Bruce Springsteen @ Pinkpop

 

Last Monday I went to Pinkpop, which is a three day open air festival in Landgraaf, the Netherlands. Just a few kilometres from my house.
The festival attracts 65.000 spectators at its peak, and features numerous bands on three stages, like Linkin Park, the Cure, the Specials, Mumford and sons, Herbert Grönemeyer, Seasick steve, Soundgarden, James Morisson and a dozen more. And as a cherry on the cake: the final performance was a 2 1/2 hour show by "the Boss" Bruce Springsteen and his E-street band (alas, without Clarence).

We had perfect weather, even hot at times.
I made the above sketch from an elevated terrace overlooking the main stage during the performance of Mumford and sons.
The bottom one is  the performance of Serena Pryne; which I made later from memory.
I find it difficult to draw during a performance. Either you are too far away to make a decent image; and if you're up close, there is not enough space to hold pen and paper.
And I find it very difficult to catch the dynamics of a good performance. Anybody any ideas on how to do that properly?

Called to Arms

The home of Benjamin Locke is tucked into a busy suburban street in Arlington, Massachusetts. You’d have to look carefully to find the markers mentioning it is an historic landmark. But on the night of April 19, 1775, Paul Revere (and probably also William Dawes) would certainly have warned this house of the coming British. After all, Locke was the Captain of the Monotomy Minutemen.

At around 2:00 am, Captain Locke heard the British troops marching by his front door and made his way to Lexington where he faced the British at dawn on the town’s green. He faced the British again on their return from Concord, and is assumed to have been part of the fight at the nearby Jason Russell House.

In June, Locke fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill and it is said his musket grew so hot from firing that he had to wrap his handkerchief around it to continue firing, which he did.

The house, built in 1720, was eventually sold by Captain Locke to the Baptist Church (to which he belonged) to be used as their first meeting house. It is now a private residence.

You can follow along Fred's drawing project at his blog, Paul Revere's Ride Revisited.

Saint-Petersburg cafes and bars

 Restaraunt-confectioner's in art-noveau stile on the first floor of the Hotel Oktyabrskaya. The waitress welcomes the guests in french. Onion soup and berry cheese-cakes. Traditional french chanson in the background. Vegetarien cafeteria. Ginger Tea, spice fragnance, peace. Yoga advertisments all around. Slow, mellow employees. Cocktail bar Tzwetocjki (the Flowers) works almost 24 h., in the mornings it offers the visitors cofe, tart-tatin with pears and quiche. They have almost 300 different cocktails with strange names like: Hannibal, Saint-Petersbourg Sling, Shut up and drink, Mint Cockroach and green fairy.

Ryoan-ji Temple Garden

I visited the Ryoan-ji Temple in Kyoto, especially to see the famous zen garden of raked gravel and rocks. Although there were throngs of tourists making it difficult to get into a contemplative frame of mind, I did manage to sit on the steps for a while, and made these drawings with two brushpens, hoping to capture something of the spirit of the place

A day in New York City

Times Square, New York

I had a week working in New York earlier this month, and then — luxury of luxuries — a day free to myself in the city before flying home the next morning. There was time to meet Urban Sketcher Melanie Reim for tea (great to finally meet you, Melanie), and to draw and walk, and make the most of the city.

Survivor tree, 9/11 Memorial, New York

The 9/11 Memorial was a moving experience, obviously, the waterfalls dropping into what appears an infinity. The new One World Trade Center, half finished, became the tallest building in New York City during my stay. But I was interested in how many people had their photographs taken next to the "survivor tree", a pear tree that survived the towers' collapse, taken away as a stump to recover and now standing healthily next to the memorial. Nature can always offer hope, growth and the promise of better future.

There's more on my blog: www.james-hobbs.blogspot.com

Chesterfield SketchCrawl

I've been having a lot of fun just lately: 2 SketchCrawls in 8 days!

On Saturday we were in Chesterfield just outside Sheffield. It couldn't have been more different to last week's in Buxton, where we had to keep scuttling indoors because of the freezing cold. This time we were scuttling into the shade, as it was so fabulously, brain-fryingly hot. 

Here are a few sketches from the day. The top one is watercolour and black conte, the others are my Inktense watercolour pencils. I'll post more later, but things have been so busy lately and I still have more things to do than time to do it (I shouldn't be doing this now - I should be getting on with my roughs!!). 

messe nord 300512

collecting random cut-outs of human fauna at busstop neue-kant-strasse | s station messe nord

March to the Gallery

Yesterday a march was held in Rosebank to protest against the Goodman Gallery displaying an 'insulting' painting of the president. You can't believe the furore this artwork has caused!

My sketching friend Anni and I decided to go and try some reportage sketching. At first there were mostly mounted guards, riot police and ANC marshalls gathering around, which made me a bit nervous, but we started drawing them from behind as they gazed expectantly up Jan Smuts Avenue. 

Then we heard singing, chanting and loudspeakers in the distance, coming closer, the mounted police lined up and my heart beat faster. But there were plenty of relaxed and jovial people milling around, including this ANC protester happily chatting on her phone nearby, so we carried on sketching as the street ahead filled up.

