rene fijten sketches

Contrasting colours

2012-01-28T17:40:00.001+01:00

Art class today: we had to paint our live model with contrasting colours (those on the opposite sides of the colour wheel, like blue-orange or yellow-purple). In my case cadmium red and phtalo green.
Using these colours results in enhancing each other, red becomes even more red when placed next to green.
Secondly: when mixing opposite colours you get the most beautiful greys and blacks.

Here I show three stages of the painting: the charcoal drawing, the high contrast basic painting, and finally the adding of red-green greys. I was suprised by the result: here it looks like the model got a heavy sunburn, but in reality the painting looks more harmonic than on these pictures.

Glassworks

2012-01-26T20:07:00.002+01:00

My stained glass window in progress: I cut out all the pieces. Now I have to mount them into the lead profiles.
Size 600x600mm
Glas in lood raam naar eigen ontwerp: status update. Het glas heb ik nu eindelijk op maat gemaakt, nu nog in het lood zetten.

Chinatown

2012-01-24T20:55:00.001+01:00

Last of the sketches of my trip to Singapore a week ago. Above the buddhist temple in the middle of Chinatown (Buddha's tooth is supposed to lie there), I was nearly run over while sitting at the roadcurb drawing this. The other sketch I made while waiting for our orders, on Smith Street in Chinatown. I'll have to go to Singapore again on short term, so more sketches to be expected. Suggestions for subjects?
De laatste paar schetsen uit Singapore van mijn zakentrip, een week geleden.

Hiromi Kawakami

2012-01-22T21:17:00.000+01:00

In the plane I read a Japanese novel by Hiromi Kawakami: "de tas van de leraar". A lovestory of a woman and her (retired) high school teacher. I am not into romantic novels, but I love the way Japanese novels are written: so full of quiet observations of life and nature. Fantastic. Drew/painted this in the plane, some of the lines are quite wobbly. Gelezen: een Japans boek van Hiromi Kawakami: "de tas van de leraar". Fantastisch boek.

Foodcourt

2012-01-21T08:06:00.000+01:00

Singapore has foodcourts in most shopping malls, mostly located on the subterranean bottom levels. All around you will find stalls serving all kinds of mostly asian and indian food. Each stall has it's speciality: Korean, Thai, Indian, hot pot, soup, Malaysian etc. And a limited number of dishes; all prepared in full view, within a few minutes while you waiting at the counter. I had delicious pad thai in this foodcourt in the Marina Sands building.

Japanese food

2012-01-19T21:27:00.000+01:00

Dinner in Singapore in a Japanese buffet restaurant. Delicious.

Gallardo

2012-01-18T22:48:00.001+01:00

Singapore is a strange city: in Chinatown you can find (relative) poverty, and only 3 metrostops away you find yourself on a parking lot in front of a shopping mall featuring 8 Lamborghini's. Yes. Eight!
Among minor stuff like BMW 7 series, Mercedes S-class and Maserati quattraporte.
I drew this white Gallardo while my collegues were patiently waiting for me; I had no choice but to paint it at home. Getekend: één van de acht (!) Lamborghini Gallardo's op een parkeerplaats ergens in Singapore.

Orchard road

2012-01-16T18:28:00.000+01:00

Due to the jetlag I woke up too early (there is 7 hours time difference with Singapore). So I made an early morning walk, and painted this old house, just across the street from my hotel.
Vroege morgen wandeling door Singapore; een tekening van een licht verwaarloosd huis midden in dichte begroeiing, gelegen aan de overzijde van het hotel.

Singapore Dragon

2012-01-14T14:07:00.000+01:00

This morning I returned - after a 14 hour flight - from Singapore. Although on business, in the evenings me and my colleagues took the opportunity to catch the spirit of the town. Singapore was preparing for the Chinese new year (22 or 23 January). They put up this huge dragon on the roadcrossing at the entrance of Chinatown. All brightly lit in the evening (I may post that picture later). And all of Chinatown was filled with stalls selling golden and red paper lanterns and wishing cards. All these colours and lights. Bezoek aan Chinatown, deze draak stond bij de entree van Chinatown, voor de viering van het Chinese nieuwe jaar.

Singapore

2012-01-12T10:03:00.000+01:00

A quick impression of Singapore, where I am at this moment.

Breuker aovend

2012-01-05T19:56:00.000+01:00

I made this image of the "Breuker Leedjeskonkoer" for the local Carnaval newspaper. It shows a music group "Julie en de de Muppe" who sing funny dialect songs. Not so much resemblance here, the drawing was only loosely based on some blurry photographs, this image was more meant to catch the spirit of the evening.
Breuker Leedjeskonkoer, een tekening voor de carnavalskrant "der Uul". Getekend de groep "Julie en de Muppe", zonder veel op gelijkenis te letten, de tekening was meer bedoeld om de sfeer te schetsen.

Maastricht winterland

2012-01-04T20:26:00.001+01:00

Last week we went shopping in Maastricht. It was very crowded in town, especially on the Vrijthof (the central square). The icerink was full of skaters.
Dagje shoppen in Maastricht, het was verschrikkelijk druk.

Painting

2011-12-31T16:33:00.001+01:00

The last post of this year. I wanted to do some painting again, this was based on a sketch of the Chemelot terrain, in Geleen. I posted it last October: http://www.renefijten.blogspot.com/2011/10/chemelot.html. Acryl 50x40cm.
Schilderij van het Chemelot terrein, Geleen, gebaseerd op een schets van 19 oktober.

Ludwig Museum

2011-12-29T11:53:00.000+01:00

In Köln (Cologne) Rianne and I visited the Ludwig Museum for the exhibition "Before the law", with post-war modern sculpture. Personally I did not see anything that touched me.
I found the regular exhibition to be better, with fantastic works of Roy Lichtenstein, Picasso and Max Ernst. Much to learn from them.
Here a sketch of a sculpture of Reg Butler, "figure in space", which was at display in front of a window overlooking the railroadbridge crossing the river Rhein.
Rianne en ik bezochten de tentoonstelling "Before the law" in het Ludwig museum in Keulen. Een bronzen beeld van Reg Butler, voor een raam met uitzicht op de Rijn.

