Spray
The cats need some training again …
Shoe
I had to laugh when I was sketching this person’s foot. I know that people sometimes get intimidated when somebody stares at their face (and draw). But this time, the person felt intimidated because I was drawing his shoe/foot. He sat one row in front of where I sat, across the aisle. He looked back twice, but not at me. And I didn’t look up either, pretending I was not really looking at his shoe. I guess he could feel that someone was studying his body part. So he moved further down, on my side of the aisle, facing me…
Sketchcrawl 12.5
It’s nice to be able to join Sketchcrawl again! Sketchcrawl 12.5 ‘Draw in your home’ is supposed to be tomorrow, 28-01, but since I have other plans for tomorrow I decided to do it today instead. These are sketches of the interior of our flat.
1. View from the study room/Nor’s office
2. Nor’s desk in the study room/office
3. Study room/office, showing bookcases and cabinets
4. The bar/coffee corner/kitchen. We love our Kitchenaid espresso machine. Nor is a fantastic barista and makes delicious cappuccino.
5. The other corner of the kitchen; also showing part of the bar and living room.
6. The living room
Clutter
The clutter in my ’studio’ (actually, I do not have a real studio…). Stacks of books (art books, graphic periodicals, biology textbook, etc.), candles, tealights, manequin, etc. etc…
Eggs
EDM Challenge #93: Draw an egg carton with or without eggs in it. Here is my version with eggs in it.
Milner n Illy
My answer to EDM Challenge #48 - something that represents my new year’s resolution. Enjoy the moment, enjoy life. A small plate of milner cheese and a cup of decaf Illy coffee for the evening….mmmmm…..
One apple or two
I was planning to use these apples to make apple chips following a recipe from Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeuvres cookbook. However the baking including preparation time needed is about 3 hours. I got demotivated after only reading the recipe and they ended up modeling for me for this particular EDM Challenge (#91).
The day after
We celebrated xmas at the Okura hotel, Amsterdam, yesterday. We dined at their restaurant ‘Yamazato’ and the food was wonderfully delicious! They used origami birdies as part of the presentation, and we got them as souvenirs. We will surely go back for more fantastic food.
Queen’s Day
Queen’s day falls on Sunday (tomorrow) this year. And the government does not allow the country to celebrate it on a Sunday, so the celebration is today. Every year on Queen’s day, people sell what they have and want to get rid of (read: junk) on the streets. The cities are usually packed with people. Everywhere, there will be (loud) music, drinks (mostly beer), food, and the color of orange (Dutch national’s color).
I was very excited this morning. I was already thinking of what I wanted to buy and so on. However, we went too early. We were there at about 10.30 a.m. and people were just started to take their stuffs out. After a couple of hours, the sky did not co-operate. Rain and ice poured on to the streets. Yes, ice! People covered whatever they were trying to sell with plastic. We couldn’t see anything and got really annoyed. We decided to go home, empty handed.
Then one way or another we ended up at IKEA and bought lamps for our bookcase. Queen’s day this year didn’t turn out as we expected.
Oil lamp
An oil lamp which was on the table of Restaurant/Tapas bar Abrikoos (Oude Gracht a/d Werf, Utrecht). We were there Friday evening. The place was packed with people, which was amazing considering that the food was just ok. The serve mix match mediterranean food: tapas + mezze. The place is cozy, but the tapas they served is no way near the tapas of Barcelona. It’s just dutch tapas.
Fanta art
Fanta orange, one of my favorite drinks, and some rambling. I think I have come to a point where I need new inspirations of what subjects to draw. I know that there are still many and I can do them in other medium, etc. But they all do not seem to be really interesting…everything just seems ‘bland’. Hmm…(thinking).
Going away
Hey! The blog has a new look! That is correct! I finally got fed up with Blogger and decided to use Wordpress. I really like the publishing and editing speed of WP. It also offers more possibilities! I still need to do some tweaking on some parts. If you find things/functions that do not work, please let me know! I really appreciate it!