Soon it was apparent it was to be a peaceful well-controlled demonstration, so when it looked like the main event was over, we walked around the block to see if we could get closer, and found ourselves right in the middle of the protesters - two women agreed to pose for us before they got on the bus back home.

We had a last opportunity to sketch the flamboyantly dressed elders, leaders and politicians leaving on the back of the broadcasting truck before the crowds dispersed and we headed back for a much needed drink.

Sketching Airplanes at March Air Reserve Base

I visited March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California with other artists, thanks to special arrangements by United States Air Force Art Collection and Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles. People at the base were preparing for an air show scheduled for the following weekend, and our group was able to observe military firefighters training, see interesting planes, and fly inside C-17 transport carrier.



 

All the sketches were done on location and watercolored at home from memory and photo references. I'm really glad I sketched as much as I could because it was simply impossible for my little camera to photograph long wingspans of large aircraft or awesome sight of supersonic Thunderbird jets flying in formation (well, I don't have a sketch of them either - they were too fast!) Below are some of the planes I managed to sketch out of many that I saw - Tomcat is from the base and another set below are from nearby March Air Field Museum:




 

A longer story of my field trip and more sketches are on my blog post here.

Memorial Day 2012

This lovely old gentlemen was a charmer.  They told me his wife couldn't find him, when it was time to go to the Memorial Day ceremony...then she discovered he had dug out his old uniform and was standing there, resplendent, 40+ years later.

Urban Park Reportage

Sometimes a holiday weekend is a great time to stay in the city and enjoy the peace and quiet. This Memorial Day weekend, I spent a few hours drawing in the park of my apartment complex. Even when you're simply drawing as a relaxing way to pass the time, it's good to think about the stories going on around you. 

The top drawing of the page above is an overview of the fountain, which is the main focal point of the park. The little boy running in front to grab the ball was an accidental addition that I loved.

The drawing below that on the page above  is of some of the residents relaxing on the benches. The man in the wheelchair was simply basking in the sunlight with his head back. We have had a week of rain here in New York, so sunshine was a welcome addition to the landscape.

Then I drew some of the other residents: a woman stretched out on a bench, reading from her Kindle, another woman in a wheelchair watching the children play, and a man with a face full of character. How could I not draw him? So many marks to play with! (I didn't let him see the drawing though, not sure he would be as into the marks as I was.) Vignettes like these can add more explanation to a reportage, in addition to the larger drawings.

Finally I turned my attention to the kiddie park next to the fountain area. For this drawing I wanted to capture the overall feeling of children running in every which direction, with an indication of the city buildings behind them.

Reportage drawing is about decisions - what is of interest to you in any particular place, and what do you choose to talk about? Could be a feeling, an activity, a type of person, a satiric remark, etc. - so many options and it all depends on the personality of the artist, and what he or she likes.

This July, Jonathan Schmidt and I will be conducting a workshop at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Santo Domingo called The Decisive Moment, where we will talk about making those drawing decisions, and more. Hope to see you there!

Deer Prudence

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Yun and I went to her mom's condo in Connecticut. Her brother was in town with his wife and son from Seattle. So everyone else came to see them. My new thing is scouring the house looking for stuff. I discovered a set of deer antlers. Of course, I thought it was some kind of Korean voodoo ingredient for a magic potion. I was wrong. When one of Yun's brothers was young he found them in the woods near the house. While everyone was playing angry birds, I decided to draw the antlers. My new way to draw is to use many different colored pens. It gives my drawings a groovy look. There are a few more that I did that I will be posting shortly.

Coudoulous

Coudoulous is the name of a little river in the Cévennes, region of France that I like a lot.

海珠嶼大伯公廟旁的老樹 Old tree @ Tai Pak Kong Temple, Tanjung Tokong

Size: 56 x 19 cm, 3 fold
Media: Chinese ink & watercolour on paper

Memorial Day Drawings

The Sunday New York Times published a feature article about a special journalistic drawing project which I recommend for the Memorial Day holiday we're celebrating here in the United States. Artists associated with New York's Society of Illustrators have been drawing wounded war veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. The results are an intimate portrait of those soldiers and their lives. 

"The considerable time the artists spend with patients — unlike the celebrities who stream through — may be one reason they have been welcomed by the hospital.

“They stay long enough that you can actually talk with them,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Ross of the Marines, 28, an explosive ordnance disposal technician who was wounded 15 months ago; subsequent infections have left him a bilateral hip amputee. Mr. Fisher’s and Mr. Juhasz’s drawings show his devastating injuries, but they focus more on his intense personality and spirit.

A photograph shows you what you see “when you look at your reflection,” added Sergeant Ross, who is continuing rehabilitation at the Naval Medical Center San Diego. But “you get somebody to draw you, and it’s how they see you.”

drawing by Victor Juhasz

"For the people he (artist Steve Mumford) drew, he added, the experience seemed to be cathartic. “Because it’s so concentrated, time-consuming and everyone can see the results as they develop,” he said, “drawing makes people really feel seen, on an emotional plane.”

Read more and see a slideshow of images at the NY Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/arts/design/joe-bonham-project-illustrates-the-wounds-of-war.html