La Pavoni

2011-12-26T12:01:00.000+01:00

Last friday my daughter Rianne and I went to Köln, (Cologne), for visiting modern art and cute specialised shops. We had some tea and a perfect double espresso in a café next to the Kolomba museum. They had a huge amount of expresso machines on display, among others this fantastic huge La Pavoni.
Een heerlijke espresso in caffé perfetto, in Keulen. Daar stond deze prachtige La Pavoni espressomachine.

First window

2011-12-21T20:22:00.001+01:00

My first stained glass window pane.
Actually it was an exercise panel (of my own design), to get acquainted with all the different aspects of stained glass making.
Of course, just by looking at it I am reminded of all the places where I went wrong.
I tell you, making this was not easy at all, all these tiny little pieces which never seem to fit!
But in the end it was worth all the trouble.
Mijn eerste glas-in-lood oefen paneel, 30x40cm. Als ik ernaar kijk zie ik alle plekken waar ik de fout in ging. Volgende keer moet het beter kunnen.

Paysage

2011-12-20T20:30:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I finished my first stained glass window. I will show it here later, I have to clean it first before I can make a decent picture.
This is my design for the next piece, 60x60cm. A fantasy landscape.
Ontwerp voor een glas in lood raam, ik heb mijn eerste oefenraam nu af.

First snow

2011-12-18T13:17:00.002+01:00

This is the winter weather I like: this morning we woke up with a thin fresh layer of snow and crispy fresh air under a pale blue early morning sky. So I took my running shoes for a nice 12km through the hills, woods and fields around where I live. All I could hear were the crows and the crispy sound of fresh snow under my feet.

I had forgotten about this sketch of our visit to the Aachen Weihnachtsmarkt two weeks ago. I only drew a few lines back then, it was drizzling all the time, so I finished it yesterday evening. Always beautiful, these German Christmas markets.

Ron

2011-12-17T19:11:00.000+01:00

The last of our drawings of pastel on coloured paper. This was today's live model, Ron. The drawing actually resembled him. 50x60cm., took me an hour to make.

Presently I can only post these kind of works; it's a busy time of year, not only with work but also private. I wish I could go out and sketch something. Anything.
Maybe in a week or so, when the Christmas holiday sets in.

White drape

2011-12-13T20:40:00.000+01:00

Art class, last saturday. We are still proceeding on the pastel on prepared paper, this time accompanied with black oil pastels (siberisch krijt). The white cloth was done with acrylic paint. The model was very good, she stood still holding up the drape for two hours!
I am not 100% satisfied, I think I worked too long on this one (almost 2 hours).
about 40x60

Gertie 50 jaar

2011-12-11T13:33:00.000+01:00

Gertie, my wife, celebrates her 50st birthday today. As the Dutch saying goes: she saw Sarah today. I can only wish for many more beautiful years together.
Above the surprise present I made for her, a small 3D-composition (25x25) of pictures of her youth.
And at the left the party invitation I made for our friends and family, which will be held tonight.
Gertie heeft Sarah gezien vandaag: 50 jaar! Boven de surprise die ik voor haar heb gemaakt, gemaakt van gescande en bewerkte oude foto's. Links de uitnodiging voor het feestje vanavond.

Annlee

2011-12-08T22:21:00.000+01:00

This is the surprise gift for my son, Mart. Two years ago I visited the Modern Tate in London with him, and he still talks about the "Annlee" art exhibition. Also known as: "No ghost, just a shell", referring to the fact that non-real or virtual figures seem to be alive, but are just alive in our minds.
Unfortunately the poster was not available anymore, so I painted this piece as an personal version of the Annlee theme.
50x70cm, acrylic on prepared carton, I also used Chinese advertisement leaflets that I brought from a trip to Shanghai.

Surprise voor Mart, een poster voor een tentoonstelling in het Modern Tate over een Manga figuur "Annlee".

Surpise!

2011-12-06T20:08:00.001+01:00

These are the suprise presents that I prepared for my family this year.
I showed the present for my wife in the previous post. The mirror was for Bob, he broke the right hand mirror of their new (old) car, I made a stained glass one for him.
The chicken clock was for Brenda, she visited the Rihanna concert, but had to wait for hours before Rihanna entered the stage.
The bachelor degree certificate was for Rianne, her cat Noortje needed a lot of attention this year.
I will post the painting I made for Mart separately.

Sint and Smurf

2011-12-03T22:32:00.000+01:00

Sinterklaas, december 5th, time for giving presents and making little suprises. Here is the one I made for my wife Gertie. I wrote a rhyme with it, describing how Sinterklaas hired smurfs to help him (he ran out of Pieten), and they filled our house with smurfs. This makes fun of the fact that since a few weeks our children flew out, they live on their own now.
Sinterklaassurprise voor Gertie. Ons huis vol smurfen, ter vervanging van de kids, die tegenwoordig op kamers wonen.

Prepared paper and pastel

2011-11-30T22:19:00.000+01:00

I was not able to buy coloured paper for the art class, no time to go to the art shop. So I took some leftover aquarel paper, let it dry in a wooden frame (to avoid wobbly paper) and pre-coloured it with acrylic in ochre, red and burnt sienna.
During art class I made this life portrait with dry pastel and black oil pastel. I kind of like the effect of the underground. It took me an hour to make the portrait; 40x60cm.
Portret, droge pastel en siberisch krijt op geprepareed papier.

Shipbreaking

2011-11-26T21:56:00.000+01:00

Still trying out my flex pen. This time a drawing inspired by a photograph of Edward Burtynsky of a shipbreaker yard in Bangladesh. The flexpen should be used before adding the colour, it loses it's subtlety when drawing on painted parts. Tekening gebaseerd op een foto van Burtynsky van een scheepssloperij in Bangladesh. Probeersels van mijn nieuwe flexpen.

