Brunssumerheide

 

I tried to go urban sketching this week, but twice the rain fell over my drawings, and I had to throw them away. So I went back to plan B: drawing at home. Sketch I made based on a picture of last monday, on the heather of Brussum, a nature area  where I go running. I used my new Duke fountain pen.

Best wishes for 2023

 

Merry Christmas and the best wishes for the next year.

My wife made this tableau, including the ceramic and decorated trees.

Dimmuborgir

 

Luchtime doodle. Based on a picture of the quite alien looking Dumuborgir landscape in Iceland.

Zakynthos, Olive tree

 

Zakynthos, a 2000 year old olive tree, in a village called Exo Chora. Well, loosely based on a picture that we made on holiday a few years ago, in 2018. Actually, I had already sketched it back then, see my post https://renefijten.blogspot.com/2018/10/exo-chora.html. The chair and table were actually there.

Oia, Santorini

 

A little more working on my watercolour skills. Oia, Santorini at sunset. Not on location, onfortunatly, but based on a picture I found on the Internet, by Tom Archer.

Duke Confucius sketch

 I have a new fountainpen: a Duke Confucius 551. Great pen. The pen makes everything between very thick and very thin lines. A quick sketch after a picture.

Bingelrade

 

Saw this yesterday during my running excercise, a country road between Merkelbeek and Bingelrade. Painted it today.

Nuth Nierhoven

Nuth, Nierhoven, at the fishing pond.
 

Gouda

 

A few days ago I made a business trip to Zoetermeer. But I had planned on traffic jams which did not happen, so I was early, and had an hour to spend. I stopped briefly in Gouda, where I managed to make this sketch at one of the canals. Located just outside the center, to avoid hassle at parking my car. It was nice sitting there, under a feeble sun, 12 degrees C, far to high for halfway November, but quite enjoyable.

LIve portrait session

Live portrait session. The idea was to use a small canvas (I used 20x30cm, not very very small).

It took 2 hours to make, using small brushes and acryllic paint.
 

Vaesrade

 

Cycled to Vaesrade this afternoon, to paint the colours of autumn. Even though the sun was nice for november, it was not warm enough for the watercolour to dry properly. Especially after 4 pm, when the sun started to set. The paper buckled, colours kept running, and some nuances didn't come out as expected.

 

Rocks and trees

 

Watercolour based on a picture I found on the Internet, from an artist who regularly posts images to train watercolour skills. hoffmannwatercolors.blogspot.com/2022/10/using-edges-to-create-illusion-of-space

You can find the original image in the link. Also an interesting site. Size 23x30cm, on Fabriano Artistico paper and a limited range of Schmincke colours.

Another Miggelenberg

 

Another one from our weekend. Now the other side of the cottage. I made this sitting outside.

Miggelenberg, Hoenderloo

 

We had a lovely weekend, renting a cottage in the Veluwe. We took our grandson, Jake, with us. He is almost 7, and we had a great time. I also managed to do some watercolour painting. This is the view from  our cottage into the autumn coloured forest. Made from behind the window.

Terramining

 Just doodling.

Sabrina

Live nude model painting. Sabrina. At Annemiek Jongen art class.
 

Spinalonga, Greece

 

Watercolour painting of a tree. I made the reference picture on the Spinalonga island, last summer during our visit to Crete, in Greece.

Schmincke watercolour on Fabriano paper (about A4).

I want to develop my watercolour skills further.

2 trees

 

Experimenting with colours. Above trying something the Mark Folly watercolour way. 

Below: a tree in coloured inks, made by flowing inks on moist paper.

Aachen: Dom

Aachen, inside the Dom (Cathedral). The part where I am standing (the octagonal chapel) is the oldest, dating from 796 AD. Several (some 30) German Kings were crowned here. But the octagon was quite impossible to draw. So I tried for the choir. It features the golden Maria shrine, which should contain a piece of cloth of Jesus.

Aachen Rathaus

Aken / Aachen / Aix La Chapelle. I went there to draw the Dom and the city hall (Rathaus). Nice weather and a lot of people that chatted with me. Nice.
 

Hulsberg, Benedendorpvoetpad

Commission, a drawing of the gardenside of a house in Hulsberg. A really beautiful house.

Drawn on location, on a very hot day.

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.

Lee van Cleef (almost)

Just a few quick lines for a sunday evening doodle. After a picture of Lee van Cleef.
 

Abandoned factory

On the last day in France I visited an old abandoned factory, and made a quick oilpainting there. An experiment if I could ue oil while using my usual Urban sketching gear. It's not yet finished, there was not enough time. 

This is how it looked like

Lake in France

Another one from that productive week in Corravillers: a little lake on top of the hill. The challenge was to use round brushes - and to show them in the painting somehow.

This was what it looked like.