Not feeling good today...

Today I didn't feel great! Soreness in my throat have been bugging me the last week and it seems like it's catching up with me. But I still sketched my tea and honey...

 

Rainy wet day and the old stock exchange

Very rainy today so I needed to find a dry place to sketch. Luckily we have one of the oldest stock exchanges in the world. Although this was more like a spice market, it can be retraced to the stock market. I did the pencil and inking on location but for painting the weather was still to cold so I did it at home.
Next time i'll try to "zoom out" more.

Busy week!

WOW! That last week was busy, I did have a little bit of time to sketch but was nowhere near a scanner. So blogging was put on the down low.
So here are my sketches of that week.

 

 This is on a small square. I did mess up the bollards.

 

  This is the house in the Herb garden. (Used to house the gardener)

Made in Gent. One of the oldest buildings in the city. (now a restaurant)

A small bakery in Gent.

Elzenveld, Antwerp

I remembered there was an old hospital (which has a new Hospital right next to it) right in the centre of antwerp. So, Took a short bike ride, set up my chair and sketched a bit. This is the small church  from the central square. Nowadays it is a Hotel and seminar.

Back again: 3th sketch

Had to sketch again but it was (again) later on the day so I went to the same old building. Good training to sketch the same thing regularly.

I used an Extra Fine Japanese fountain pen, so it's really hair fine!. Still need to work on the green part but i'll get it... (hopefully before they're demolished)

Here is the last time I sketched it.

Sketching and sketchbooks

The weather wa the last days very rainy and cold. So I didn't sketch that much. But yesterday was warmer and most importantly dry. So I jumped on my new bike, found a nice spot an sketch it.

This is a secret alley right in the centre of Antwerp. It dates from 159. It used to house shoemakers and the poorest people in the city. (Not anymore: Expensive restaurants, antiques stores and art galleries are now situated there)

On other news: I'm getting through my sketchbook quickly. I am already over halfway. So I needed a new. Sadly there aren't too many art stores in my city and most of them have the same 2-3 watercolor 

sketchbooks. (Mostly Moleskine = Big price). So some time back I decided  wanted to make my own and this week was that week. I took some researching and about 3 days but in the end I got 1 A5 and 3 harmonica sketchbooks. The harmonica ones are made with the leftover pieces of paper.

Buying all the supplies wasn't cheap but most of those are thing I can use multiple times or are a buy-once-use-for-a-long-time deal. So in the end the diy sketchbook is cheaper for me. And something you made yourself is much more worth it.