Added note: If you have subscription to this blog’s feed (atom) via bloglines, you may get an error message when trying to read the feed. Sorry for that! I’ll try to fix that up a.s.a.p.
Click to enlarge.
Now, I can’t finish modifying WP to my complete liking right now, because I am going away. I have an assignment in London for the next two weeks. So, I will not have time to figure out everything before leaving. I’ll be back for the weekend, though. Nor will be so happy to be home alone with the cats 
.
I am leaving on Tuesday, but I already started packing tonight. I began with collecting stuffs that are part of my daily routine and put them in small travel size bottles and pots. I like to travel light. While in London, I hope to make some sketches. I am not sure if I’ll be able to make sketches of the city it self, e.g. streets, architecture, etc., because during day time I’ll be occupied with work. It’s not a vacation (unfortunately!). I’ll see what I can do.
Medicines
In my fight against cold, I use the following medicines. I really have no idea if they actually work or not. Because the last time I went to a doctor over here, he said that there is actually no cure against cold. Just take enough rest. What they sell in the market, is just an illusion. Yes, I still buy that illusion and I just wish that they find the real thing against the ’simple’ rhino virus.
Click to enlarge.
Waiting for lunch
We went to our favorite Chinese restaurant in Utrecht for Dim Sum (lunch). While waiting for our order to arrive, I drew whatever was on the table. Really, circles are difficult to draw!
Sketching materials
There has been a discussion or a request in the Everyday Matters Yahoo! group about sharing one’s weapons of choice for sketching and drawing. These two pics show mine. Actually, I have more art materials hidden in my cupboard beside these, since I am addicted to art goodies. However, the goodies shown on the pics are my ‘core’ drawing/sketching materials that I use 85% of the time.
The materials:
- Derwent ‘Drawing’ Pencils
- Derwent ‘Graphitint’ Pencils
- Caran d’Ache Pablo coloured pencils
- Winsor & Newton Coatman sketch palet 12 half-pans
- Bruynzeel coloured pencils
- Moleskine sketchbook
- Basic black sketchbook (no brand, from a local art store)
- Rotring XONOX 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5
- Rotring Rapidograph 0.25, 0.35, and 0.5
- Chinese brushes
- Lamy ‘Safari’ fountain pen with F/fine nib
Ready for a safari?
Clickto enlarge.
When I saw this 4WD, I thought: ‘I just have to sketch this. It is too unique to ignore’. What attracted my attention was its air intake system. (It’s located right beside the windshield). I had never seen such thing. It is an old Land Rover, though. Not really well maintained.
While sketching, an older man passed by and he wanted to see if I was sketching him. Then he wanted to see my other sketches. I let him. He thought I study at the Academy of Art. I told him:’No, it’s just my hobby’. At first he didn’t believe me, but then I insited. Well, that’s the truth anyway.
Breakfast at Delphi’s
A sketch that I made last Friday before our order arrived. We had breakfast at Delphi’s on Neude (square) in Utrecht. My omelet with feta cheese and tomatoes was very delicious. I applied some colours today using Derwent Drawing pencils.
Old & New Resolutions
Last day of 2005, time for new resolutions?
Hmm…let’s review 2005. From the many promises I made to myself, I think I manage to achieve only one. My resolutions were: loose weight (typical), loosen up a bit (relax, not to take everything too seriously, be less perfectionist), draw more, cook more often, and make Nor become a coffee addict. Guess which one I manage to achieve, and it is so successful that it is beyond my expectation? Nor is now officially a coffee junkie!
Instead of loosing weight, I’ve gained weight a bit. I did draw and cook more, but not as much as I like. My work (sometimes it can be very unpredictably demanding) seemed to be always in the way. Same reason with loosening myself up a bit. I will have to work on that one much better in 2006. But I managed to encourage Nor drink coffee. Even more than I could ever imagine.