Dumpster

2011-11-24T22:35:00.000+01:00

Lunchbreak yesterday. I wanted to try out my new flex pen, but I had no opportunity to sketch later that day. So I looked out of the office (it's on the first floor) and just drew what I saw, a dumpster on the parking lot next tothe office. The pen feels very fine. Uitzicht vanuit ons kantoor, op de vuilcontainer op de parkeerplaats. Testen van mijn nieuwe flex pen.

Noodlers flex pen

2011-11-23T20:26:00.000+01:00

Yeah. My long awaited Noodlers flex pen arrived. Took some effort and many weeks waiting before this one arrived from Goulet pens, California. Cost more on shipping and taxes than the pen itself ($ 14). It's a fountain pen with a very flexible nib, so you can draw lively lines with different thickness, just by pushing hard. My first trials are very satisfying; I used Bullet Black waterproof ink in the test above. Mijn nieuwe Noodlers flex vulpen arriveerde per post uit Californië. Hierboven de eerste probeersels, met watervaste vulpeninkt (Noodlers bullet black)

Pastels

2011-11-20T16:59:00.000+01:00

I am very busy at the moment, no time to sketch. Trying to meet heavy deadlines at work, painting class, stained steel class, sports (running), family and household, and preparing little surprise presents for my family (Sinterklaas-St Nicholas is coming up in two weeks). Obviously I can't show those self-made surprises here yet. So can only post what I did yesterday morning during art-class: a live model drawing, pastel on brown packaging paper, 50x70cm. Took me an hour to make.
Modelklas, gisterenmorgen, getekend met pastel op bruin pakpapier. Moeilijk vanwege het felle tegenlicht.

Room with a view

2011-11-14T23:00:00.001+01:00

Last friday Rob Carey had this beautiful sketch on his blog, the view from his classroom window.

http://kunst-by-rob.blogspot.com/2011/11/across-way.html

By sheer accident I also drew the view from my office window that same day. Spot the 10 differences. And try to tell who is the lucky guy. Afgelopen vrijdag tekende ik het uitzicht vanuit mijn kantoorplek. Toevallig deed Rob Carey hetzelfde vanuit zijn klaslokaal (zie link). Zoek de 10 verschillen.

Art class Yvonne

2011-11-12T16:56:00.001+01:00

Art class, live portrait drawings, pastels on grey carton. Not my favourite material, but I think it turned out OK. Each took me about an hour to make, dimensions 50x70cm. Portretschilderen/tekenen, naar levend model, dit keer Yvonne. Pastel op grijs karton, niet mijn favoriet materiaal, maar wel leerzaam. Ook niet ontevreden eigenlijk.

Night of the Proms

2011-11-11T20:02:00.000+01:00

Yesterday evening my wife, a friend and I went to Antwerp, to the yearly Night of the Proms. A combination of classical and popmusic. This year -among others- featuring the diva's (4 soprano's) Angie Stone (real old fashioned soul), Mike Hucknall (leadsinger of Simply Red) and the highlight of the evening: Seal. He knew how to play the public.
Gisteravond Night of the Proms in Antwerpen. Met dit jaar: de Diva's Angie Stone, Mike Hucknall en vooral... Seal. Geweldig.

Stained glass

2011-11-08T19:25:00.002+01:00

My wife and I started another hobby: making stained glass windows. That's what you get when the kids leave the house: time to start to do those things you never got around to do.
Here you see the first results. It's painstaking work: you can't see the 12 hours of work that went into this piece so far, don't you? But very rewarding. I will keep you posted on the results.
Een nieuwe hobby voor Gertie en mij: glas in lood ramen maken. We zijn net de cursus bij Belmondo in Nieuwstad begonnen.

Colourfull autumn

2011-11-03T23:02:00.000+01:00

Even though the weather is fantastic, and all the trees are dressed in all these beautiful bright colours, I have to spend my time working in an office located on a chemical plant. No time to go out and sketch. So I am left with lunchbreaks, drawing this view of industrial installations as seen from the parking lot of "drie kruiken".
Mooi weer en prachtige herfstbomen, maar niet voor mij. Dit is mijn dagelijks uitzicht. Helaas.

Reactor vessel

2011-10-29T09:55:00.000+02:00

Attempt to make a painting of one of the installations of the chemical plant next tomy present office. Acryl 30x30. Hmmmm. Not pleased yet.
Chemelot: poging tot een schilderij van een van de chemische fabrieken op het terrein naast ons kantoor.

Vianden, Luxemburg

2011-10-25T22:48:00.000+02:00

Gertie and I had a nice long weekend in Vianden, Luxemburg. The weather was perfect for autumn, sunny and crispy fresh air. We made long walks, visited the castle, and toured through the surroundings. And had good food, like the cheese fondue I sketched below. The drawing of the castle was made while enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee in the local café du pont.
Lang weekeinde in Vianden, Luxemburg. Prachtig herfstweer, zonnig en lekker fris; perfect geschikt voor mooie wandelingen door de bosrijke omgeving. En niet te vergeten, goed eten.

Hands

2011-10-23T12:52:00.003+02:00

Last weeks art class (yes, it started again). Two hours of drawing hands, just hands. Live drawing, looks easy but it wasn't. Oefening van het tekenen van handen, tijdens de masterclass potret en model schilderen.

Chemelot

2011-10-19T21:30:00.000+02:00

Nowadays my desk is at a chemical plant, Chemelot-DSM in Geleen (Netherlands). When I look up from my laptop I see stacks, pipebridges, pumps, flares and vessels. This reactor is next to the office, but I have no idea what they produce here. I just see the orange neonlights reflecting in the vapour clouds coming from the cooling towers.
I brushed over my non-waterproof fountainpen drawing to get the grainy and gritty feel.
Mijn werkplek op het Chemelot terrein kijkt uit over de chemische fabrieken van DSM. Geen idee wat in deze plant wordt geproduceerd, hij staat naast ons kantoor. Gemaakt met niet-watervaste vulpeninkt en waterverf.

