Grocery store

An abandoned grocery store in the Cevennes, in France. This drawing is not made "on the spot'', but made from a photo I took back in 1993. It was in a little village of which I don't know the name anymore, but I do remember the old guy sitting in the shades of a big tree next to a War Memorial. When I sat behind him to drink and to rest a bit from the long drive in the boiling heat that day, he told me he survived the two big wars, WWI and WWII. By the looks of his face that couldn't be a lie. In my best French I tried to tell him that I've found that a big achievement, but he was more impressed when he heared where I came from. All the way from the Netherlands. On a bicycle! I can still hear him say: "Incroyable!" (unbelievable).
Of course my French wasn't that good that I could explain that I transported my bike by bus to the south of France. But that would have killed the wonderful story he could tell that day at home or at the local bar about the lonesome cyclist who came all the way from the north to their small village.
Ink and watercolor on 300 grs Canson, 30 x 40 cm.

Wise

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Albert Einstein

Drawing exercise

It's a long time ago since I posted a drawing exercise I made using the great book 'Capturing texture' by Michael Warr. It's become my standard studybook the last few years. It's very inspirational and challenging. Not every result of an exercise is suitable to post on this blog, but this one I couldn't resist. It's a stippling exercise in pencil. The subject, bread, is very suitable for this technique because of the structure of bread. Apart from that, I'm the son of a baker, so this subject is something I grew up with.
2B pencil on white drawing paper, 24 x 16 cm.

Late

Sometimes time seems just to be invented to let you know that you're too late. For instance last week time was apparently running faster. A good friend of ours missed the train she planned to take to get on time to our place. My wife and I were almost too late to appear on a television show and on top of that: I was too late to update my drawing for the weekly topic on Illustration Friday!
Hopefully the time-cycle will be repaired this week...

Farewell to Cevennes

This is the fourth drawing I made regarding my holiday in France, back in 1995. It's always relaxing to draw something you were impressed by during your stay. It sort of brings back good memories. Although I don't remember what part of the scenery impressed me most when I was standing on this spot. I guess the serenity of a little village in a empty landscape.

Common facts about worms, chapter 583

For worms with flying ambitions it's recommended to fly by strings attached to a balloon. Other forms of transportation through the air proved to be a failure.

IF - Packed

With the first showers of rain to prove Autumn is coming our way, the camping gear is packed and stowed away on the attic. Waiting for next years Summer. My wife has already picked a place where we might be going. A place with lots of nice playing spots for the kids and good conditions to cycle. It's even near the sea, so could one asks for more? Perhaps sunny weather, because this year we had numerous days to test if our tent was waterproof...