Nor was a tea drinker and often teased me about being a coffee junkie. I said, “Well, if I could make you drink coffee by the end of the year, that would be really something”. At the start of 2005 he refused to take a sip of my Cappuccino. In the summer he started to steal a sip or two from my cup. He began drinking coffee with milk/cream at his office about 2-3 cups a day by autumn. Now, he beats me as a coffee junkie. This morning he drank a mug of Cappuccino and 5 cups of coffee with milk/cream, while I only had a mug of Cappuccino and 1 cup of coffee. Talking about fulfilling a new year’s resolution. What an achievement! Nor is officially the coffee junkie of the house.
What are my new resolutions? Pretty much the same, except for the last one. That one about a coffee addict Nor can be off the list. However, I am so intrigued by a resolution that Elizabeth Perry of the EDM group made for 2006. She has drawn every day (365 days) in 2005 and will do it again in 2006! She will fill in 12 sketchbooks, one a month! This is really amazing, and I admire her for her ability to draw every day this year. Will I be able to do the same in 2006? This is a very ambitious resolution for me. I may not be able to stick to it (just like the rest of my resolutions), but what about if I just TRY and give it a go? Hmmm…
Sick umbrella
I had a red pencil with me yesterday. The pencil is not exactly an art/artist’s colored pencil. It is just a regular cheap pencil, only it was red instead of black graphite. I thought I would do a little experiment with it, and so I did. Well, the red pencil actually makes my umbrella look like it is suffering from chicken pox. So it seems that I may have to carry a graphite pencil in the future.
Droste - Chocolate letter
A couple of months ago I wrote a little bit about ‘Chocolate Letters’. Well, here is a sketch of a chocolate letter that I still have to eat (before Nor steals it). This one (the letter E) is made of 135 g pure/bittersweet chocolate from Droste. Droste, is a famous chocolate factory in Holland that produces chocolate letters (seasonal/end of year), chocolate bars, filled chocolate, and cacao powder.
Although the sketch above shows my collection of the PITT pens from Faber-Castell that I used for the train sketch (see previous post below), it is actually done by using dip pen + ink (bordeaux) + watercolor.
BCF 09.12.2005
A late post for Blind Contour Friday. It shows a ‘wayfarer’, a ticket machine in trams. Colour was not applied blind.
‘Puur Genieten’
…or “Pure Enjoyment’ it says on the coffee cup. Well, not in the situation I am in at this moment. Pure confusement is more like it. However, drawing this sketch calmed me and the hot chocolate warmed me up on the way home. The sketch shows a coffee cup, but it actually contained hot chocolate. I was afraid if I drank coffee I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. And decaf coffee is no where to be found, except by special coffee bars. People don’t tend to drink decaf here. So just to be on the safe side, I chose hot chocolate.
I think the simple napkin fold can be considered as an entry for the Everyday Matters Challenge #40 ‘Draw something with folds’. It’s simple, but hey, it has folds!
Note: Click to enlarge.
BCF 28.10.05
An entry for Blind Contour Friday (BCF).
My blind contour drawing is ’slightly’ late. It is still Friday at this moment, but it is already late in the evening overhere…Well, I am just late with posting it, since I did draw it yesterday. Anyway, guess what this is….Again, I applied the colors with my eyes wide open staring at the line drawing. Only the line drawing was done blind.
Check out inkfinger for the list of sites of other BC participants.
Click to enlarge.
Answer: Le Creuset casserole.
Keys
Everyday Matters Challenge #37
On the train home Friday night and after the miraculous flying bike, I wanted to draw something else. Hmmm… think…Oh yeah, the keys. Then I set up a small temporary ’studio’ on the train, right where I sat. I had loose drawing paper scattered all over the small table (see the bike I drew previously?); the cheap drawing pad that I had with me decided that it had enough of my rough handling. I set my keys on the table and started drawing. Poor fellow passenger, who sat in front of me. I totally monopolized the table, that there was no space for him to put anything on it. The train journey was just long enough to complete the sketch (only in ink). I added some shadows afterward from memory, and I made sure that I was more awake this time. Just before scanning, I added a bit of wash and color. I used a fountain pen with soluble ink and a red colored pencil for this drawing.
NOTE: Click on image for larger view.
