Amstenrade

Church of Amstenrade, just around the corner from my house. I tried to make a few sketches while it was snowing, but that did not work, the ink got all smudgy. And I got cold. This was the only acceptable one, which I coloured later at home. Kerk van Amstenrade, geschetst in de vallende sneeuw. Dit was de enige acceptabele schets, de rest was viezig.

Snow

Record breaking snow here in South Limburg, over 40cm, which is once every 100 years.
The view from my bedroom window this morning, looking over the gardens.
Rekordhoogte sneeuw vanmorgen, meer dan 40 cm. Gezien vanuit mijn slaapkamer raam.

Tibbets

Hiroshima by refarch
Sometimes I make music, I made this a few years ago. I composed the piece and played all the instruments myself, using a keyboard, electronic synthesizers (VSTI), drum sequencers, looped samples and sofware programs like Music Maker and Acid. For the background voice I used vocoder software (turns written text into voice; I can't sing). The narrative is a real sample of the voice of the pilot Paul Tibbets, who flew Enola Gay.
Soms maak ik muziek, dit stuk heb ik helemaal zelf gecomponeerd en ingespeeld, m.b.v. keyboard, mijn laptop en synthesizer software.

Valkenburg

Early morning, driving to my work. I stopped briefly in Valkenburg to make this sketch. I added the colour at home; it was way too cold.
Op weg naar kantoor, even gestopt in Valkenburg voor deze schets. Aquarel thuis toegevoegd, het was toch wel erg koud buiten.

Art class

This morning, live model painting. Vanmorgen, kunstklasje onder de bezielende leiding van Annemiek Jongen. Dit is Natasha. Acryl 110x70cm (!).

Winter

Winterscene in Moelingen (Belgium), I saw this on my way to work, and stopped for a quick sketch.
Winter in Moelingen (BE). Op mijn weg naar werk, even gestopt voor een kleine vlugge schets.

Mart

My son, Mart, stood as model for the art class of last Saturday. I never drew family before, too scared  I guess, and I can tell you I felt uneasy throughout the process. Fortunately it worked out well; this 70x110cm painting really looks like him. What's more, the painting is also a vivid representation of my brother Roger in his younger years.... which tells a few things.
Mijn zoon Mart was model in het kustklasje van afgelopen zaterdag. Ik voelde me erg ongemakkelijk tijdens het schilderen, maar gelukkig kon ik trots zijn op het resultaat. Niet alleen leek het op Mart; het leek zelfs nog meer op mijn broer Roger in zijn jongere jaren. Erg bijzonder.

Meneer Kusters

Waiting room in the hospital, this man was before me, the nurse called him meneer Kusters when it was his turn at the doctor. Drawn on location.
Wachtkamer in het ziekenhuis, deze man werd voor mij naar binnen geroepen. Ter plekke getekend.

Lineart Gent

With 2 artclass collegues we visited the Modern art expo in Gent, last Friday. We walked around for 6 hours (!) and saw many inspiring paintings and objects of art, incredible.
I particularly liked the painting style of Georges Schelstraete. This is my own futile attempt to see how he gets the light into his paintings.
Bezocht: de Lineart kunstbeurs in Gent, afgelopen vrijdag. Een enorme hoeveelheid kunstvoorwerpen en schilderijen. Je doet er wel veel ideeen op. Hier een (vergeefse) poging in de stijl van Georges Schelstraete. Hoe hij dat licht pakt; moeilijk, moeilijk.

Sinterklaas

Surprise gifts for the Sinterklaas celebration (St. Nicholas). I handpainted these mugs with caricatures of my children and their friends. Did not dare to draw Brenda,  the girlfriend of my son Mart, but she is a big fan of Rihanna, so I painted that (bottom right). As tradition requires, I wrote funny poems to accompany these gifts. 
Sinterklaas surprises voor mijn kinderen+aanhang. Rechtsonder een karikatuur van de zangeres Rihanna (voor Brenda).

