Robots on Mars

 

I made this painting on request of my grandson, Jake. He wanted something with planets and rockets. So I made this one, size 50x60cm. He was very happy with this.

 

Zara

My granddaugther, Zara, was staying over for the weekend. She is5 years old, and a real joy to have around. Always laughing, always merry. She was very focussed watching "Frozen" or something similar on het tablet. A chance to try and draw her. Just a piece of paper and a bic which was lying around.
 

Yoda

 

This is Yoda, our new cat. Mitzie passed away last April. My wife told it in her class at school, and one of her pupils had a kitten available. Yoda didn't have a good start in life, he was abandoned by his mother after his birth, and taken care of by the mother of the boy.

Well Yoda is full of life, and we enjoy her every day. We hope to enjoy him for a long time.

Supergrandpa

My grandson Jake wrote a little story for school. I promised him I would illustrate it if it was really cool. So he came up with a story where 3 ninja's were threatening him and his brother in front of the local library (where I take them regularly). But suddenly I was some kind of a cool superhero, who disarmed the ninja's with a few well directed laser beams. 

Well, I could not have made that story up :). Here is the illustration.
 

Mitzie, deceased

Our beloved cat, Mitzie, passed away today. She was about 11 years old. She will be missed.
 

Tante Jo, Lievelde.

 

My aunt, Jo Jaartsveld, was living in Lievelde (Achterhoek). But she passed away last February. Last Saturday my mother and I visited her house for the last time, to pick up some souvenirs. And we visited my aunt Coby in Winterswijk (age 99).

I bought a new type of sketchbook, a Moleskine size portrait A5. I tested the booklet by drawing her portrait, after a photograph we made last year, when my aunt was still well. The white line in the middle is the spine of the sketchbook. Moleskine A5 and a Duke Confucius fude-fountain pen.

Merijan Bijlsma

 

Terrible news this morning. Merijan Bijlsma died last wednesday after three years struggling against the horrible disease ALS. In that time she always kept a smile, a laugh and good humour. She will be missed. We wish her family and husband Bert our sincere condolances.

A year ago she asked me to paint her portrait in watercolour, for her obituary. Quite a chilling request I can say. I based the painting on a great photograph made by our neighbour, Marij Ruyters-Teeuwen.

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.

Gertie 60

 

Gertie, my wife, became 60 this weekend. We hired a few cottages in a holidaycamp, and spent the weekend with our children, in-laws and grandchildren. We had a great weekend. We are blessed to have a family like this.

I made this 3D collage of Jake, Willem, Finn and Zara, to mark this milestone.

Best wishes

Best wishes for the new year, and may it be a better one.

These objects were creatively decorated by my wife, Gertie. Each his own hobby :)
 

Jan Vermeerlaan

 My brother became 60. He likes older romantic paintings from the early 20th century.

So I made a small contribution to his small collection of paintings: a romantic do-it-yourself painting, including a rural scene and his own house. Just a bit of fun.

Zara

Zara, our granddaughter, stayed here at our home for a day. What a joy. I made this pendrawing, which I coloured with digital means.

Zara

Tuesday May 19th: our fourth grandchild was born. After three lovely boys, now a girl.
Daughter of Mart and Lisa. How lovely she is! We are so proud.
It will take a few days before I can see her, due to Corona restrictions, but I guess we'll get chances enough.

Cats in times of lockdown

Mila, our cat is not pleased with her lockdown. Neither are we humans.

Family in glass

Three dimensional glass fusion object. I had made the first three figures before, back in 2015. Rianne was expecting our first grandson, Jake. But there is another lovely boy now, Willem. So I had to add another figure.
And another cat, first there was Noortje, now there is also Sammy.
A lovely family.

Luuk, newborn

A newborn in the family! My niece had a babyson, called Luuk.
He looks lovely.
His parents are very happy to have him, and so are his new grandfather and grandmother.

Mitzie and Tomatoes

It was warm yesterday, a fine June day. Mitzie, our oldest cat, was resting in the most unlikely place: a pot which was used to grow tomatoes in last year. We didn't have enough time this year, so the pot is vacant. Well, sort of.

Finn, but not really

I tried to draw my grandson Finn (now 6 months old). He was laying on his back, I drew this while standing at the foot of the bed. So the perspective is a bit weird.
Even though I did my best, and ther drawing is remeniscent of his face, it's not Finn.
Still, I always learned that it is difficult enough to make a drawing in which the person looks alive. I think I succeeded to do that anyway. Drawing babies from life is very, very hard.

Killer Katze

This is a surprise gift for Gertie, my wife.
Usually I make surprise gifts for all family members, for the celebration of Sinterklaas - St. Nicholas.
But we have grandchildren now who still believe in him, so we can't do surprise gifts anymore after December 5th. They won't understand.
But I made this for Gertie's birthday, printed on a metal sheet, to hang outside the door as warning.

Birthcard design

I made a few designs for the birthcards for Finn.
Here are the designs that did not make it.