Java farmhouse

2011-10-14T19:54:00.002+02:00

Experimenting with other tools. A bit like Sanjeev Joshi's style of painting/drawing, but not nearly as good as his. Wet-in-wet watercolour and sepia coloured paintbrushes. Based on a picture of an abandoned shed in Java, made during our biketour around Prambanan (Yogyakarta). Experimenten met nat-in-nat aquarel en paintbrush. Schuur in Java, vlakbij Yogyakarta.

Little India

2011-10-12T18:19:00.000+02:00

After visiting the bright lights of the Marina, we went for the total contrast of Little India, just two metrostops away. All streets were decorated because of some kind of Indian festivity: Deepavali. The streets were still crowded (11 pm), and there were brightly coloured stalls selling all kind of Indian kitsch. This is a corner in Douglas street; evening lit grocery stores. We had some delicious Indian dinner shortly after.

Marina bay

2011-10-10T19:59:00.000+02:00

Wednesday evening we took the metro to Raffles place and had this fantastic view over the Marina. What you see is the Marina bay casino, with a huge swimming pool on top. On the left a modern art museum.
Drawn on location, but painted at home, it was difficult to get the night feel right.

Jurong Island

2011-10-09T20:05:00.000+02:00

On Wednesday we visited the building site for the new chemical plant I am designing. It is located on Jurong Island, an artificial island of about 30km2, just off the coast of Singapore city. The island is dedicated to heavy industry like ports, oil tanker parks and chemical plants.
There is heavy security before you can enter the island, sometimes taking more than an hour for making passes and security checks. For some reason you are not allowed to bring cameras to the island, so I had to fall back on pre-digital era tools like pen and ink. A quick sketch of the Lanxess building site.

Orchard road

2011-10-07T15:28:00.000+02:00

I just returned from a quick visit to Singapore, for a building project I am working on. Me and my colleague Danny flew 12 hours on Monday to arrive in Singapore at 5 a.m. on Tuesday. We went to all kind of meetings untill 6 pm., and took dinner in a Japanese restaurant near our hotel on Orchard road. Which is the shopping heart of Singapore. I have never seen so many multi-story shopping malls so close to each other in my life. Next morning (still bothered by jet lag) I went out before breakfast to make this sketch of the Ion shopping mall. Painted it in the plane back home.
Afgelopen week een kort bezoek aan Singapore voor een nieuwbouw project.
Schets van een van de ontelbaar vele shopping malls op Orchard road, het shopping centrum van Singapore.

Singapore

2011-10-06T01:16:00.000+02:00

I am in Singapore right now. Sketches will follow.

Renault Alpine

2011-10-02T11:46:00.000+02:00

My present desk is at a chemical plant, so no nice lunchtime walks to the Maastricht citycenter. When I get bored during lunchbreak I sketch something like this. One of the most beautiful cars in the 70s car rally championships: the Renault Alpine. Schets van een Renault Alpine.

Bachelor degree

2011-09-30T21:19:00.000+02:00

Yesterday Rianne, my daughter, received her Bachelor degree in Biomedical science, speciality Molecular Lifesciences, from the University of Maastricht.
I am sure that I pronounced the name of her speciality wrong, but what the hell do I know of microbiology.... (I tried reading her thesis but gave up after the first page).
I am sure about one thing though. I am very proud of her.
Gisteren ontving Rianne haar Bachelor diploma aan de universiteit, in Biomedische wetenschappen (of hoe dat tegenwoordig mag heten). Ik ben een trotse vader.

Pierre Perthuis

2011-09-27T20:36:00.001+02:00

Last of the images from the painting week in the Morvan. Above a sketch of the double bridge at Pierre Perthuis (not some french guy: the village is called that way). Didn't like the location sketch at first, so I added some spattered leaves to it. Also two pictures of our group in action. Well.... eeehhh.... action ?!
Nog wat beelden van de schildervakantie in de Morvan: de dubbele brug bij het dorpje "Pierre Perthuis". Ik vond de oorspronkelijke tekening een beetje saai, voegde daarom maar wat spetter-bladeren toe. Verder wat foto's van ons groepje in actie (nou ja, actie...)

Blue door

2011-09-25T20:38:00.001+02:00

The last day we stayed at the guesthouse, a lot of things to paint there. I made this painting of an obsolete blue doorpanel standing against a wall.Took me about 3 hours to paint. Acryl 50x70cm.
De laatste dag schilderden we rondom het huis. Ik maakte een schilderij van enkele deurpanelen en een hollandse melkbus. Hiernaast de resultaten van de andere medecursisten.

Vézelay

2011-09-23T19:02:00.001+02:00

Wednesday we had a day off, we went for a trip to Vézelay, an old and beautiful town set on a steep hill. It has one of the finest Roman cathedrals of France. Of course I could not leave my drawing gear alone: sketches of a house next to the cathedral, and one of the capitals showing the temptations of St Anthony.
Woensdag, vrije dag. Tijd voor een trip naar Vézelay, voor een bezoek aan de prachtige romaanse kathedraal.
Een schets van een huis naast de kerk, en van een van de romaanse kapitelen, voorstellend de verzoekingen van St. Anthonius.

Landscape

2011-09-22T18:35:00.000+02:00

Thursday we painted landscape again; goal was to achieve depth by gradually changing the colours in to subdued greys towards the distance. After the disappointing painting of Tuesday, I was relieved that this one worked out.
Now watch this: I made a picture of the painting together with the landscape. As I checked it on the camera, much to my surprise all lines of the painted woods continued into the real landscape! Look at it!
Not by intention; I wasn't even painting this particular view, pure coincidence!
Acryl, 50x60cm.
Landschap, doel was vergrijzing van de kleuren richting horizon. Let op de foto: alle geschilderde bossaches lopen door in de echte wereld, en dat was puur toeval. Ik schilderde niet eens dit stukje van het uitzicht.

