Lazy Sunday afternoon on the Mosel bank

For the August sketchcrawl we went to Remich, at the border with Perl, Germany. Or rather, we went to Perl, at the border with Remich.

It was Leen's brilliant idea to sketch on the German side, thus enjoying the beautiful sights on the Mosel river while avoiding the crowds.

Under the shade provided by trees, we had a variety of subjects: the boats, the people, the landscape, the café. I chose to sketch a boat (ship) that had just docked called Iris.

We were quite the novelty there, with many people stopping to observe us. It was after I heard the third Luxembourgian person around us that I realized that forget Remich: this side of the river is actually where all the Luxembourgers go to enjoy the Mosel river.

This sketch is off to greener pastures

One of the skippers of the Iris stopped by to admire our work. He hinted not very subtly at the fact that he would love to keep my sketch, so I obliged. It is always flattering to have an admirer.

We had planned to meet again at 3 pm to share our sketches, but it was so nice to be in the sun and just sketch and talk that when we looked at the time it was almost 4 pm. High time to go for a drink and sketch each other and counter-sketch in retaliation!

It's difficult to capture an Italian woman's natural elegance on paper. Maria Grazia did not approve

It was a fun afternoon and I highly recommend to anyone going to the Mosel to enjoy Remich in Perl.

INCAOS - CASINO

The April Sketchcrawl took place at the Casino - Forum d'Art contemporain in Luxembourg city.

We were curious to see what the Casino looked like after it had been closed for some months for some works.

The whole ground floor was changed and a cafeteria was added, the one thing I always thought was missing at that museum.

A few of us braved the wind and sketched outside. There was just time enough for this sketch before it started raining.

I like how the letters of the Casino were shifted and spell "Incaos", a remnant from an exhibition a few years ago. It feels like an insider joke.

Sadly I had to leave early, so I didn't have time for more than one sketch. It was great to see a few new participants.

I always love how different each person's interpretation is!

Overlooking the city

Last Sunday, we met with Urban Sketchers Luxembourg at the Observatoire, the bar of hotel Sofitel.

I had heard that it offered an amazing view of the city, but I had never been there before. I was not disappointed.

Everyone was drawn to the windows and tried their best to sketch the cityscape.

Personally, I am not used to that exercise at all and I found it very difficult, getting lost in too many details at some point.

There was a moment when I realized that I would never get to the kind of result I was expecting, so I just started to try out different things, playing with colour, ink and pencil. It was much more fun this way.

We do live in a beautiful city!

After the difficult landscape, I took a "break" and sketched the beautiful tea set in front of me. It really felt like I was breathing easily again. I'm definitely not at ease with big city scapes yet.

Green tea to get in a more zen mood

It's interesting how a change of subject can help me get much more playful with my sketches. I felt much looser to do a quick detail of one of the main bridges, the Pont Viaduc.

I love bridges

As I mentioned, this was a very unusual exercise for me, but one I think I will repeat in the future. Specially at this location.

Ping...

... and pong!

I should probably say table tennis, but ping pong sounds so much more fun!

For our sketchcrawl in February we met at the National Sports Centre, d'Coque, in Kirchberg.

It is the perfect place to take shelter from the cold, the wind and the rain, and it offers the possibility to sketch a more sportive environment.

That day, a table tennis competition was taking place, a great opportunity to try our hands at sketching a sports event.

At first I tried to sketch one or the other player in particular, but it quickly became apparent that it would be more frustrating than fun, so I focused purely on very fast action drawings.

I have to admit I'm not a particular fan of table tennis, but watching the games was pretty interesting.

After a while, I noticed that most players, even some of the younger ones, have their own styles, some more theatrical than others, specially when serving.

Denis invited us all for a drink at the refreshment stalls to celebrate his birthday. Perfect moment to share our impressions and watch some of the games.

In the end, I was so engrossed in trying to capture the action that I didn't even find out who won the competition. 

I did, however, learn that ping pong can be a pretty impressive sport.

And yet it moves

Eppur si muove is the title of the exhibition held at the Mudam when we went there for our monthly sketchcrawl.

The exhibition focuses on the links between the fields of the visual arts and technology, as well as the influence that the history of the sciences and technology has exercised on contemporary arts.

It was the ideal place to take refuge on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

I was immediately attracted to an installation with a vespa, showing its different parts and how they fit together. Like an autopsy of sorts. There was something kind of poetic in the way all the parts were hanging from the ceiling.

Unfortunately I forgot to check what the name of this piece was, but here is my attempt at capturing it.

Imagine all the pieces floating in the room

One of the stars of the exhibition seemed to be Jean Tinguely's installation called Fatamorgana Méta-Harmonie IV. A button on the floor activated the machine, which then started making various noises.

Each part had a different colour, though

It was a very popular attraction, with many people waiting to see what the machine would do next.

I was surprised at the number of visitors in the museum, to be honest. Excellent occasion to quickly capture people on paper.

A guided tour was taking place. Unfortunately I was too far to hear what was being said

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.

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

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. 

