Le marché de Noel le 6 décembre 2015

Le principe du marché de Noel est de noyer le flâneur dans une foule de tentations, entre les parfums d'épices, de vin chaud et de gromperekichelcher, les chants de Noel et les couleurs vives des étals, je me suis faufilée au coeur de la foule pour saisir un peu de ce brouhaha…évidemment le dessin s'en ressent et on ne perçoit vraiment plus rien de la place d'Armes.

 

Le marché de Noel place d'Armes

Forgeron au travail en face du Cercle Cité

Puis nous nous sommes retrouvés au Kaale Kaffi pour boire un merveilleux thé au gingembre en continuant nos esquisses

Jacqueline et Leen en train de dessiner

Messing around with oil pastels at the december sketchcrawl

I am not a big fan of Christmas markets, but for sketchers there are quite some challenges! For the last sketchcrawl of the year I prepared my oil pastels and some coloured paper to capture the colourful scenes.

 I am still learning to work with the pastels, and my first sketch came out too stiff, but I like the detail of the balloons and the little kid.

Then I tried to sketch the blacksmiths who were demonstrating their work on the market (also because it was comfortingly warm near their little oven...). One of the smiths wanted to buy my sketch. When I gave it to him for free he offered me one of his creations. Before giving him my sketch I quickly made this unsharp picture in the rain that had started to fall all of a sudden. One can see the tiny drops of water on the paper...

After an hour or so our sketcher´s group landed at our favorite place, Kaale Kaffi, where we enjoyed the beautiful decoration,  the delicate ginger and lemon tea, the cappuccino, the nice service, the sketching and last but not least, the warm company.

Leen

People gazing at the Christmas market

For the last sketchcrawl of the year, we decided to aim for the Christmas market in the capital.

This time around we were quite the crowd, with 10 people spreading around the place to sketch the little houses, the people, the surrounding buildings.

I started with the best intentions of capturing a scene of the whole market or at least a portion of it, but somehow only managed to focus on a funny little statue on top of one of the stalls.

The drunk Santa was just irresistible.

Luckily, the weather was quite mild for the season and there was a big crowd, which allowed me to sketch my favourite subject: people.

People being people, though, I did not have many cooperative models and had to be as fast as possible, so I ended up mainly with a collection of hastily jotted squiggles.

 

It's ok, though, for a collection of squiggles always looks better than one squiggle alone :D

After a while it started feeling cold, so we headed to one of our favourite cafés, the Kaale Kaffi.

Everyone was pretty much at the Christmas market, so we were able to sit the whole group at the big table.

Nothing like sipping on a ginger lemon tea while drawing with sketching buddies to finish a lovely afternoon.

IN & OUT the Rotondes...

I completely agree with Beliza about the feeling and the identity of that particular place of Luxembourg. It will be nice to come back here when the courtyard will be crowded of people during the many Spring and Summer activities ...

La Buvette
black ink at chinese brush and white Posca on craft paper

Rotonde 2, courtyard and foodtruck
black ink at chinese brush and white Posca on craft paper

Les Rotondes et La Buvette

Last Saturday we met at La Buvette, the pub at Rotondes in Bonnevoie, for the sketchcrawl organised by LUCA .

The Rotondes used to be buildings where trains were repaired and stored. They were repurposed a few years ago and have now become this trendy place where various cultural events take place, such as exhibitions, concerts, plays, etc.

Unlike so many places in Luxembourg it is not overly clean and organised. I love the occasional messiness of the place.

Undeterred by the cold, we started out on the outside, where the food truck is. I couldn't resist sketching the trailer and the many seemingly randomly placed cables with their colourful lightbulbs. I'll have to add some colour to this sketch sometime.

Spot the sketcher

I have to say we were quite the troopers out there. The day was pleasant but pretty cold. At some point my hands turned a shade of purple. It got so bad that I didn't even feel the heat emanating from the glass of mulled wine I was holding.

Luckily, the inside of the Rotondes is just as interesting as the outside, and we warmed ourselves up at La Buvette. The servers are very friendly and we enjoyed the cosy afternoon atmosphere.

Isabelle busy sketching

Site Mansfeld 4 octobre 2015 (Luca - UskL)

Ma première sortie avec le LUCA et les Urban sketchers. Comment rendre un site historique aussi prestigieux que les ruines du château de Mansfeld? Une belle journée, s'imaginer des jardins, se demander comment étaient les constructions et qui habitait ces lieux. Un long moment de calme concentré, ponctué au loin par les commentaires d'un habitant irrité par je ne sais quoi, mais invisible depuis cette cour protégée du monde extérieur.

Dans la cour

Saisir des points de vues, des passages laissant apercevoir un lieu plus loin.

une ouverture

Puis et boire un pot à une terrasse en dessinant avec

        Nancy,    Stefan,    Yannick,     Arnaud,          Ernest,        Angelica,    Jean-Paul,     Alexandre et Suzanna

C'était vraiment un très bel après-midi d'automne !!

Cathédrale le 8 novembre 2015 (UskL)

Le parvis de la cathédrale, dégagé, sobre, offre une transition entre l’agitation urbaine de la place de la Constitution et le calme recueilli des lieux de culte.

Depuis ce parvis presque austère, tenter de saisir le désordre palpitant d’une place hésitant entre parking et fête foraine.

