24.11.13

Coffe break


24.11.13

Salzburg

A very quick trip to Salzburg.  Just a few hours to tour this beautiful mountain city, enjoy the first moments of the famous Christmas market and make the mandatory urban sketch.  Amazing Christmas atmosphere if not a bit kitchy.


 

20.11.13

iPhone Portraits

Here are some recent portraits I created, of people in Geneva. I originally got an old iphone not to make calls, but to surreptitiously draw when commuting to and from work on the NYC subway. I enjoy working within the limitations of this tiny screen and an app (Zen Brush is the one I prefer). It makes me think of what Picasso said, that "forcing yourself to use restricted means is the sort of restraint that liberates invention. It obliges you to make a kind of progress that you can't even imagine in advance." I enjoy the discovery and play that occurs when quickly trying to capture the spirit and appearance of people as they idle or walk past, lost in their personal world.



17.11.13

Waiting at Malaga airport

I had enough time for some quick sketches while waiting to take my flight to Basel this week. Watching the people board an EasyJet flight is always an experience. There's a metallic box, where hand luggage must fit to prove it's within the allowed size. One of the passengers managed to get his suitcase in by sitting on it, but then he couldn't get it out. It took half the crew to rescue the bag just when they were considering boarding the case with the metallic enclosure and all...


8.11.13

Dr. Sketchy zum zweiten...



8.11.13

Dr. Sketchy

Some sketches from this month's Dr. Sketchy in Sud.



6.11.13

Saint-Ursanne

Saint-Ursanne, après Delémont et Porrentruy, est la troisième ville historique du canton du Jura. Elle séduit par sa physionomie médiévale et pittoresque, grâce à ses trois magnifiques portes (Saint-Paul à l'est, Saint-Pierre à l'ouest et Saint-Jean au sud) ainsi que son pont sur le Doubs dédié à St-Jean de Népomucène. (Source Wikipedia)

Saint-Ursanne JU

6.11.13

SBB



Travelling from Engelberg to Zurich, yesterday early morning. People on their way to work, students. Some talking together, some stairing on their phones, some sleeping.

4.11.13

Partly Sunny Dresden


The other month I was in Dresden with my wife while she was at a conference. I wandered around and drew while she listened to talks. I'd re-read Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five before going there, which I'm not sure influenced me or not, other than making me aware of the burden of history and tremendous rebuilding that is part of the cities story. Burnt dark stonework stacked with light, what's new is old and what's old is new.
I'm sure the time of year had something to do with it, but the place had a vast ghostly atmosphere, windy and dramatic above, hushed and weighted below, empty spaces with scattered crowds. And then, enter a church and there is rococo rapture! Every day was described as 'partly sunny' in the weather forecast, and every day the sun came out for, maybe, five minutes. These Germans are one optimistic people, I thought, to call such dreary weather 'partly cloudy'. Maybe one has to go indoors to see the sun in Dresden.


Dresden Frauenkirche. The sky, weighted, moody, quieting the spotty crowd.
Walk around to the other side and again the windy sky dominates the stone and life below.

Before a old-looking new building is constructed, archaeology must occur. Here, a birds nest of exposed foundations where there was once a Jewish neighborhood.

Every day I rode a tram to the old city and saw people such as these three characters.

Want to see sunshine on a cloudy day in Dresden? Go inside Dresden Frauenkirche and light emanates from the altar.



3.11.13

Baggers and rollers

... Basel is full of them.


3.11.13

Musikflohmarkt & Plattenbörse in Roggwil

Es ist ein spezieller Schlag von Menschen, der sich an solchen Schallplattenbörsen tummelt. Ich staune jedes mal und frage mich, ob das der einzige Tag im Jahr ist, an dem sie aus ihren Übungskellern raus kommen.