Poussain

2011-09-21T19:16:00.001+02:00

On tuesday it was raining a little. We had to paint a farm, luckily there was a large cowshed, where we could work under. The excercise was to achieve depth by positioning volumes and perspectives. Should be a piece of cake for me, but I never liked the result of this painting (acryl 40x50). I made a quick "standard" sketch in my moleskine just for fun, which I like better.
Dinsdag, regendag. Gelukkig vonden we een groot afdak, waar we konden schilderen. Het schilderij bevalt me eigenlijk niet, de "normale" moleskine schets die ik tussendoor maakte vind ik veel beter.

Châtin

2011-09-19T22:07:00.001+02:00

This is the painting that I made on Monday. In the morning I made the sketches as shown in the earlier post "morvan landscape", in the afternoon this painting, standing in the fields in the nice warm sun. Objective was to achieve depth in the painting with only colours: warm colours in front, cool colours in the back. I also tried out working with palette knives. I was pretty pleased with the result. Acrylic 40x50cm.
Dit schilderij is gemaakt naar aanleiding van de schetsen van maandag (zie "morvan landscape"); we moesten diepte suggereren door middel van koele en warme kleuren.

Champs de la Croix

2011-09-18T21:09:00.000+02:00

Just returned from a painting week in France. We stayed in a chambre d'hotes in Châtin, in the Morvan, the southern part of the Bourgogne.
We had a terrific time, also thanks to Rita, the proprietary of the guesthouse. Not only the accommodation was perfect, also the food she prepared. Every day was a feast of Burgundian tastes and food. And wine. In a perfect landscape. Above a sketch of our dinner table in the garden.
Net terug van een schildervakantie in de Morvan, in het zuidelijk deel van Bourgondië. We hadden een fantastische tijd, mooi weer, prachtige landschappen en perfecte verzorging door Rita, de eigenaresse van het chambre d'hôte "Champs de la Croix". Ze gaf de term "bourgondisch leven" een heel nieuwe betekenis. Op de foto hieronder onze groep: vlnr Iet, ikzelf, Annemarie, Annemiek (cursusleidster), Pam en Frans.

Morvan landscape

2011-09-13T19:03:00.000+02:00

Landscapes near Chatin, Morvan.

Morvan, roses

2011-09-11T19:12:00.000+02:00

Presently I am somewhere in the middle of France, attending an painting week. I am part of a small group of amateur painters, who have a go at landscape and plein air painting, under the strict guidance of Annemiek Jongen. We are staying in a chambre d'hotes in Chatin, in the Morvan, living the french life. Good food, good wine, and the tranquillity of the french "paysages".
Today, our first day, we stayed at our house, painting flowers in the garden. The exercise was to play with colour and textures, but to avoid depth. Acryl painting 40x50cm.

Final sketches

2011-09-09T18:32:00.000+02:00

Our last morning in Bali, while waiting for our flight back home, we hung around the swimming pool. I made above sketch of the boats next to the hotel, and an impression of our hotel.
After a 20 hour flight, and stopovers in Jakarta and Dubai, we landed on Schiphol the next day.
I can only say that we had a fantastic trip, not only for Indonesia and its inhabitants, also for our fine travel companions we had during our trip.

Sawa

2011-09-07T21:36:00.000+02:00

It was about the last of our days in Indonesia, and I got a little tired of the style of drawing I had been doing so far in my travelbook. So I tried something else, something wet-in-wet, inspired by a scene I saw somewhere on the road in Bali.

Rural Bali

2011-09-06T19:57:00.001+02:00

During our trip around Bali we visited a typical rural family house. It's a complex of small bamboo thatched buildings within an enclosed garden. And there is a small temple for each family member, even for the deceased.
We drank Luwak coffee, the most expensive type of coffee existing. It's made of coffee beans, that were eaten by civet cats, pooped out, and collected. It tasted very soft for coffee.

Bali temples

2011-09-05T21:00:00.002+02:00

On Saturday, after a well deserved resting day, we hired a taxi to make a tour through the southern parts of Bali. Bali is very different to Java: colourful temples at every corner, and food or souvenir stalls at every meter.
I should remark that it was Ramadan during our trip through Java, so restaurants and foodstalls were closed over there. But in Bali everyone seemed to sell something.

On Bali religion is everywhere, each house has as many temples as inhabitants. And on every doorstep little bamboo baskets can be found with some flowers, cookies and other small tokens for the gods (see sketch).
We visited a few temples, the most beautiful was that of Mengwi. It even had a special temple for cats.....
We also went to visit the famous sunset at the island temple of Tanah lot, but that was a dissapointment.

Bali

2011-09-04T22:39:00.000+02:00

Here a sketch of the parts of Bali we visited in the four days we stayed on the island.
Well, the first day we just did nothing. Sitting in the shade on the beach, reading books, eating, drinking and swimming. And getting red skin.
The only little sketch I made was of the orange coloured starfish you could see in the shallow sea when the tide was out; just in front of our Ashley-Benoa resort/hotel.

Ferry to Bali

2011-09-03T19:26:00.001+02:00

Early morning the next day we left Java by ferry, and crossed over to Bali. Above a sketch of the ferry we took, drawn while it was still unloading from an earlier trip. The other sketches are of boats we passed, while being seated at the upper deck. Crossing took about an hour. After that we still had 5 hours in the bus before we reached our final hotel in Benoa. What a difference between Java and Bali! More next time.

Plantage, day 10

2011-09-02T22:58:00.001+02:00

On day 9, our last day on Java, we visited a large plantation. We made a guided tour around the plantation and learned everything about cacao, cinnamon, coffee, vanilla, nutmeg, pepper and numerous other spices. Very Interesting. The woman who owned the place also ran an orphanage; the children performed some dances for us. When it got down to a polonaise, I retreated myself to make the above sketches. In the evening we stayed at a fine resort, and enjoyed the swimming pool.

