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Last week I discovered a French draftsman and architect that I did not know yet: Jean‐Jacques Lequeu (1757–1826).
Lequeu’s meticulous drawings in pen and wash include highly detailed renderings of buildings and imaginary monuments populating invented landscapes. His mission was to see and describe everything systematically - from the animal to the organic, from erotic fantasy to his own visage. Solitary and obsessive, he created the fantastic worlds shown in his drawings without ever leaving his studio, and enriched them with characters and stories drawn from his library.
Six months before he died in poverty and obscurity, architect and draftsman donated more than 800 drawings to the French Royal Library. They remained there, in the institution that would become the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Lequeu’s meticulous drawings in pen and wash include highly detailed renderings of buildings and imaginary monuments populating invented landscapes. His mission was to see and describe everything systematically - from the animal to the organic, from erotic fantasy to his own visage. Solitary and obsessive, he created the fantastic worlds shown in his drawings without ever leaving his studio, and enriched them with characters and stories drawn from his library.
Six months before he died in poverty and obscurity, architect and draftsman donated more than 800 drawings to the French Royal Library. They remained there, in the institution that would become the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Self portrait
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Just a new page in my big sketchbook. These names are of people who mysteriously disappeared at sea during the last 75 years and whose whereabouts remain unknown. Many disappeared while on voyages or traveling via aircraft. I thought it a worthy opportunity to pay attention to these sad cases.
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During these strange Corona times I started a journal. I'm a huge fan of lists, meaning: books I read, films I saw, music I like etc. But I also wrote down snippets from old diaries and old letters, even a part of a family tree. But most of all I drew a massive amount of decorative patterns and borders. They're all my own design. I can assure you, it is an addiction! You start with some lines, dots or round shapes in a regular pattern and you keep adding until you have the desired outcome. I use different sizes of fineliners and one extra color which is my favorite, yellow. I highly recommend to anyone making a journal like this. Don't hesitate to ask for more information if you have any questions! I still have a lot of pages to fill and I don't care at all :)
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Occasionally I meet an artist over the internet, totally unknown to me and of whose work I'm upside down. Johannes Paul Vroom is one of those people. He was born in 1922 in the Hague and died in Amsterdam in 2006. He studied at the Royal Academy in the Hague but soon, at a very young age, left for Paris. I didn't find a lot of information about him, but these paintings are really adorable I think!
Pompidou silkscreen
Korenveld canvas 63 x 88 cm
Maïs olieverf 104 x 154 cm
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In these difficult Corona times, I would like to thank all those people who are putting themselves at risk on the front lines of the pandemic: nurses, doctors, health care workers, social workers, paramedical staff, police department and many many others.
THANK YOU!
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I spend hours and hours in my studio. It’s a place of concentration and inspiration and hard work and late nights. Because my studio is in my home, the work just never seems to end! But I couldn't imagine another way of life. I'm working on a new drawing in my big sketchbook. I was inspired by many things. First of all by old Swiss 'scherenschnitte' that I found, browsing in my mother's old folk art books. But also by ancient Arabic and Ottoman botanical manuscripts. And finally by a black and white embroidery I made many many years ago when I was an embroidery teacher.
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My dearest blog followers,
I need all of you to realize my next project!!! Let me explain my plan. As you maybe know, I love making lists about anything and everything. On the picture above you can see such a list with the names of Noble Prize winners. Now I would like to fill a concertina book with all of your names. Yes, you, my followers on this blog. It's a nice writing exercise for me, and you will be immortalized. So, what I'm asking you is to give me the following info in the comment below:
surname - first name - city where you live - country - continent
I'm hoping on a great response, because only in that way I can make this project. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. And, of course, you will see the pictures of the finished book on this blog in the near future!
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She's on my radar since a long time! Alice Pattullo is an illustrator based in East London. Her work is inspired by British folk tradition, superstition and mid-century design and she strives to create a nostalgic aesthetic through color choices and composition. I'm attracted to her work including through the narrative part. I have the pleasant feeling that each illustration is an entire novel! There's so much to see and experience and those cheerful colors and vintage patterns make me happy!
