Animated Kathagen

A last shot of the old year 2016.
I tried something new, making a little animation of the scene I sketched a few days ago.
I made this in Gimp. I made 11 little sketches on tracing paper, on top of the original sketch.
Eventually I used 6 of them. Furthermore I made 2 background colour scenes. All in all the Gif now consists of 18 pictures. Painstaking work, but I really liked making this.

Ebola vaccine and cure

An article in our newspaper, a few days ago.

Usually I can't disclose anything about the designs I make, due to secrecy agreements that I have to sign. I make most building and production line designs in very first stages of a project, and that is a period that the competition of our clients would be interested in any information they can get hold of.

Now the news about the Ebola vaccine is in the open, and I can proudly say that I did my contribution to the production line that will make this vaccine.
A nice thought around the Christmas days.

Kathagen

Demolition of a few houses, for the construction of new ring-road near my home.

Made this afternoon. I had forgotten to bring my (water)brushes, but had a few watercolourpencils at hand. A bit saliva and a tissue works as well. A bit improvising.

Winter season

I made this during the workshop I gave at the USK Maastricht gathering, a week ago.
I tried how coloured inks work at on-location drawing.
That's why I show it here: it did not work, at least not for me.
You can't wash out the brushes, the pots of ink are not easy to handle (when you draw standing up). You end up with lots of paper tissues, and you are constantly worried the inkpots will fall or being tripped over. Advantage: the depth of colour is much more vivid.
I like working with inks, but not on location. I doubt if I will do this again.

Christmas wishes

For all the readers of this blog: the best wishes for Christmas, the holidays and the coming year.
May it be a creative, successful, happy and most of all healthy year, for you and your loved ones.

We received the above beautiful Christmas tree as present from one of my wife's pupils, Isa. Her father works at the Tyltylschool in Maastricht. It's a special school for pupils with multiple handicaps. They make these objects in their activity classes.

25 years on the job

I have been working for 25 years at Tebodin. Actually, the milestone was the past 1st of January, but for several reasons it was celebrated last Friday. We had a good 5 course dinner for my family and close colleagues, in Kolentip, Maasbracht.
I received some nice presents: a beautiful glass piece, made by Belmondo glaskunst, and a frame in which all my close colleagues made an sketch of me.
Of course some of them refer to things that happened over the years; never underestimate the memory of your close colleagues.....

USK meeting Maastricht

Ruud Otten organized a national Dutch Urban sketching meeting in Maastrucht, last saturday.
A great succes, especially when you take our usual Dutch december weather into account.
There were sketchers from Belgium, Germany, Luxemburg and the Netherlands of course.




I was not able to do a lot of sketching, as I gave a workshop: Urban sequence. I did that one before: 5 stages from drawing on the street to sketching a cornerstone. 12 sketchers took part.
The above sketch was made in our local bookstore, located in a former gothic church. It used to be  part of a convent, that's why iy's called Dominikanen.

Sinterklaas 2016: Mart en Gertie

Another surprise object that I made for Sinterklaas.
This one was made for Mart, my son. He was mighty proud to have that appartment with his girlfriend Lisa. So I made this piece: the king and the queen under their crown.
The crown was made from melted glass, in Paté de verre technique. Actually, this would have been a vase, but the bottom part fell apart due to kiln malfunctioning. This was July, the first attempt. (I am already at attempt 4 for this particular vase. It should have run in the oven this week, fingers crossed).
The crown was all that's left.
Below the surprise gift for my wife. I don't think it needs clarification. It's great to be grandparents.

Limburg an der Lahn

Another business trip, to Frankfurt. I had to rise gruelling early, the meeting would start at 9.00, and it's a 3 1/2 hour drive. When returning later that afternoon, I paused to get rid of my sleep, at an old beautiful city just off the Autobahn. Limburg an der Lahn. I made this one standing on the bridge, looking towards the cathedral across the water. I only coloured it half, I was getting cold. Finished it today at home.

Sint: Lisa and Rianne

Like I old before I make surprise gifts for my family.
This glass and iron little dog was made for Lisa, the girlfriend of my son Mart.
Shortly after they moved into their new home, they had a little dog which they called Miku. It's a spaniel, also known as Papillon, also known as "butterfly dog". So that's what I made, a butterfly dog.
The other surprise hift was for my daughter Rianne. She can use a few extra hands in her household, with a child, a husband, a house, a daytime job and a Master study to be completed. The peak hour of their lifes, we have been there as well :).

40s Chevy pickup truck

I had a factory visit this afternoon, which ended early. So I had a little time left before it went dark (at 5 o'çlock). I knew a business zone in Heerlen, where a restoration firm had a few of these vintage cars on their premises. Nice for a quick drawing. Always nice to draw rust.

Portrait in ink

Couldn't go out today, wanted to paint, so I searched for an interesting picture to draw.
This is an unknown man in Rajastan, India, original picture by Aniruth Agarwal.
Coloured inks in an A4 Canson Sketchbook.

Sinterklaas 2016

 

December 2016, Sinterklaas again. That's Saint Nicholas day, the 5th of December, the day Dutch give presents to each other. I personally dislike giving presents with Christmas: not quite the way to celebrate the birth of Jezus.
Anyway, when kids are over the age that they believe the story of Sinterklaas, it's tradition to make surprise gifts for each other, accompanied with a nonsensical poem.

For some reason every year I made all surprise gifts. Already for about 12 years.
Above an example, for Bob, my son-in-law. He would like to buy a real skeleton (he is physiotherapist of profession), but can't afford it. And he is very good at barbecue. And loves Scotland. So I made this barbecue apron for him, combining all these items.

But here is another surprise, for the first time in all these years I was treated as well! Bob made a surprise gift for me. Theme: Grandfathers should stay active as long as they can. Making fun of my other hobby: running....