Mount Bromo

2011-08-31T20:27:00.001+02:00

For me this was the highlight of our trip: the visit to the (still working and steaming) Bromo volcano. We started out from our hotel in the middle of the night, at 1.00 AM, driving for hours in busses and landcruisers to a observatory on a mountaintop. There we watched the sun rising, at about 5.00 AM. And as the sun hit the mountaintops we saw an awesome scene, which I tried to capture on below sketch.
Bromo is the little steaming crater in this 10x10km sea of volcanic sand, an ancient volcano crater in itself.
After this we drove with the jeeps towards the crater, and climbed to its rim, a difficult trip through thick layers of volcanic ashes. I was able to make a quick sketch of the waiting jeeps on the bottom of the plain.
We finally made it back at the hotel in Batu about noon, a long but rewarding trip. Time for a bath, some sleep, and a dive in the swimming pool.

Busride,day 8

2011-08-30T23:26:00.000+02:00

Day 8: we made a long busjourney from Yogyakarta to Batu, 400 km or so. Not much to tell, except the delicious mocca cake we had buring our coffee break.
I made sketches of a vegetable market we visited on the way, and of workmen waiting to repair broken down scooters or selling bottles of gasoline.
The sketches are wobbly, these were made or finished during the shaking busride.

Yogyakarta

2011-08-28T14:36:00.001+02:00

Yogyakarta, day 7. No rest after the busy program of the day before. Early morning we visited a batik-painting workshop and were brought with rickshaws to the sultans palace, where we found a plastic teasieve on display. Then to a silver jewellery factory, and a leather workshop (see above sketch of the craftsmen). In the afternoon we visited the ancient Hindu temples of Prambanan, fantastic temples, although large parts were still in ruins due to recent earthquakes.
After the temples we did the best part of the day, a 10km cycling tour through the rural parts surrounding Prambanan. I love that kind of thing, cycling through villages and fields.
And in the evening we enjoyed a nice juicy hamburger, some change after a week of rice.

Rural Java

2011-08-25T22:02:00.001+02:00

After Borodudur we made a tour in horse carriages through the rural surroundings (still our 6th day).
We visited some farmhouses, saw how local families lived, how their houses were built, how they prepared meals and what they grew on the fields.
All in all very interesting, and I enjoyed the open and friendly people.
I was able to make above sketches on location, sometimes you get just enough time. The below sketch of the ricefields was made during the traintrip, and was a compilation of what I saw through the window.

Borobudur

2011-08-23T21:26:00.000+02:00

On the same day (6th) as our visit to the Dieng plateau, we also visited the famous Buddhist temple of Borobudur. Actually it's a small hill converted into a huge temple, with a long winding path circling around its base. And on top/roof of the building you see a lot of these bells (stupas). In each a Buddha is seated (hardly visible); fortunately one of the bells missed its top, see sketch. I managed to make the ink sketch on location, before the guide and our group proceeded to the next sight. Bezoek aan de Boeddistische tempel van Borobudur.

Dieng plateau, day 6

2011-08-22T21:29:00.001+02:00

This day was one of the busiest days of our trip. Early morning at 6 we left for a trip to the Dieng plateau, about 2000m above sealevel. There we visited a multicoloured lake (due to volcanic activity and minerals), and an active geiser. And a beautifully detailed old hindu temple, over 1200 years old (see sketch). This region has a lot of potato and tobacco agriculture, which is manually transported over the steep fields.

Bandung station, day 5

2011-08-21T11:42:00.000+02:00

The above sketch is the view from the Ashton hotel in Bandung, we had a room there on one of the higher floors.
Early morning we set out for a trainride towards Kroya. A sketch of our train just before we were leaving, and the dinner in the train (nasi goreng with salad and eggs). It was a beautiful trip through beautiful landscapes.
Schetsen van de treinreis tussen Bandung en Kroya.

Bandung, day 4

2011-08-19T09:44:00.001+02:00

This day we spend in Bandung, an old colonial city, with very beatiful old colonial houses, although not all in good shape. Early morning we visited the still steaming and sulphur smelling volcano Tangkuban Perahu, where I was able to make this sketch. I used my grey ink fountain pens and waterbrush.
Later that morning we visited a teafactory and bathed in hot water springs.
And finished the afternoon by visiting a music school, where a traditional puppetshow (wajang) was shown, and children showed us traditional dances. At the end of the show we all made music together, with traditional Angklung (bamboo) instruments.

We finished the day with dinner in Bandung, eating the best sateh of our trip.

Java, day 3

2011-08-18T18:03:00.004+02:00

Day 3: we left Jakarta for a busride to the famous botanic gardens of Bogor. These gardens are the largest in Asia (60ha), and already 200 years old. We saw all kinds of exotic trees, plants and flowers, of the kind we only know from expensive florists. Below a sketch of the buildings and palmtrees.
After that we continued towards Bandung; during a brief stop I had the chance to draw the above hilly teafields.

Some of the pages of my sketchbook.

Indonesia

2011-08-17T11:51:00.002+02:00

The past 2 weeks my wife, some friends and I went for a 16 day tour through Indonesia. We had a fantastic journey, not only because of the beautiful country, good food and fine weather, but also because of the excellent guide and pleasant group of fellow travellers (26 in total).

Above you see the 10-day route through Java, by bus and train.
After a 19 hour flight (we had 3 hours of delay in Dubai, during which we had to listen to ancient christmas songs) we arrived in Jakarta around noon on Tuesday.
Notwithstanding a huge jetlag we immediately proceeded to the harbour where old wooden ships were being loaded by hand (see sketch). Still yawning we visited a colonial museum in the city center of Jakarta. After that we we were allowed to catch up on our sleep deprivation.
De afgelopen 2 weken hebben Gertie en ik een 16-daagse rondreis door Java en Bali gemaakt. Een fantastisch land.

Elena

2011-08-07T14:17:00.000+02:00

Domodedovo, near Moscow, Russia, an older drawing I made a few years ago when travelling in Russia. There is something weird with my blog lately: I can post, but in my office and the hotels I am staying in, the comments part is blocked. So I can't react anymore. I'll have to check this problem out once things are calmer.

