- Published on
I realize that most of my drawings and texts are about nature, about the beauty and poetry in it, the positive vibes it gives. I feel that it's not really a free choice, more an irresistible urge and I don't want to oppose it. I do not close my eyes for all the grief and misery in the world, but I don't have the drive to focus on that, with all due respect for those artists who have the profound aspiration to do so and succeed in transmitting their beliefs. But in my work I want to show the opposite side of ugliness, negativity, misery and harshness. So here's a spread in one of my sketchbooks, filled with nature. The tree on the left side is the tree in our garden that I can see while eating in the kitchen. Especially in the morning, there are plenty of birds on the tops of the branches and it inspired me to make a drawing of it. In all honesty, I have to say that our birds are not yellow: they are sparrows, blackbirds, chews, titmice, collared doves and robins. On the right side of the page, I drew a plea to preserve and keeping survive folk art, very close to my heart! This can be in many areas such as woodworking, pottery, painting, embroidery, ironwork, furniture, silversmith's craft ... and that in all continents of the globe. I love to look at folk-art objects, generally simple in form yet amazingly beautiful! They keep inspiring me.
- Published on
A few weeks ago, I made this drawing of a Chinese vase in my sketchbook. I really love to elaborate in detail all those elegant motifs that show the mastery of the designers from centuries ago! And a poem should not be missing here :)
- Published on
I have my sketchbooks to try out new ideas. When I'm happy with it, I take a nice sheet of paper and do the whole thing over again. This drawing is my representation of paradise. The words on the left and right are translations of the word 'paradise' in different languages of the world. A lot of people ask me how many pigment liners I use for one drawing like this so I put it to the test and, although this piece is quite big (50 x 70 cm), I only used one fineline, just at the finish starting a second one.
- Published on
I drew this row of books on the bookshelf in my studio. I only used a very fine fineliner and a black pencil. It was an interesting exercise for learning about drawing type and the diversity of lettering forms.
- Published on
I've always wanted to draw a chicken but nothing ever came of it. Finally, last week, I spent the whole day drawing this huge black-and-white chicken in my Moleskine sketchbook, ànd doing the lettering. Now I'm figuring out what I will draw on the opposite page. I've already got some ideas!
- Published on
I've been busy, working in my second dotted grid journal. In my first one, I used black and yellow (see my post of some weeks ago). In this one, it's black and orange, sometimes adding a little turquoise. Working in this notebook really has a soothing effect on me and I can recommend it to anyone who has the lockdown blues!
- Published on
I'm immortalizing important objects in my life. When I was 19 years old I made an adventurous trip to Afghanistan. Along the way, in the pasar in Istanbul, I bought this so-called kelim. Its actual colors have faded, but for this color pencil drawing I've brightened them up!
- Published on
- Published on
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.
- Published on
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 :)
