Day 3 / 4: massada and the Red Sea

The journey went further, along the river Jordan, Jericho, some Roman excavations, a waterfall etc,
One of the highlights was swimming in the dead sea. Quite funy, but we had to move after a short while, because there was a fierce thunderstorm coming towards us over  the sea. We saw lightning striking the water.
And Massada, a high cliff with remnants of Roman fortifications. In 70 AD jewish resistance occupied the place. After a 3 month siege the Romans conquered the fortress again, only to find that the occupants committed suicide. 1000 men, woman and childeren.

The fortress on the left, view towards the dead sea to the right.

Israel: day 2 the biblical places

On day 2 we travelled north, to Nazareth where we visited the annunciation grotto. I made a sketch on location there, but it was a horrible one. We also visited the lake of Galilea (now lake of Tiberius, the site of the bread multiplication) the ruins of the house of Petrus, some river Jordan baptism site and some other biblical sites. And ate a so called St. Peterfish. Tasty, but a lot of bones.

After a visit to the Golan Heights (with fantastic views over the country Jordan) and a boat trip over the lake, we ended in Tiberias. Above the view towards the lake, as seen from the hotel room.
And below a sketch of the electrical masts, you see these everywhere.

It was very hot, over 42 degrees C.

Israel: roundtrip day 1

We just returned from a journey across Israel.
A great place, we enjoyed the country very much, in all it's variety.
It was an organized trip; we travelled with a bus, under the inspired guidance of the Dutch/Israeli guide Eli.
Our group consisted of 19 Dutch travellers, most (except one) about our own age. That means seniors of course :)

I did not manage to make a lot of drawings, most were just quick scribbles that I worked out later, in the bus or in the hotel. Like the ones I show here.

Day 0 was occupied by travelling to Israel, to Netanya. There is not so much to tell except for the horrible Hotel.

On day 1 we travelled north to Akko, an old fortified seaside town. Known for the crusaders arriving here in the holy land.
Nice town, lovely bazars, good food, and a secret tunnel connecting the harbour with the quarters of the Knights Templar.
Driving back we visited Haifa, with this beautiful view over the city and the Bahia temple.

Arnhem, the sabelspoort

Another one of the Arnhem sketchday: the old entrance to the city. It's all that's left. In the back the tower of the main church of Arnhem: the Eusebiuschurch.

Arnhem, sketchday

We had another national Sketchday, in Arnhem this time. This is the city where in WW2 operation Marketgarden started, almost to the day 75 years ago.
I made two drawings of the "Devilshouse", which dates back to about 1550. The house (now townhall) is located across the main church of Arnhem.

Legend says that after it was finished the bishop wanted to confiscate the house. The owner of the house added some statues of devils and satyrs facing the church, to piss the bishop off.

Fish

The day the fish found the way to the shore.

Chateau Vaeshartelt

The castle of Vaeshartelt, just a bit north of Maastricht. Now a conference centre.
There was a wedding on the lawn, in this warm late-summer afternoon. Nice ambience.

Chateau Neerkanne

Beautiful late summer weather. I took a nice friday afternoon off to make some sketches.
this château Neerkanne, a castle near Maastricht, just at the Belgian border. Actually I was standing ON the border to make this drawing.

50s girl

I received some goodies at the symposium, one was ecoline markers (water soluble ink). Fantastic stuff. I tried it out in this 50s style portrait (based on a picture).

Windmill St. Hubertusmolen

This morning, driving between Schimmert and Beek, on the top of the hill, I made a quick sketch of this windmill. The St. Hubertusmolen. With windmills you have to be lucky, they head towards the wind. So view is not always good, you have to do it when it's turned correctly.
My radio played Air by J.S.Bach, that's how long it took to draw this.

Nude

Made during a life model session. 50x70cm, acylic on wood.

Lievelde (2)

Another one of Erve Kots in Lievedle. It was summer then.

Lievelde (Achterhoek)

We had a few nice days in one of the more rural areas of the Netherlands, the Achterhoek.
We stayed in this nice old farmhouse, now converted into a hotel.
I made this quick one during breakfast, siting in the warm sun on the terrace.

Leiden

A business trip to Leiden, a nice old Dutch town. Holland at its best.
The Netherlands had a lovely week with warm weather, all the terraces were filled to the brim.

Amstenrade castle: orangerie

We ae having a heatwave again. But I went out to the nice cool and peacefull park at the castle of Amstenrade. Which is just around the corner from my house.
This is one of the small outbuildings, the Orangerie, as seen from the park.

Bisschopsmolen

Quick sketch of a small passage in Maastricht, near the Bisschopsmolen.

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.

Portraits during symposium

I managed to make some quick portraits during the Symposium, trying different materials. The first is James Richards, during the Talens workshop. He is instructor of one of the workshops.
I experimented with (Talens) ecoline, I had never tried that before. It's water soluble.

This is Kiah Kiean, a fantastic sketcher. My Bingelrade drawing was inspired by his working method. I used graphite and water soluble pencils in this drawing.

 And this is Evelyn Huang, she also participated in the Rembrandt workshop of Fred Lynch. I had to make a quick inkline drawing, with as little lines as possible.
Chinese ink applied with bamboo stick, and waterproof sepia acrylic ink.

Bingelrade

I went out yesterday to draw an old farmhouse, in the process of being restored into its old form.
The farm is located in Bingelrade, just a few kiometers from my home. Actually it's along one of my running-routes, that's when I noticed the building.
I used chinese ink with bamboo pens, pentel paintbrush and some Rembrandt watercolour, on Fabriano 300gr cotton paper.
The ideas of Kiah Kiaen were followed in this drawing, whose demo I attended during the Amsterdam symposium. A very interesting method, with very interesting results.