Slagveld

2011-08-03T17:53:00.000+02:00

Another scene in Brielle, a canal called "Slagveld" which means Battlefield. Een kanaal in Brielle, genaamd "slagveld"

Hoofdwacht

2011-07-29T19:56:00.000+02:00

Another evening in Brielle. The weather was OK, so we had a nice weizen beer on the terrace in front of this old house, called "de Hoofdwacht". Het weer was goed genoeg voor een avond op het terras vn "de Hoofdwacht", in Brielle.

A15 Botlek

2011-07-25T20:06:00.000+02:00

"He hated this stretch of motorway, so solemn, so grey, so depressing. Especially when it rains"

Botlek

2011-07-23T20:03:00.000+02:00

"You just have to head down the stairs from the hotel, and you'll arrive at the little harbour. Usually we dine at the last terrace, at Zorba's. I guess that's not his real name, but everyone calls him that way. Ha! Only two night shifts to go and we'll be on the plane heading south" He laughed and took the next exit.

This is the Botlek, the A15 on exit 14. I was inspired by the stories and drawings of Paul Madonna "all over coffee".

Brandweer

2011-07-21T21:53:00.000+02:00

Yesterday evening the local firebrigade was dredging the canals of Brielle. I don't know what they were looking for, but all they found was this old cafechair.
While drawing I talked to a nice lady, who told me the guy in the orange shirt on the left was her son, and her daughter had joined the (voluntary) firebrigade as well. You have to respect people making time for and investing in the place they live.
De brandweer van Brielle was gisterenavond aan het dreggen bij de Kaaibrug. Het enige dat ze vonden was deze oude cafestoel... Tijdens het tekenen raakte ik aan de praat met een aardige mevrouw, die vertelde dat haar zoon (oranje shirt) en dochter ook bij de brandweer zaten. Respect.

Maastricht A2

2011-07-18T22:33:00.002+02:00

No inspiration for some time now. So I draw all kind of uninteresting things that I come across.

Like that they finally started with demolishing houses and shops to make place for the new motorway tunnel under the A2 in Maastricht. Even geen inspiratie, maar een snelle schets van de eerste sloopwerken ten behoeve van de A2 traverse in Maastricht.

Maasvlakte

2011-07-14T20:39:00.001+02:00

A rainy day on the Maasvlakte, the heart of the Rotterdam harbours, only a few km from the sea. A sketch of one of the 6 huge conveyorsystems (they must be 30-40 meter high), that distribute ore and coal over a storage area of 1,5x1 km. The largest bulk storage area of Europe.
Maasvlakte in de regen. Er is weinig triester als dit. Schets van de transportsystemen van het ertsoverslag complex, de grootste van Europa.

Poolster

2011-07-10T10:19:00.000+02:00

A canal in Brielle, last week. It's difficult to find anything else than cute Dutch scenes in Brielle.

It's funny how we Dutch take a lot of these "tourist" scenes for granted, we never see it anymore because we are living in it. I sketched an old towboat called "poolster" and the windmill "het vliegend hert" on the fortifications of Brielle.

De molen "het vliegend hert" en een oude sleepboot "de poolster" in een kanaal in Brielle.

Fisher boys

2011-07-07T19:44:00.001+02:00

More from Brielle, earlier this week. Bored of drawing cute little red roofed dutch houses, I drew two boys fishing in de canal. Two waterbirds passed by, I think they were "futen".
Vissende jochies bij een kanaal in Brielle, ik geloof niet dat ze veel vingen.

Woudschoten

2011-07-03T20:21:00.000+02:00

Woudschoten is a conference center near Zeist, where I had a Tebodin in-company training into Cradle to cradle, durable energy and other sustainability concepts, all for a better world. Very interesting stuff. Woudschoten, een conferentiecentrum in de bossen van Zeist, waar ik een Tebodin cursus volgde in duurzame energie, duurzaam bouwen en Cradle to Cradle concepten. Alles voor een betere wereld. Erg interessant.

1 dead 14 injured

2011-06-30T22:32:00.002+02:00

A terrible accident on the A2 motorway heading north happened two days ago. A truck drove into a military troopers transport truck, whose driver was giving medical attention to an earlier accident. It happened some 200 meters ahead, and I stood in the traffic jam for some time. I saw dozens of ambulances and firetrucks speeding by. We found out later the driver was dead, 2 soldiers were critically wounded and another 12 injured.
After a while I managed to leave the motorway by crossing some lawns and I found my way through small roads to the next access ahead. Just when I entered the motorway again another accident happened in the other direction: a car hit the traffic jam (we call that kijkersfile), was launched and spun around in mid air. I stopped at the next gasstation and drew what I had seen; I can still recall the scene quite vividly.
Ongeluk op de A2, afgelopen dinsdag. Ik stond enige tijd in file, zo'n 200 meter van de plek waar een vrachtauto op een militair voertuig inreed. Een dode en 14 gewonden. Triest. Na wat omzwervingen kwam ik wat verderop weer op de autoweg, waar (in de andere richting) een veel te hard rijdende auto zich achterin de kijkersfile boorde. De auto werd gecatapulteerd. Ik maakte deze schets uit mijn herinnering, even later op een tankstation even verderop.

Ferry to Maasluis

2011-06-27T20:57:00.000+02:00

A few days ago, a sketch of the ferry between Rozenburg and Maasluis. It crosses the "nieuwe waterweg", the main shipping canal towards the Rotterdam harbour. Een schets van de schepen en veerpont tussen Rozenburg en Maassluis.

oilpainting

2011-06-25T18:23:00.001+02:00

My first attempt at oilpainting (alla prima), after an example in a book. I am used at painting with acrylic, and I made this to figure out how to paint with oil. Quite different.
Mijn eerste (niet erg gelukte) poging om met olieverf te schilderen. Alla prima techniek, met Talens Cobra olieverf. Schildert toch heel anders als met acrylverf.

