (a buffet pizza restaurant), with this view of the Kremlin wall. It's the part at the monument for the unknown soldier. It was dark and the buildings artificially lit when I made this, but I drew it as if by daylight. I wanted the red Kremlin wall to stick out.

Asperger

This afternoon Ricardo Frederiks (19) presented his novel at the Heerlen artcenter "Schunck".
The book tells the story of a boy with the Asperger syndrome (a type of autism).
It's not strictly an autobiography, but leans hard on his own experiences with that disorder.

Some time ago he asked me to make the cover for the book: the drawing of the glass jar with him in it, and swaying buildings as background.
It was a tough assignment because he had strict ideas about how the drawing should look like. And when I figured some of those ideas wouldn't work for a bookcover, I had a hard time convincing him otherwise; it was like my ideas just didn't arrive. Indeed, very Asperger.

During the presentation Ricardo and a few other poets recited a few poems. They were very good. All in all a very impressive presentation!