Some recent drawings at the IAC

These drawings are from short poses (15 to 20 minutes) by a live model, Heny, done at the International Art Club of The Hague this week.

winter landscape

This is a big painting, almost four feet tall. Inspirations were the winter colors here in the Hague, the Irish landscape to the south of Dublin, the Dutch painter Tom Schulten, and the abstract expressionist painter Nicolas de Staël (1914 –1955). Examples of Schulten and de Staël paintings are pictured below. The de Staël is titled Les Toits (the roofs), pictured second from the bottom and can be seen in the regular collection of the Pompidou musem in Paris.

Monique

Charcoal on paper, 2 by 3 feet.

This is a 20 minute sketch from life. I've been working hard on portraiture skills, and feel like I'm making progress. What I like about this drawing of Monique, is that the drawing captures what she looks like. Which is what I'm trying to learn how to do. Now, the challenge is to do this with more reliability.

Monet's monument to peace, the Musee de l'Orangerie, Paris

This is a wonderful, smaller museum in Paris. Go, if you have a chance. It sits in the shadow of the Louvre, and is not heavily visited in the winter. Monet's work fills two oval shaped rooms. The project is dedicated to peace, and was painted just after WWI. The two rooms are filled with paintings of water lilies, and are configured in a shape that evokes the infinity symbol. There are four panels in each room, each panel is about 50 or so feet long. The lighting is filtered, and makes the rooms and paintings glow with a quiet and radiant beauty. After the paintings were finished, Impressionism went out of style. The museum was not much visited and fell into disrepair. It wasn't until 2006 that the museum was renovated, and fortunately the paintings are well preserved. It is a masterpiece and to me is Monet's crowning achievement.

My office today

Today I made my first outdoor snow painting! It was fun, and the cold was refreshing. It is my Norwegian blood.

Skating!

Everyone straps on the skates when the weather drops below zero for long enought to freeze the lakes.

Ah, winter sports

Down the block from our house, there's some serious sledding and skating action.

Snowy street scene in front of our house

Holland is cold these days....

Morning walk to work

It's still dark at 7:30 a.m. here in Holland. The snow and ice have been around a few weeks now, and are starting to feel normal. Here's a few pictures from a morning walk to the tram.

A painting by Alberto Valentini

This jewel of a painting was done by my friend Alberto Valentini a few days ago. Alberto paints from life, and believe me in this winter weather that takes dedication! He says the key is to paint fast and dress like a polar bear. He posts his paintings, while they are still wet, to his blog, where they are available for sale. You can see his blog at http://ilpittore.blogspot.com/

Beautiful card by my niece, age 11

This card was made by my niece, Natalia, age 11. She saw the album cover of Madonna and decided to make a card based on the album cover. She found the cover online, printed it, and used it in the card. Other materials include glue, Cheerios, glitter, and blue ribbon. I'm in awe of her talent and design sense. The composition and beauty or the card, and the creative use of materials, speak for themselves. Don't be suprised if you see Cheerios showing up in my next artwork.