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.

Sketchcrawl 2: Train World

On a rainy Saturday the Belgian Urban Sketchers arranged to meet at the Train World Museum in Schaerbeek (near Brussels).  After a nice warm hot coco we got our stuff together, bought our tickets and ventured inside this very new museum. The first hall was mostly models so we skipped it and walked right true to where the trains were. The first thing we noticed was that is was very dark. I didn't think that to be a big problem. (Little did I know!) After passing through a few halls that where as dark we entered a bigger and light hall (thanks to the giant windows). We put up our little chairs and started drawing. I choose a small locomotive. Most others chose to draw 2 very big ones in the centre of the room.

I finished relatively quickly. I did notice over the last weeks that I work pretty quickly. This comes at a cost of less details, less perfect lines and a overall more messy sketch. I don't really mind it but it is something I am aware of. While letting this one dry I walked around the the museum. It was very fun to see all the old railcars. From war to person right up until the transport of the Royal family.Very interesting.

The next sketch was the inside of a railcar used for the transportation of militair personel from an too the battle front in the world wars. This place was a bit darker and there I learned that dark places an sketching don't go well... Yeah, I did ink it but it's a bit of a mess.

 

Watching at it now it's a little bit than I remembered better but I learned my lesson about lighting...

When I got back I found some people trying to buy the Early-bird passes for the USK Symposium in Manchester. Only 1 got here ticket. There where about 250 tickets (I think at least) and they sold out in about 3 minutes!! They still can buy tickets beginning March 5, so not all hope is lost. Just bad luck.

After these two perspective driven and sort off challenging  sketches I looked up an easier subject. 

I decide to draw the backside of a TEE carriage (Trans-european Express)

 

 Half  way true the sketch I got really hungry. I joined a few other sketchers at the restaurant for a quick lunch after which I returned back to my spot for a little bit of paint on that sketch.

The day was coming to an end but I found the time to put in a last sketch. 

The window from the TEE from the outside. 

After that back to the restaurant for some more coco, looking at others people sketchbooks and some good conversation. Not much later the restaurant closed en we all took the train home. A great day and a great event!! Now it's waiting for the next sketchcrawl...