Holiday sketches from Greece - 1

Last week I was on holiday in Greece, in the Peloponnessos. Besides sight seeing, soaking up the sun, drinking frappés I also did some sketching.

This was the villa we were staying. Villa Aylaki at Eleonas Holiday Houses.

And this is the amazing view from the villa, over Navarino bay. With Pylos on the left, and Sfaktiria (the bigger island) in the middle. To the right is the view on the Golden Beach and the lagoon (not in the sketch). We can sit here for hours and watch the boats come in, watch the light change.....

The rocks at the end of the Golden Beach, I love the color of the water!

And a lazy sketch on the beach. My feet, slippers and watershoes :-).

I will post more sketches tomorrow.

National Sketchcrawl Urban Sketchers NL

Yesterday was the 3rd National Sketchcrawl of the Urban Sketchers Netherlands in 2017. We already sketched in Haarlem (March), Utrecht (May) and yesterday we were in 's-Hertogenbosch. A beautiful city with great places to sketch.

I sketched the Sint Jans cathedral twice, once from the Parade and once from the other side. And then sketched a statue outside the Noord-Brabants museum. It was a great day, luckily with good weather, nice people and lots of sketching!

Watercolor month

Did you know July is Watercolor month? You are invited to work with watercolors and you can post you work in the Facebook group.

I am not participating every day but I do try to be creative every day. Either by painting, sketching or making a new journal. Everything counts for me ;-)

Sketchcrawl Gouda 9 July 2016

Sketchcrawl Gouda 9 July 2016

Vases - in b/w and watercolor

A new journal 

Testing the paper with a quick sketch - reference image from PMP

Kids playing - reference image from PMP

Hotel des Indes - Urban sketchers Den Haag 3 July 2016

Korte Voorhout - Urban sketchers Den Haag 3 July 2016

One week in Greece

Yesterday I came home after a lovely week in Greece. My sister and I rented a villa in Gialova, at the westcoast of the Peloponnesos.

This is the week in sketches.

A blue door with a lovely iron balcony. I got a bit lost in the design...

View from next to the villa on the village of Gialova and the Navarino bay in the distance. Sitting on our terrace we would enjoy and stare at this view for hours ;-)

Villa Thea at Eleonas Holiday Houses in Gialova, the villa came with a private pool

Sitting on the Golden Beach 

Looking at the remains of an old castle at Golden Beach

Sketching at Pylos Castle

The view from our terrace early in the morning. The island in Navarino Bay with great reflections in the water. And a bit to the right, the view of Golden Beach and the Gialova lagoon. Lots of birdlife to be seen in the early months of the year.

Sketchcrawl in Den Haag and more

Yesterday I joined the Urban Sketchers in The Hague / Den Haag for a lovely afternoon of sketching. The weather was a bit unpredictable, luckily just a few little drops when we started, and later on cloudy, but dry. We started in the area of the Mauritshuis, home of the famous Vermeer paintings (girl with the pearl earring and View on Delft) and some Rembrandts etc. The Mauritshuis is housed in a beautiful building btw.

Just around the corner of the Mauritshuis is the Binnenhof, the place were the Dutch government is housed.

• From Wikipedia: The Binnenhof (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɪnə(n)ɦɔf]; English: Inner Court) is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, next to the Hofvijver lake. It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministry of General Affairs and the office of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Built primarily in the 13th century, the Gothic castle originally functioned as residence of the counts of Holland and became the political centre of the Dutch Republic in 1584. It is counted among the Top 100 Dutch heritage sites. The Binnenhof is the oldest House of Parliament in the world still in use.

My first sketch is made there, looking at the Ridderzaal from the side, the main entrance is behind the tower.

The Binnenhof

(in ink (watersoluble with my new Lamy fountain pen) and a bit of watercolor)

After one hour I moved to the other side of the Binnenhof, to the Hofvijver. You have a great view of all the buildings over a little lake. I sat there for another 2 hours, enjoying, looking at the buildings, sketching and enjoying the people that strolled along the Hofvijver. Did not have enough time to use my watercolors, maybe I will add them later.

Hofvijver view

(PITT pens)

After the 3 hours the whole group went for a drink on one of the terraces of the Plein and showed our sketchbooks. Lovely sketches and great group!

And today, Sunday, I made 2 sketches in my Moleskine watercolor journal for the Weekend Drawing Event on WetCanvas. One river otter and one quick sketch of a botanical garden.

The weekend is almost over and I have a busy week ahead. And then.... on Saturday.... I will go on holiday for one week, to Greece. I hope to do some painting/sketching there... tbc :-)

Sketching in Utrecht

Utrecht is one of my favorite places on the world. First of all, I was born in Utrecht ;-). And I still live in a village very close to Utrecht. So yesterday I took the bus into town and walked to the Dom Square (Domplein). The Dom tower, the Dom church and the Pandhof are all on the Square. The Pandhof is the garden of the old church and I love this place. It is beautiful and peaceful in the middle of a busy city center.
I was sketching in a new watercolor journal, the Travelogue from Hand Book. Love the paper and the format (I used the square). Both sides of the book stay flat, really enjoyed working in it.

Black and white sketch in pen (on site)

Colored sketch with watercolors (added at home)