Place de la Constitution depuis le parvis de la cathédrale

En tournant le dos à la ville, l’entrée dans la cathédrale réchauffe doucement malgré l’atmosphère sombre et silencieuse, lentement s’installe une sorte de paix, et le regard parcourt les motifs des colonnes, s’accroche aux lueurs colorées des vitraux pour se perdre dans l’ombre mystérieuse des voûtes de la nef.

 A l'intérieur de la cathédrale

…puis aller ensemble boire un café ou un chocolat et manger un gâteau à la Maison du chocolat

Les lustres de la Maison du chocolat

Rotondes 28 novembre 2015 (Luca-Usk)

Ce dernier samedi de novembre était étonnement ensoleillé, mais vraiment très froid.

Encouragés par les derniers rayons de soleil, nous avons opté pour la terrasse et bravé les engelures à coup de boissons chaudes. D'autres courageux ont profité de la terrasse emmitouflés dans des couvertures.

Rotonde extérieur: la terrasse

Quand nous ne sentions plus nos doigts nous nous sommes réfugiés dans la buvette des rotondes pour nous réchauffer, profiter de l'atmosphère tamisée et continuer à dessiner.

Ambiance tamisée dans la buvette avec vue sur l'intérieur de la rotonde en chantier

       

 

…bien au chaud Béliza et Elia concentrées sur leurs esquisses

December Sketchcrawl

Hello dear sketchers,

For our December sketchcrawl, let's go sketch at the Christmas market in Luxembourg city.

If the weather is too bad, we will find refuge in one of the cafés in the centre.

Let's meet in front of the Cercle Cité (Place d'Armes) at 14:00 this Sunday 6 December 2015.

Don't forget your gloves, scarves and anything that can help to fight the cold ;)

See you on Sunday!

Moments de calme et de paix et une expérience intéressante

Cette photo rend bien les moments calmes et pacifiques que nous avons pu passer à la cathédrale de Luxembourg lors de notre dernière rencontre le 8 novembre passé.

Comme j'avais prévu d'arriver en retard, le jour-même, j'ai profité de l'occasion de passer quelques moments à la cathédrale la veille. Ayant fait un petit croquis à cette occasion, j'ai décidé de refaire la même vue le lendemain. Bien que les 2 dessins se ressemblent fortement, les impressions étaient toutes autres et notamment je ressentais plus d'assurance. Je pense que le fait de passer plusieurs fois à un endroit qu'on désire dessiner ou peindre (comme conseillé souvent et notamment par Alan Johnston) peut aider énormément.

A  bientôt lors du sketching de décembre!!!

November Urban sketching with LUCA

Dear Sketchers,

Last minute news:
The November Urban Sketching Session with LUCA will take place at the Rotondes in Luxembourg Bonnevoie this Saturday 28th of November from 2 pm until 5 pm.
We will meet at the bar "La Buvette" of the Rotonde 2 at 2 pm.
Depending on the weather and temperature we will sketch inside or outside those astonishing buildings, and if it is becoming really too cold, the Buvette will remain the warmest option...
nice perspectives isn't it?

See you on Saturday!
Arnaud

In and around the Notre-Dame Cathedral

For the USk Luxembourg sketchcrawl in December, we decided to explore the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg city.

The weather was quite mild for November, so some of us decided to tackle the exterior of the building.

It was not my first attempt at sketching the cathedral, but it is the first time I take my time doing it, finding my vanishing point, etc. That did not, however, prevent me from sketching a tilted bell tower, hehe. The belltower and spikes are definitely the trickiest parts, but also the loveliest, in my opinion...

... until you actually enter the cathedral. Which is surprisingly big.

Maybe because the cathedral is nestled between other buildings, so it's a bit difficult to evaluate its actual size.

It is very lovely, with colourful stained glass windows, and has just the right amount of ornaments. 

There are many interesting details that might escape your notice if you don't pay attention, like the fact that each column has a different pattern on it.

I didn't have the patience to actually represent those patterns on my sketch, nor did I feel like working on the perspective. I just picked up a few watercolour pencils and started skribbling.

And while the result is probably not a masterpiece, I did enjoy myself immensely and find the sketch more interesting than the other one above. 

Around the Cathedral

On our latest sketchcrawl we decided to explore Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg city.

The cathedral was built by Jesuits in the XVIIth century in the late gothic style with many Renaissance elements.

As luck would have it, the weather was pleasant enough to stay outside for a while and we all tackled this beautiful building from different angles before heading inside.

   

Thank you for the pictures, Leen!

Next time, 6th December, we'll go to the Christmas market, so bring warm clothes!

The Place de l'Europe at Kirchberg, Luxemburg

Since 22 years I have been working on the Plateau de Kirchberg in Luxemburg, the first 11 years on the 21st floor of a building nicknamed le radiateur and the next 11 years on the 13th floor of one of the tower buildings of the Porte de l'Europe.

When I first came to work here, our building was at the edge of the Kirchberg quarter: behind the piscine olympique you could see meadows, cows and forests...

Since then the area has developed swiftly to a very busy quarter, home to European institutions, banks, businesses, a big shopping centre, a cinema complex and last but not least the Philharmonie, the prima donna of the Place de l'Europe.

Although not the most romantic or picturesque location, the Kirchberg offers great challenges for painters and sketchers, with state of the art architecture and all its reflective glass and steel. For years I 've been trying to capture its mood; after all it is the daily backdrop to my working life. As soon as the weather allows it I take every opportunity to go sketching during lunch breaks.

And they still have not finished building....

Leen Van Bogaert

Luxemburg

See more Kirchberg sketches? https://www.flickr.com/photos/67040949@N02/albums/72157634339688734