A very busy Knuedler

Last Sunday's Sketchcrawl at the garage sale on Place Guillaume II (Knuedler) was a great occasion to practice sketching a busy scene.

It is always daunting, but I felt encouraged by my fellow sketcher's enthusiasm and here is the result. I might colour it at some point, but I'm happy with it as it is for now.

I love the lion overlooking the place

We then went to Kaale Kaffi to warm up and sketch each other / the café / the people. Delicious ginger lemon tea and good company, that's all you need on a grey Sunday afternoon.

Marisol, Christine, Carlo, Denis and Nancy ; our merry group

Sketching where the artists are

"Konscht am Gronn" (Art in the Grund) is an event taking place every first Sunday of the month between May and October where artists from Luxembourg and the Greater Region come to sell their art in what is basically an art market.

It has been taking place for a few years now, but I have to admit that it was the first time I actually went there.

Last Sunday, met at Scott's pub and had a pre-sketching drink on the sunny terrace. I was happy to see a couple of new faces and some that I hadn't seen for a while. It is particularly great to see the usual suspects who are slowly becoming friends.

We dispersed in search of our desired sketching subjects, but we didn't have to go far. For my part I actually only went 10 meters before settling down in front of a street musician playing an old music box.

This gentleman told me he would be back in October

It was lovely to sketch to the sound of songs from Mary Poppins and witness people coming and going. "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down" and a bit of music with a few sunrays make the sketching even more fun.

We quickly became the focus of interest of some of the passers-by. Some of them probably thought we were part of the artists exhibiting there.

After putting our first drawings together we headed to a different location in the direction of Abbaye Neumünster.

The view from there on the corniche above is absolutely beautiful and I never get tired of sketching it. We only had 30 minutes, though, because we had very serious business to attend to, namely gathering for another drink to sketch and chat.

A view of Luxembourg-city without a crane would be incomplete, haha

I managed to add new faces to my sketchbook. None shall escape my portrait attempts (*evil laughter*)!

Nancy, Anneke and Christine

Sketching in a heatwave

For last Sunday's sketchcrawl, we met in Niederanven with the aim to go sketch the Aarnescht region.

However, with the intense heat wave going through Luxembourg and the weather forecast announcing storms, we decided that hiking was not the best option for the day and we stayed in Niederanven instead.

We started with a sketch in the park of the Kulturhaus, where we were sheltered from the sun by beautiful trees.

I spy a few sketchers

However, in spite of the lovely cool shade, my brain seemed to be completely fried, so I was glad when Leen offered to go sit in her garden, sip an early apéritif and eat delicious watermelon.

The usual suspects were there and we drank wine and drew each other.

Leen, Carlo, Denis, Zeta and Rosemarie

Sometimes, when your brain is fried by the heat, all you need is a quiet sketching session around a drink with a few friends.

Sketching in Limpertsberg

For our meeting at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg last Sunday a couple of new faces showed up, which is always a great surprise.

As we were by the Grand Théâtre, we decided to sketch it, too. I find the building a bit tricky with all its slanted windows, but it was fun to try and I also found an interesting looking fire hydrant which served as a nice break from the building.

There was a party the previous day

All fire hydrants should be this original

It turned out the cycling Tour de Luxembourg was passing through Limpertsberg, so we had time to see a few cyclists rushing by before we headed out in search of a nice café or pub.

We found a nice Lebanese restaurant (L-Bey) that only served drinks and sweets at that time. Perfect for a short drink & draw break.

The people there were very friendly and even offered us some cakes. I definitely recommend this place.

Old and new sketchers :)

Time flies and we only had time for one more stop after this. Leen took us to a small park at the top of Limpertsberg where I saw these interesting trees (I think they were birches) through which cars and houses were peeking.

Levels are still tricky...

Our little group is getting bigger and more regular, which I'm very happy about. Plus, we are soon going to become the national USk chapter for Luxembourg. Stay tuned for that!

Sketching at Kaale Kaffi

Last Sunday's sketchcrawl meeting was thwarted by the rain, so we did the next best thing: we went to Kaale Kaffi.

Kaale Kaffi is a peculiar and very interesting place I first discovered during a sketchcrawl with Leen. It is a mixture between a coffee shop, a second-hand shop and an antiques shop.

From outside it looks like a regular second-hand shop, but when you look closely you discover that you can go in and spend time surrounded by a variety of old objects and clothes.

Most items can be purchased, which is why the inside setup changes on a regular basis.

So the rain pushed us to go in and we ended up spending over 2 hours there with Leen, Carlo and Aniela.

Carlo and Leen busy sketching. Aniela was on my left side

There are so many interesting things that the most difficult part is to choose what to sketch. I think I could fill a whole sketchbook with this place alone.

As an example of the variety of objects you can find there, I was sitting next to a mannequin set up in a running motion, standing by a table with an old candelabra and picture frame (complete with the old sepia picture) on it.

Run, Forest, run!

Next time I will try to make a sketch of the place as a whole. I think it will take me at least 2 hours, but it would definitely be fun.

Despite our small numbers, we were quite productive, as you can see below. Thank you, Leen, for this great picture!

