Mountainbike

Another fun thing to do when you're not at work or school: riding the mountainbike. Our kids cycled for the first time on a mountainbike during our holiday in the Alps. They had a lot of fun playing with the gears and developed quite an impressive speed! They can't wait to go back, but I'm afraid they have to be a little patience.
Pen and watercolor in black and white.

Double

We went out for a short holiday-break. I packed my sketchbook with the intention to make sketches of people. But as often the case during my holidays, I didn't drew half as much of what I intended to do, nor something which came close to the subject. But that's also the meaning of a holiday I guess: doing as little as possible or at least nothing which look like 'work'.
This sketch in my moleskine is a quick one made of our mugs on the table in our little cabin. It's a bit of a coincidence that this subject fits this weeks topic on Illustration Friday. So, even when I didn't drew as much as I'd planned to do, I still can make a posting on my weblog. That's also a bit 'double', I think.

Junk Food Moment

Since a few years it turned into a tradition: after each holiday we stop at dinner time at the yellow arches to have our big junk-food-moment. The kids know it and they love it. We usually eat every time the same items: I, for instance, always order the big guy you can see above. I know, it's unhealthy, but I think everybody has a right to have a few weaknesses in life.
Ink and watercolor (sketch on a napkin) on 120 grams drawing paper, 4"x6".

Potato Bread

Last week we went skiing in Austria. One of the many things I like about Austria, apart of the oudoor activities which can be practiced all year round in the wonderful Alps, is the wide variety of bread. One of my pleasures during our holidays is going out early in the morning to buy bread (after all I'm a son of a baker) and the morning newspaper (because I work for a publishing house).
As far as bread is concerned my big favourite is potato bread or as the Austrians called it themselves: "Kartoffelbrot". The last few days I've searced the internet to find recipes to make potato bread myself and discovered that there are quite many different recipes to bake one. So I guess I just start with one recipe and see what it brings. If it doesn't suit me I just try another recipe. And so on, and so on, and so on. I'll keep you informed about the progress I'll make!

Ice-skating

At the beginning of this year we had some luck: we were having several days off from our work, the children had their schoolholiday and it was freezing. Time for ice-skating!
But first we had to buy ice-skates for our kids. We thought it would be best to buy one set of ice-skates with the possibility to adjust them in size. So one kid at the time could learn how to skate. But it turn out that the kids had more fun gliding with sledges on the ice than they were eager to learn how to skate!
Well, maybe next year, again on the frozen canals or in the ice-skating hall. After all, the skates are adjustable and it will take a few years before they outgrow the skates.

Cevennes

Just to proof that it's not always raining when I'm having holiday in France...
Another piece I made back in 1993 or 1995. I remember I've had a rather scary moment when I made the sketch for this drawing. As you can see it's a peacefull, tranquille road deep in the heart of the Cevennes. Suddenly I heard a roaring sound, I guessed it was a car engine. On the moment I made that conclusion a big, fat rallyecar appeared around the corner and passed me by without even slowing down. It was a blue Renault, appearently testing out something. Within a blink of an eye the car disappeared around the next corner.
Technique: pen and watercolor on Canson 300 grs.

Canned

This weeks topic of Illustration Friday reminded me of our search during our recent holiday for fresh mushrooms. Although we were camping in France, we just couldn't find fresh mushrooms. Only canned mushrooms. And to top it, we didn't have a can opener in our luggage so I had to use my old armyknife to open the can. Of course that didn't work out well also, I'll spare you the details, so we were glad that our meal at least tasted as it was supposed to be.
And we couldn't find the wine we liked last year so much, either! Not to mention the weather. It was once again a remarkable holiday.

Holiday sketch

I'm not sure I made this drawing back in 1993 or 1995. In those two years I've held my holiday in France, bycicling in the Cevennes near the borders of the river Tarn. I don't even kept a record in which town I made the original sketch. The only thing I know it's the river Tarn and that we couldn't sleep there because of the noise the ducks made at night! It's about the only time I was glad to leave a campingsite.
During the day we never saw a duck (nor many people), but we made sure that the next campingsites during the trip were located far from a river or at least on the borders of a streaming river. So that when the noisy ducks show up at night, they quickly float by: "au revoir, monsieur Canard!"
Technique: pen and watercolor on Canson 300 grs.

Holiday sketches

The summerly conditions made me look for sketches I made on holidays I've had in the past. The sketch which most dated back, was the one I made in 1988, due to a vacation in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.
I went by bus, a terrible way to travel: it took more than 27 hours to get to our destination! Anyway, the weather, the scenery and the company of some fellow travelers made it a pleasant stay. When I got home (again: after more than a 27 hours journey by bus...) I somehow managed to stay in the holiday mood and made the sketch above. Or rather: a sketched collage.
Technique: pen and watercolor on Canson 300 grs. Unfortunately the dimension of the original is to big for my little scanner, but I guess you get the picture (so to say) of what it is like in Istria.