Entree Militair Invaliden Tehuis

 

Leiden

 

Windmills

A windmill is a nice subject to draw. It has an outstanding form which is very recognizable and gives it a presence of it's own. There are several styles to draw a windmill. It can be done in color, as you can see above, or in black and white with pen and ink. This last technique is my favourite, because it pays more respect to the subject in my opinion. Usually forms follow function, but in this case drawing style follows subject.

Both mills are situated in Leiden, a Dutch town. Molen De Put is a re-build mill in the center of the town near the house where Rembrandt was born. The mill is a replica of the one in which Rembrandt´s father worked.

The other mill, drawn in black-and-white, was build in the 18th century and once situated far outside the old towngates to keep the farmland dry. It is still operational, but only for touristic purposes.

Sometimes history lies just around the corner. Take for instance this old church, destroyed in 1573, in a village not far from where I live. During the war with Spain the Dutch destroyed this church during the siege of Leiden, to prevent the Spanish soldiers taking shelter in the building during the cold winter. Since then the church hasn't been restored, making it a sort of war memorial 'avant la lettre'.
Pen and ink, 20 x 25 cm.

Drawings From The Past

This will be the final post with the last four drawings I made back in 1994 for an exhibition which was going to be held, but never took place. In previous posts I've mentioned the reasons why the exhibition never took place. Because this all took place about 15 years ago, memories can be different from what exactly happened and you get curious about what experienced others , but I lost track of the people who were involved with that project, so I can't check the facts.
Anyway, the top drawing was an interpretation of an typical alley in Leiden, influenced by the work the Dutch illustrator Anton Pieck made. Although you might say that didn't work out.
I also tried to make two drawings of buildings in front of water: always a challenge.

A high level of "Addams Family atmosphere" when I look at them now. The building below is an old part of the city wall, build in the 14th century.

And I'm not sure in what era the buildings of this last drawing were build, but it must be about two hundred years ago. I couldn't find any information about this place, mainly because it's in Rabac, an old village in Croatia.

That's the beauty of an archive: you're surprised when you get a glimps of old work and get curious about when, why and how you've made it.

Local drawings

The first drawing which was published in the local newspaper was the old painters academy. The building was build in 1500, but the academy was founded in the 18th century. Between these dates there were several changes made to the original design and lay-out of the building.
The academy was founded by the Dutch painters Frans van Mieris and Carel Moor. Nowadays it's still in use by a painting and drawing society, called 'Ars Aemula Naturae'.
Note the amount of bricks I drew on request of the editor-in-chief. I'm still grateful to his contribution to the art of drawing... Not.
The credits for research goes to Henri van Aggelen, a pensionada. He was banker in Switzerland, but after his retirement he finally had time to study the history of normal day life in the city of Leiden, his hometown. He had a particular good sense of spotting human interest facts in the story behind an old building. Much to the delight of the editor-of-chief, although he didn't quite liked Henri's idea of writing some articles about hidden brothels. After all, it was a Sunday's paper and he was a little afraid that this sort of articles might abuse the advertisers.

Study in black and white

It's been a while since I've posted, but this week I saw this drawing of Terry Banderas. He made a study of Eucalypthus trees and besides it's a very good piece, it also inspired me to pick up my pencil.
I made a study in black and white, which was taught me by Michael Warr in his marvelous book Capturing Texture. Best is to draw the same subject three or four times, so I'll keep you people informed what progress I make in this technique/subject. It's for sure a big difference regarding to the drawings I made 15 years ago for an exhibition which never took place. But that's a totally different story.