Sketchcrawl in Esch-Belval

For our sketchcrawl in Esch-Belval, we were lucky to have Olga with us as our guide.

I was pleasantly surprised to see about 10 people turn up at our meeting point. Our group is getting bigger and bigger!

Our first stop was around les Hauts Fourneaux, the blast furnace, in Belval. This structure represents Belval's industrial heritage and is now open to the public.

Just a tiny part of the ancient blast furnace

Today, the Belval site is constantly expanding and its regeneration programme's ambition is to turn the ancient industrial site into a large scientific and cultural centre, with new offices, appartments, a busy music venue (Rockhal), a university and many public administrations moving there.

Olga took us to the high school from where we had a great view on the whole site. It is a perfect place to grasp the magnitude of the works being undertaken there.

I am very curious to see how Belval develops in the future.

Cranes everywhere

Sketchcrawl with LUCA at Villa Vauban

I'm a bit late posting my sketches from our outing with LUCA at Villa Vauban last month.

We were blessed with great weather and many people turned up. It was a lot of fun.

This time I felt a bit less daunted about drawing the building. After last time's sketching session with Leen there, I guess I'm starting to know the building a bit better.

Playing with contrasts

It was a great opportunity to meet new sketching enthusiasts, increase our small group of usual sketchers.

Zeta and another sketcher

We finished the afternoon with a nice drink & draw, one of my favourite parts of any sketchcrawl.

@ Weschtesgaart

I think we'll be collaborating more with LUCA in the future, which is a very exciting prospect.

Sweating at the Coque

Last Sunday we had went to d'Coque (the shell), the olympic-size swimming pool in Kirchberg.

It is an interesting sketching place if you wish to try your hand at drawing people in motion.

However, be sure to think of wearing lighter clothes, as the temperature is pretty high there and the air is humid.

I admire some people's dedication to swimming regularly. I love swimming and being in the water in general, but it's difficult for me to find the motivation to go out and do it.

There are simply too many people and it's a hassle to have to avoid each other in the water constantly.

Maybe if I had my own pool I would use it all the time? Note to self: must get rich to be able to buy my own swimming pool!

It was so tricky to get some acceptable sketches of the swimmers!

The Coque has several swimming pools: the olympic-sized one, one for diving and 2 shallow ones. I also spotted one where they teach people to swim.

These 3 looked so cute together!

I remember coming to the Coque for sports class in highschool. We were also allowed to try the diving boards at the end of the class, but I never got higher than the second board.

Actually no, I got to the third one once. It was quite a painful experience for I landed on my butt. Never again! Haha

I didn't quite finish this one. Maybe I'll go back sometime.

After sweating at the pool for a bit, we decided to end our outing with a traditional drink-and-draw - my favourite part of every sketchcrawl - and went to the Chocolate House.

That place is always crowded, but we were only three people this time, so it was easier to find a spot.

Their cakes are particularly popular.

Looking forward to the next outing!

Sketches from the Krëschtmaart

I have to admit that I had to push myself to go out and sketch, with the cold and all, but I'm really glad I did. It was fun to be among the Christmas crowd and to experience the Krëschtmaart in a different way.

We (this time only Leen and I) started out at Place d'Armes, where you can find a lot of food stalls, music and even a carousel and blacksmiths.

There were pumpkin carriages, elephants, ducks, bears, even a Mickey Mouse

They were crafting angels out of metal

Before heading out to another one we made a stop at a coffee shop called Kaale Kaffi (litt. cold coffee). Luckily they also had hot beverages and we were able to warm ourselves up.

It was my first time there and I have to say I loved the place. It's full of second-hand clothes and old items that you can buy. One of the waiters told me that the interior decoration was constantly changing.

In short: a sketcher's paradise.

Very elegant mannequins

Apparently this Thierry Mugler piece is very popular

Leen and I finished our tour at the Christmas market on Place de la Constitution, where the Gëlle Fra (litt. golden lady) is.

What I love about this particular market is that every year they dedicate one part of the location to one specific country or region. This year it's Alsace, so you can get tasty tarte flambée (or Flammekueche, as they call it there) and other specialties from that region.

There is also a ferris wheel and even a Santa Claus waiting for people to take photos with him inside a giant bubble. It almost looks like a giant snow globe.

Santa seemed a tiny bit lonely in there

Sketches from the 45th WW SketchCrawl

For the 45th worldwide SketchCrawl I met with Zeta, a sketcher who also attended the USK Symposium in Paraty, and with one of my good friends, Tessy.

The weather was wonderful for this time of the year and we were able to sketch outside.

Our first stop was at place Clairfontaine in the centre of Luxembourg-City.

I was in a mood for colour and experimentation, so I mainly used my watercolour pencils and then a normal pencil for some details.

Choosing the colours was tricky, but I quite like this combination

After a short break and hot coffee we decided to continue to Den Huelen Zant (literally the "hollow tooth").

These remains from the past are among my favourite things in Luxembourg-city

It was such fun to be out sketching with the girls in the knowledge that all over the world fellow sketchers and friends were doing the same.

Can't wait to see their sketches of the day.