Bike (Unfinished)
I originally drew this with a goal in mind, to complete Everyday Matters Challenge #35 (Draw a Bicycle). I did it in a metro on Friday night on the way home. Eventhough I drew it quite fast during the bumpy metro ride, I couldn’t finished the drawing because I had to get off the metro. Then, while waiting for the train to continue my journey home, I added a few elements from memory. Well, it turned out that my memory was not working all right at all that night. I added more mistakes to the original bike drawing, which was not quite right in the first place.
I didn’t realize that I drew the bike straight, while it wasn’t. The front wheel of the bike was resting on a bike rack. So only the back wheel touched the metro’s floor. I was still not aware of this mistake, when I added the shadow and the metro’s window from memory. If I had been more awake, I could have corrected it by placing the window and shadow a bit different. Now the result of my drawing shows that the bike can fly; It floats in the air in a metro…What an amazing bike…
Just another car
This car was parked on the street near a metro stop. While waiting for the metro to arrive, I thought to better use my time by drawing something. That something was this car. I started drawing the side closest to me, and suddenly the metro showed up. It was unfortunate, but I tried to finish the drawing while sitting in the metro. I think, I got the perspective and the length of the car not quite right. It looks a bit squashed; the nose is too short. It looked a bit bland without any colors, so I decided to add some colors at home. The colors sort of make up for the wrong perspective and length, I think. Now it looks rather cute…
A Glass, Vegetables, and a Chair
I decided that today is a good day to catch up with several challenges from the Everyday Matters Group. So here are my entries for challenge #25 (a drinking glass), #26 (vegetables), and #30 (a chair).
Lanskroon Banketbakkerij
After the museum visit, I did a little bit of window shopping. This turned out to be a very good decision! I finally found a great art supply store right in the middle of Amsterdam. How could I have missed that before??? Vlieger sinds 1869 on Amstel 34 in Amsterdam. Lovely store, 2 floors of art gadgets and necessities. The 1st floor is dedicated exclusively for papers. Beautiful papers. They made my hands itch to make something.
And then I ended up feeling hungry at Lanskroon. A tearoom that looks very cozy from outside. I ordered a piece of strawberry pie and a cup of coffee. The coffee was great, but the crust of the pie was just a bit too hard. I couldn’t finish the pie, but then I had enough. And it gave me a chance to draw the leftover.
I finished the drawing, paid for my coffee and pie, and went to catch a tram to go to the train station. It was still raining.
No Poo Zone
…then came the doggy section of the exhibition. I found these two signage most interesting compared to others. It’s the No Poo Zone signage for dogs of the city of Amsterdam. If you do let your dog does its necessity around this signage, you’ll get a fine.
I think it is nice that the city provides these signs on some areas. However, it is really unfortunate that people here still let their dogs poo almost everywhere. Although, I have to admit that Amsterdammers in general are much more responsible than Utrechtenaar (people from Utrecht) regarding dogs and poops. Some Utrechtenaars let their dogs poo and pee inside Hoog Catharijne (a shopping mall), which is very very disgusting and irresponsible and also asocial, in my opinion.
Ok, I’ll stop talking about poop and I’ll write something else….
Porta Potti
While I was waiting for the hybrid metro #51 to arrive, I saw this Porta Potti standing across the street from the metro station. They are doing some maintenance on the rail, but by looking at the amount of new steel tracks, they are probably going to replace the current tracks. So this Boels Porta Potti is placed there exclusively for these workers.
I am not sure when they are going to finish with the work. I do hope that it’s really soon, because the station is now only accessible from one side. This means that I have to walk around it all the time to get to the station or to my office. It’s not that far but an inconvenience.
Betadine pleister
Yesterday during lunch, I went to Kruidvat to get some bandaid/plaster. I bought 2 boxes of Betadine bandaid that contains anti-septic. We are almost running out of them at home. I think this supply will get us through ’till the end of the remodeling and the summer.
