The Bee Keepers Garden

Last week we've had a little vacation in Mayrhofen, Austria. We didn't do much: the children mostly wanted to swim in the nearby swimming pool. The wife and I mostly read books, magazines and the latest news on our smartphones.
Mayrhofen is a very quiet place after the snow has disappeared. Also a very neat place. I found it difficult to find interesting points of view for sketching. When everything looks so well organized it tends to be boring. The houses all look very tidy. Luckily enough I found an interesting view from one of the balconies of our appartement into the backyard of the neighbours' house. The neighbour turns out to be a bee keeper and I've tried to capture some bees in flight.
Black ink sketch with Visconti pen on Moleskine.

Gloves

Cycling in winter demands good gloves. This weekend I bought a new pair. As you can see the padding should be sufficient enough for nice long touring.
My old pair of wintergloves didn't give much protection against the cold anymore. My wintergloves last about three seasons. I use them on my racing bike and trekking bike. It's important to take good notice that you have to look for windstoppers instead of, for instance, gloves that you use for skiing. Those get much too warm when cycling and gives you wet hands. That's not a nice feeling while cycling. That's why I always buy gloves with good protection against the wind. So my ride at cold days to, for instance, my work and back home will be much more fun than working on the office.
Come to think of it: cycling will allways be more fun than working.
Pendrawing made with my Visconti.

Maps and Books

Throughout the years I've collected lots of maps and roadbooks. I also like to read stories written by travelling writers, mostly cyclists. In books or on blogs.
As much I like to read the stories and enjoy exploring the maps, best is to travel for yourself. But the usual obligations prevent that: job, kids attending school, lack of good travel gear.
Perhaps it's time to start first by orientating what you might need for travelling, for instance: a good bike.

Sketchbook #4

Sketchbook #3

A car and a lady, rocks and type.

Sometimes I sketch daily,

Sometimes at night.

Sometimes with pen

With a touch of colour,

But mostly in black and white.

(an illustrator is somewhat like a singer/songwriter, I think.)

Illustration Friday Atmosphere

In this sketch I've tried to catch the atmosphere of a sunny morning in a quiet French village. What you see is a little service station, with the Citroen 2CV AZU in front of it.

Troll

Last week I've read a short story about a little, grumpy, ugly man. It was a very funny story by the Dutch author Peter Schaap. Almost from the beginning of that story I've had a certain type of person in mind. After I've read the story I almost automatically drew this sketch in my sketchbook.

Sketchbook #2

Sketchbook

Some faces I've sketched, just to try out a new sketching-pen. It turned out to be a nice piece of equipment.

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.

Not an ordinary sketchbook

The time had come to buy a new sketchbook. After years using all sorts of sketchbooks, I thought it was about time to buy a proper sketchbook. A sketchbook many people talk about on the net. A sketchbook which has its own weblog. A sketchbooks with many admirers. Maybe more admirers then certain religions have. A sketchbook people might look at as if it is a religious object. A sketchbook which is more then just a sketchbook. A relic. An icon. My First Moleskine.
Now let us hope it improves my drawing skills. The first doodles are already made and are here in the open to be looked at. I made them with a simple black ballpoint pen. Just what came up in my mind, the old guy, or what I looked at: a window, a picture in a magazine.