Pater Vincktoren

Another one of the sketchcrawl of last saturday, in Maastricht.
This is a part of the Medieval fortifications.
I tried the bamboo-ink method again.

Jekerkwartier

We had a nice sketchcrawl in Maastricht today, organized by Ruud Otten.
I met a lot of old and a few new friends.
We made drawings on the "Jekerkwartier", near the old fortifications of Maastricht.
This is an old house, a retirementhome for nuns. THe "Faliezusters".
Nowadays I try a new more vivid style of working: drawing with bamboo on good Fabriano paper, and ivid colourswashes.

Urban sketching Maastricht

Urban sketching meeting today, in Maastricht. It was very cold (4 degrees C), but luckily no wind.
And we were sitting a bit sheltered on a covered terrace.
I made this impression of one of the facades of the Market, with a row of old houses.
It took a lot of time to make this, the water would only dry very slowly. But that offered a chance to warm yourself on a hot cup of coffee.

Sketchcrawl Maastricht (2)

This is another drawing that I made during the sketchcrawl. The baroque pulpit of the St. Jans church in Maastricht, halfway the hall. The St. Jan is a  protestant church, Catholic ones like the adjacent  St. Servaas preach from the choir/altar.
The other drawings are less interesting or unfinished, so they will not be posted.

Sketchcrawl Maastricht

I am a bit slow with posting presently.
So in between the Greece drawings, I'll post the results of the sketchcrawl of yesterday, in Maastricht.
The weather was horrible, continuous rain, so we drew inside. First the St. Jan, a protestant church. Second the Cellebroederskapel, the chapel of a former monastery. A chapel so hidden, I didn't even knew it existed.
The above drawing is of the structure of that chapel, dating back to about 1535.
The other sketches will follow.

Dutch Windmills

The National Haarlem sketchcrawl. Actually, this is the second time I ever painted/drew a Dutch windmill. I am not looking for traditional or nostalgic scenes, but this was a beauty. De Adriaan, along the canal "de Spaarne".
 
I stood there with Roger Klaasen, who drew almost the same scene but is a totally different style, see here at the side. He is far better with linework than me.

And then, while waiting for the watercolour to dry, I sometimes do experiments. Like with this little sketch: made in indian ink, drawn with bamboo sticks, in maybe 5 minutes.

Rolduc crypt

The second the two Sketchcrawl drawings that I made a week ago.
This is the crypt of the medieval Abbey church or Rolduc, dating back to the 12th century or so.
It was a hard perspective to do, but I think I managed well. It came out loose, without losing myself in overcorrect perspective games.

Rolduc Sketchcrawl

Last saturday we went for another sketchcrawl Limburg. This time in the large abbey complex of Rolduc in Kerkrade. We had a nice group together, som 18 sketchers. Some even came from as far a Heemstede and Culemborg. We were lucky, one of the sketchers arranged access to the beautiful Rococo library, one of the most beautiful in the Netherlands. But very difficult to sketch.
Anyway, here is a picture of the group.

Pam, Jos, xxx, Roger, Ruud, Gaston, Peggy, Rene, Gertie, Wendy, xxx, Patricia and Bert. Missing in the picture are Annette and Roger (my brother).

Maastricht, sketchcrawl

My (new) computer broke, and I lost the last month of data and scanned drawings. As well the digitally coloured versions of Akai Usagi.
So I am lagging behind with my blogposts, and trying to find out what I am missing anyway.
Here are two quick sketches made during the last sketchcrawl, some 2 weeks ago; it was the only bad weather day so far this summer. Bad luck.




I made these two sketches as quick composition demonstration drawings for the only sketcher that showed up that day: Jos van Doorenmalen.
They each took me about 5 minutes to make.

Sketchcrawl: Dominicanen

Sketchcrawl yesterday. After weeks of the most beautiful weather, we had a regular autumn storm yesterday. Wind, rain, cold, code orange, not the kind of weather to go out and sketch outside.
Understandably hardly anyone showed up: just Jos and I.
I found myself a nice spot with some perfect coffee in the most beautiful bookstore of the Netherlands, probably even the world. The bookstore is located in an medieval gothic church, part of a former monastery in the center of Maastricht. They made a three story steel structure in it, looking like a bookcase itself. And it can be removed without any damage to the church, if the bookstore will be gone. Beautiful. Architecture at its best.

Momus Vrijthof

Another sketchcrawl drawing. This is the Vrijthof in the center of town. The main square with the best terraces of the netherlands are located. I had to protect myself against the rain ans stood in the music stand in the middle to make this.

Sketchcrawl Maastricht

Sketchcrawl 47 in Maastricht.
It was raining a little (too bad after two weeks of the most beautiful sunny spring weather), but we had a lovely day after all.
I was allowed to stand behind the glass in the shop window of a clothing shop (Bershka, thank you), with this view over this cute Maastricht corner, at the Dominicanen.
Next to the most beautiful bookshop of the Netherlands and probably also of the world. It's located in a fully restored 700 year old gothic church. But that is a matter for another time, another drawing.

Sketchcrawl on april 25

Join us for the next Limburg Sketchcrawl, April 25th in Maastricht. At 13.00 hours at the souvenirshop on the bridge.

Minerva and FN

The last few drawings of the Brussels Autoworld sketchcrawl.
Above just to prove that you can draw more than just the exterior of cars. It's the engine of a huge Minerva firetruck, and the pumps on the front bumper. Impressive.
And the bottom one is a Belgian car: a 1925 FN sportscar. A fun to draw.

Kapitein Zeppos

Another car at display in Brussels: an Amphicar from the 60s. It was both a car and a boat.
What makes this car so intersting for me is that it was the vehicle of kapitain Zeppos, a youth TV series from the mid 60s. Not a Dutch series, but a Flemish (Belgium) one. I loved that series, even though it was probably badly acted in our present day eyes. Well, Kapitein Zeppos drove this car. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEW7tqT9bN0

Darmont and Cottereau

Two more Autoworld sketches from the sketchcrawl.
The top one is a tricycle from 1927, a French Darmont. It was a car built in license from the English Morgan manufacturer. I once talked to an owner in a vintage car rally, these cars are very tiny. The driver woild hit the passenger in the ribcage when steering this thing.
The other is a French Cottereau from 1904. It was displayed as if in a garage.

Spring market

We held our sketchcrawl during the  annual spring market.
Here are a few scenes of the arts&crafts and the bio-food part (with flocks of geese and sheep) part.
There was also a vintage-antique part, and usual food market.
And a lot of visitors.

Stonecarving

Another sketchcrawlsketch.
A stonecarver called Marcel Hazen. He worked with calciumsandstone, and made a beautiful statue, at the arts and crafts fair.
Impressive work. If I had time I would like to do that kind of stuff as well.
Too many ideas, too little time.

More sketchcrawl

A quick in-between sketch of an old man sitting on a bench, watching the blacksmith at work.

Blacksmith

The first drawing of the Sketchcrawl series, during the art & crafts fair in Heerlen.
One of the participants was a (female) blacksmith, Puk van de Ruijt. She forged steel flowers on location, a feast to see and draw.