Stardust

I watched 'Stardust' just now and it gave me exactly what I hoped it would: inspiration to draw. The story is full of surprises and I was quite anxious to see if everything would turn out all-right for Tristan and Yvaine; something which doesn't happen all too often.
The cinematography holds up very well (beautifully lit chambers, dazzling scenery and ships soaring through the clouds). And at last the glowing of Yvaine as a star when she is close to Tristan; that makes for the most wonderful paintings!

More sketches! The first few are of Winston and Julia from '1984'; REALLY fun to design characters based on a book!

Sketching in PS!!!

I just discovered that it is possible to sketch in PS!!? With PS being sensitive enough to detect the pressure of the mouse-pen? Well, it opens up a world of possibilities. This primordial cheer is the first of a series of sketches in PS:)

Caricature

1984

I recently read '1984' (by George Orwell) for the second time and it's just as fantastic as ten years ago when I first read it!
How nerve-wrecking and horrible is the story of Winston and Julia!!

But I was very surprised to see the screen-adaptation that was made of it in 1984! On Youtube you can see the movie, directed by Michael Radford. Some commentators there claim the movie equals the novel in it's suspense, drama, and say the acting is superb..!?
I on the other hand dreaded the movie, because its impact on me could not equal that of the novel at all! It felt more as if the movie was an incredible waste of time.

The book is testimony of Orwell's superior skill in portraying human emotions, and even more so, in creating an excruciating atmosphere of confoudment in the characters thoughts. As readers we can FEEL what Winston feels and understand the horror of Big Brother; it is as if we were there in Oceania with him.
The filmmakers answer this by casting lame actors lacking any character! Seeing the movie, instead of identifying with Winston, I find I develop a repulsive feeling for the actors.

How would Orson Welles do as a director for '1984'?

From my photo-collection of the studentsclub I made a few caricature sketches. It's fascinating to notice some of their mouths..! Those kind of details can make a drawing look so much more human.

James Bennett

James Bennett is quite the illustrator! He has a lovely way to draw the viewers-eye to the center of an illustration where the action takes place. I'm really fascinated to see how beautiful Bennet softens the focus of objects more close to the foreground - and he does it all without computer. James Bennett is represented bij Richard Solomon.

Website under construction

With help from another student,...my website in under construction. Yesterday I quickly Photoshopped the above layout to explore different styles (and borrowed heavily from a very famous German productiondesigner ;)

More posts..!

Today a very nice uncle of mine asked me if it could be that I raise a high bar when it comes to images I consider worth posting. ...And I think he's right! It always feels as if the images I post here have to meet a certain standard of excellence...and for what? Or whom you might ask..!?

So in breaking habits, I'll post these scribbles I made today: two caricatures from some old photos of the studentclub.
I liked drawing them!

Catching up...!

A sketch of myself (glad to post something!)...the 'Superstudent'!



Two Peter van Straaten illustrations...real beauties!


and another two panels of 'Mort Cinder', illustrated by the late Alberto Breccia. The comic-book is undoubtedly phenomenal in it's execution and is described in the Wikipedia as "one of the most important comic strips in history". It is considered by many to be Breccia's masterpiece. I sure can understand why.

Blog delay

Hi everyone,

At the moment I'm so busy with my studies that I hardly have any time to draw. I'll try to post something soon (even if it's just scribbles). Thanks for your visits!

More Felix Nadar (1820-1910): Sarah Bernhardt

A real photograph of Gustave Dore??

Yes. Photographed by Felix Nadar.

Don Lawrence's Storm

Of all the Don Lawrence artwork I know, I feel the Storm episode 'The Living Planet' is truly his masterpiece.
Honing his skills through the different stories, in 'The Living Planet' Lawrence seems to be at the apex of his creative abilities. This is portrayed in the incredibly spectacular 'fire-worm' scenes, but to me even more in his depiction of the main characters. In the 'The Living Planet', Storm, Redhair and Nomad are more so than ever before human figures: delicately drawn, gracious and with true emotions.

Look at Redhair for example:




The top image is the oldest of the three, the middle one is from TLP and the lower one is from an episode after TLP. In my taste, the earlier 'Storm'-characters were always a bit 'hairy', with faces drawn in a formalistic fashion..almost as if they were taken from a totem pole. And (after TLP) as the series progresses, it appears as if Lawrence begins to draw more in a caricaturistic way; men are portrayed with overly proportioned muscles and they lose all gracefulness. Redhair's face in TLP however, is smooth and gently shaped.

And look at these emotions...;they are so subtle compared to the earlier and later Storm:





And his figurework: beautiful!



'The Living Planet' is a gem! It shows Don Lawrence to be one of the greatest comicbook artists who ever lived.

Vacation photos

England was a blast!

An old painting, but well...I just LOVE it!

The latest painting...!

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

While in London, I saw "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" by Sargent, which was....well absolutely stunning! My heart just skipped a beat.
One of these (obviously) is a fake reproduction, plucked from somewhere on the internet, for people who want an original painting in their house...
I can now attest to the often heard statement, that it really pays of, to see paintings in real life, instead of from a picture. It's the same with the above painting. The real painting, compared to this picture, is for example much more turcoise/blue and with VERY intense colours.

As of today I'm also for the first time displaying some of my own paintings at an exposition in Utrecht. And I'm really anxious to see if I can sell a few. One of these paintings I've never put on this blog before, so I'll try to do that soon.

"A quick one"

A quick warm-up sketch in acrylic I made today before I started working on a serious painting. And another image made by the fantastic Jose Ortiz (Moya). Ortiz is truly one of the best draughtsmen in comics you'll ever encounter. This comic is actually titled "Le petit sauvage" and is for sale at almost every comic-convention: it's a real gem full of the most wonderfull pictures!!

I went to the UK this past week and it was great! We visited the Lakedistrict and London..where I saw original Sargent's...what a fortune! I'll post some photos of it soon. Here's a memorysketch of two famous guys and a painting in the 'steigers'.

More practising

Another exercise in Painter

Scribbles

I try to practise a little now in Painter. I don't like the idea of throwing all those scribbles away, but to save them all seems a bit overdone too. So I'll just post them every once in a while.

Yesiree!!!

I'm slowing getting used to the feeling of drawing with a 'mouse pen' on the computer, and I'm loosening up.

Old sketch upgraded

"Doormural"

My "doormural" is ALMOST finished..I'll post the final picture in a week or two.