Santa Claus

Rotterdam last week; this is a large statue called "Santa Claus" by the american sculptor Paul McCarthy. The statue caused a lot of controversy and had to be relocated a few times because of protests. Maybe you will understand if you know that locals called it  "Kabouter Buttplug". Controversieel beeld in Rotterdam van de kunstenaar McCarthy, in de volksmond ook wel bekend als "Kabouter Buttplug". Mooi contrast met de oudhollandse oliebollenbakker erachter. Traditie versus de moderne tijd.

Girlz

Another experiment, trying Graffiti style. Probably a one time only. Uitprobeersels, dit keer in Graffiti stijl. Niet voor herhaling vatbaar.

Van Dongen

I went to Rotterdam with my daughter Rianne, to visit the Kees van Dongen exhibition in the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum. He was as early 19th century painter, and was famous for his portraits of women with very large  mesmerizing eyes. There were a lot of paintings of (in my opinion) minor quality, and to be honest I liked the large painting of a horse the best. Sketched on location.
Bezocht: de Kees van Dongen tentoonstelling in Rotterdam. Wisselende kwaliteit van de schilderwerken. Het mooiste vond ik dit schilderij van een paard.

Big city

Wanted to try something totally different. Tijd voor iets anders. I was inspired by the graffitti artist Ronzo.

Fountainhead

The Fountainhead: it is said that the writer, Ayn Rand, used Frank Lloyd Wright as model for the main character, Howard Roark. When reading I always had Le Corbusier in my mind; probably because at some point in the book Roark is looking to the sky admiring one of his own designs. And I had seen that picture in another book, "Delirious New York", years ago. Time to recycle.
Het boek "De eeuwige bron", model voor de architect Howard Roark was waarschijnlijk F.L.Wright, ik zag altijd Le Corbusier voor me.
(Photo of LC by A.Steiner, 1935, found in the book Delirious New York by Rem Koolhaas)

Howard Roark

I just read the novel "the fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. A classic novel about an architect, Howard Roark, and the uncompromising integrity you need to make art. A great novel, but a tough read, 750 pages of heavy intellectual dialogue. While reading this is how I imagined  Roark's first design (the Heller house) would look like. Which is quite funny, because back in 1926 they never would have heard of deconstructivist architecture.
Gelezen: "de eeuwige bron" van Ayn Rand, een klassieke roman over een architect en integriteit. Goed boek, maar de helft van de pagina's had het ook verteld. Dit is hoe ik me het eerste ontwerp van de romanheld voorstelde. Onzin, het boek speelt van 1920 tot 1940.

Art class

 Portraits of the art class of last saturday: live portrait drawing using "siberisch krijt" (oil pastels made of grinded charcoal). Featuring Francine and Els, 2 out of 10 portraits that we made that morning.
Kunstklasje: portretten van Francine en Els, naar levend model, gemaakt afgelopen zaterdagmorgen. Ik gebruikte siberisch krijt, vergelijkbaar met houtskool maar het zwart is intenser. Geweldig materiaal.

The Swan

Just returned from a trip to St. Helens, England. I spend the evening drinking Guinness beer in a local pub called "the Swan", where I sat quietly reading a book and drawing this guy spending too much money on a jackpot machine. As they saw me drawing, other visitors started talking to me about the town. They told me about the oldest house in St. Helens, a Quaker house dating from 1676, long before the first coal was found. I found the cute little building, hidden between some derelict houses, the next day during my early morning walk. See above sketch. Bezoek aan St. Helens, Engeland. Schets van een gokker in de pub "the Swan", en het oudste huisje van St. Helens, uit 1676. 

Patersweg

Early morning light towards the traffic lights in front of my house. I am in a little drawing dip now, so these photographs will have to do. Morgenlicht op de Patersweg. Even een kleine tekendip.

Vrijthof

Vrijthof, the main square of Maastricht. I realised that the bare trees in front would make the drawing too dark, so I left them silhouetted. Unfortunately a bus parked in front of me blocking my view, just when I
wanted to start painting, and the driver went for coffee at cafe Momus, Grrrr.
Vrijthof Maastricht, afgelopen maandagmiddag.