Huisje in Brielle

2011-06-23T21:53:00.000+02:00

Still one night per week in Brielle. Another romantic little house. Nog steeds overnachtingen in Brielle, en dus nog steeds schetsen van het stadje.

Fortifications

2011-06-21T22:47:00.000+02:00

Fortifications of Brielle. Another few days of work in Rotterdam and a night in Brielle. I had already done the oil rig sketch that evening, so I made another sketch while waiting for dinner in restaurant Floor. The little house is the "kruithuis", located on the fortified walls, where the gunpowder was stored. Not within the citywalls, as you can understand. Vestingwerken van Brielle. Ik had eerder op de avond al de boorplatform schets gemaakt, en tekende dus maar de vestingwerken tijdens mijn diner in restaurant Floor.

GSF Magellan

2011-06-20T22:14:00.000+02:00

Just a few blocks from the Rotterdam Tebodin office, in the harbour, there is the Verolme wharf where enormous oil drilling platforms are being built and restored. This is a sketch of one of them, the GSF Magellan. It's huge structure, and it was very difficult to convey its size in the sketch. I just found out that these legs are 150m high....
Een olieboorplatform in reparatie op de Verolme werf, vlakbij het Tebodin kantoor. Het is niet te zien op de schtes, maar deze poten zijn maar liefst 150m hoog....

Mart geslaagd

2011-06-18T14:17:00.000+02:00

Mart, my son, received the message that he passed his exams for secondary school. Finally!
Mart kreeg bericht dat hij is geslaagd voor zijn Havo examen. Eindelijk.
Brenda, zijn vriendin, is gelukkig ook geslaagd. Felicitaties!

Grönemeyer in Köln

2011-06-16T23:31:00.001+02:00

Das Herbert Grönemeyer konzert im Rhein Energie Stadion in Köln. Es war wieder Grossartig, die Deutsche Zuschauer lasten sich gerne durch ihm verführen. Dieser Skizze habe ich vor Anfang der Show gemacht, die Farben später am Abend.
Last monday evening (it looks like a century ago) we visited the Herbert Grönemeyer concert in the stadium in Cologne. A fantastic performance, like always. Most of you readers won´t know, but Herbert is the biggest German musician of popular music; his concerttour sells out dozens of stadiums in Germany, and attracts half a million enthousiastic fans. And a few Dutch.

Hans

2011-06-14T23:05:00.000+02:00

Today we learned that yesterday evening one of my best friends Hans Scheepers unexpectedly passed away. We can only wish Jolanda, Iris and Ramon strength with this terrible loss.
Gisterenavond onverwacht overleden: Hans Scheepers. Jolanda, Iris en Ramon: alle sterke in deze moeilijke tijd.

Braderie Hoensbroek

2011-06-12T13:35:00.000+02:00

Ascension day in Hoensbroek (posted a little late, I know), there is the yearly Braderie, a huge fair and outdoor market all over town. Impression on the Hoofdstraat.
Braderie in Hoensbroek, hemelvaartsdag. Schets gemaakt ter plekke, op de Hoofdstraat. Het was nog vroeg, voor de echte drukte losbarste .

Molen, Brielle

2011-06-08T22:36:00.001+02:00

Drawn this morning, before driving to work, a little sketch of an ancient windmill standing on the walls of the fortifications of Brielle. Just after I finished it, they turned the mill 90 degrees, it was pointing the other way.
Vanmorgen geschilderd, voordat ik naar kantoor reed: de molen op de vestingwerken van Brielle.

By the way: I deleted the former post, I didn't like that drawing at all.

The city & the city

2011-06-05T00:20:00.000+02:00

I read "the city and the city" by China Mieville (in english). An unbelievable good book; he describes a murder, in a city who is in fact two totally different cities sharing the same streets. Read it!
Ik las een boek van China Mieville: "the city and the city". Fantastisch. Ik weet niet of het is vertaald, zo ja: lees het.

Maarland Brielle

2011-06-03T21:31:00.000+02:00

Last wednesday, another evening in Brielle, a sketch of one of the canals in this picturesque city. Pen and some colours on location, finished it while waiting for my dinner in a small restaurant. It started an amusing conversation with the other guests.
Een schets van de Julianabrug op Maarland, Brielle. Schets afgemaakt tijdens het eten in een klein restaurant in het centrum.

Stuurhut

2011-06-01T22:48:00.000+02:00

Another leftover quick sketch, the steering cabin of the SS Rotterdam, the Holland-America cruise ship that is converted into a hotel.
Een overgebleven snelle schets van de stuurhut van de SS Rotterdam (zie enkele posts geleden).

Sjrapnelle

2011-05-30T19:52:00.000+02:00

During this years Carnaval parade my wife and her frend Yvonne won the 1rst prize. Unfortunately there was only one trophee, a little statue. I made this small painting of the statue, so they both have a throphee at home.
Klein schilderij van het beeldje dat Gertie en Yvonne kregen als 1e prijs van de optocht. Hebben ze beide een aandenken.

Scheveningen

2011-05-29T22:12:00.000+02:00

I noticed I forgot to post a few drawings.
Here is one I made on our recent visit to Delft; some idiots bungee jumping off a pier above the sea, in Scheveningen. It was beautiful beachweather
Soms heb ik meer schetsen dan tijd om te posten.
Scheveningen, een paar weken geleden, mooi weer en een paar idioten die bungee jumpen vanaf de pier.

Brielle

2011-05-27T18:53:00.000+02:00

Project in Rotterdam, so I have to work a few days per week in our office in the harbours of Europoort. I found a nice hotel near Brielle, a little dutch fortified city. Very historic and very quiet. Here a sketch, drawing with fountainpen on site, painted it during dinner immediately afterwards.
Klus voor de Gasunie, bij ons Tebodin kantoor in Rotterdam; overnachting in Brielle. Prachtig maar stil vestingstadje. Een schets van de centrale gotische kerk, nooit afgebouwd.