Nor has quite a few scratches and cuts as result of the construction work he does at home. Me, I have quite a few scratches on my arm as well….caused by Joseph-Guy a.k.a. Joey, our silver Maine Coon. Joey just hates being groomed. When he is sleepy, it’s ok with him. So I usually start when he is asleep…slowly combing softly…And then tsjaakk! He grabs one of my arm, which is holding the brush with his front paws and sometimes he tries to kick my arm, etc…etc… Well, the result of these ‘cat fights’ is that I have scratches on my arms almost every week. But he really needs to be groomed, especially in the summer. He sheds and he has matted coat if we don’t groom him nearly everyday. But hey…I love my cats, I just have to withstand this till the end of the summer with Betadine bandaid and Detol liquid antiseptic.
Hemp Lotion
An old tube of HEMP lotion from The Body Shop. I have this for a few years now, and still can’t empty it. However the tube has many dents already, which kinda interesting to draw it. But I think my drawing is not that successful. I probably should have used pencils instead of pens.
I just have too many beauty stuffs at home. Lots of bottles or tubes or jars of lotion or body milk or cream can be found in my bedroom. When the remodeling is finished, I can then rearrange my collection of stuffs and count how many of bottles of lotion I have. That would be about another 3 months or so… I hope.
Mandolin
An entry for Everyday Matters Weekly Challenge #17.
I didn’t have enough time to finish this Mandolin in one go. I sketched the black ‘n’ white version (using ink) last week, colored the basic yesterday with watercolor/gouache and today I added some tid bit texture using color pencil to loosen it up a bit.
After the first two steps, I thought that it looked rather boring and too rigid. So when I was adding some texture using color pencil, I thought….oh…what the heck…I’ll add some lines here and there as well. I think I somewhat like the ‘after lines’ version than before. They do loosen the drawing and are not very disruptive. I like it, I may have to just loosen up a bit when sketching (or in life).
A wedding in Rijswijk
My goodness, we were late for M & I’s wedding yesterday! We missed the ceremony at the Old City Hall in the Hague and went straight to the reception. I’m actually quite dissapointed that we missed the ceremony. I’d love to see the interior of the Old City Hall! Now I missed my one only chance to see it. Ugh!
We did arrive on time for the reception, which was hold at an estate ‘Landgoed Te Werve’. It’s a nice area for the wedding. But one does have to ignore the ‘modern’ apartment building peaking on top of some trees.
It was quite a long evening. After the reception, came the 4-courses dinner. We thought that the food came too slow or we were just starving. The main course was a tenderloin steak served on a bed of risotto with an eggroll on top. I thought the steak was served too cold. I didn’t like it much, so I let Nor ate my steak (he was way too hungry, I think). We felt so tired after dancing, so we decided to skip the rest of the party. We still had to drive back home.
During the hours long event, I managed to do a few sketches in my small sketchbook that fits in my handbag. It was quite embarrasing when M’s mother approached me, while I was sketching the hors d’ouvre. She asked me how I was doing….well…I was a bit bored, but of course I did not tell her that.
The hors d’ouvre (I ate some of it already).
This small ‘castle’ is located in same estate as the manor. This building has clearly a different style than the manor. The mini castle has brick walls, while the walls of the manor are plastered and painted white. I find it quite a unique building, because of the style and the size.
Drinking moment at the bar in the manor….the Beer Tap.
And no, I was not being rude to sketch during the wedding. I just made sure that I have another sort of images to look back at later in the future. A different kind than what the couple will have in a few weeks from the photographer.
A waiting room
Does the chair seem familiar? Of course! It’s from IKEA. Their products have invaded households in the Netherlands and worldwide. IKEA of Sweden is ‘the brand’ in almost every house in Holland. What would we (Dutch) do without them?? Without their Swedish meatballs (gehakt balletjes) with cranberry sauce???
Ratta and Fret
An entry for Everyday Matters Weekly Challenge #6.
These are Ratta (the rat) and Fret (the ferret). The only things I have at home that fit in the category ‘Toyland/Velveteen Rabbit’.
NOTE: The correct spelling of Ratta requires a small ‘o’ above the first a. I just can’t figure out how to do that in my post with blogger.
