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

November Sketchcrawl

Hello dear sketchers,

It looks like the gray weather is here to stay, so we will look for shelter at the cathedral in Luxembourg city for our November outing.

If the sun decides to show itself, we can sketch the building from outside, if not, we can sketch the cathedral's interior.

Given that the first Sunday of the month is a holiday, this time we are meeting on the 8 November at 2 pm at the entrance of the cathedral.

See you next week!

KNUEDLER bis

Depuis environ une année, je participe régulièrement au "gekritzels" de notre groupe d'urban sketching.

Déjà la première fois, j'avais l'impression de m'y trouver entre amis et cette impression s'est confirmée chaque fois que nous nous sommes rencontrés.

Je ne peux qu'inviter tout et chacun à nous rejoindre car l'accueil au sein de notre groupe est très cordial et chaleureux, et chacun de nous est loin de réussir tout ce qu'il tente de "sketcher". Prenez donc votre courage en deux mains et venez vous amuser avec nous.

Ce petit article est ma première intervention sur ce blog et c'est Béliza, la bonne âme des urban sketchers Luxembourg, qui ma fourni les explications nécessaires. Merci beaucoup Béliza!! Merci aussi à tous les autres qui m'ont conseillé sur le traitement des photos et images.

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

So there was a garage sale at Knuedler

Yesterday, we met at Place Guillaume II in Luxembourg to participate in this year's last vide-grenier (a sort of garage sale) in our own way, sketching.

It was a great occasion to see the Knuedler in a different light and draw people, unusual objects or just the whole place.

Our group of regulars was joined by Marisol, a Canadian sketching enthusiast who has recently arrived to Luxembourg.

Most participants decided to tackle the task of sketching the whole scene, with quite some success, as can be seen below.

Unfortunately, as October weather goes, it started getting a bit chilly after a while, so we took refuge at Kaale Kaffi, always a great place to end the day.

Next month, we'll have to find a place indoor. The location is yet to be determined, but the date is already fixed: see you on 8th November!

Across the ruins of the Mansfeld Castle in Clausen

This Saturday, during the "Journées du Patrimoine", we had the chance to access the protected site of the "Mansfeldschlass" in Luxembourg-Clausen.
We have been sketching while visitors were guided across the site by volunteers of the Service des Sites et Monuments Nationaux.
A very few stones remain, lots have been modified in the time by the common people who lived there afterward. Hard to imagine how famous this place was at the time... with fountains, gardens and foreign animals.

After that, as usual, we took a glass, this time at the "Café Deieregaard" nearby, and other subjects to sketch...
Funny time!

Arnaud De Meyer
blog : sketching the place

October Sketchcrawl

Hello dear sketchers,

For our October sketchcrawl, let's visit the last vide-grenier of the year in Luxembourg city.

Weather permitting, we will be able to sketch visitors and exhibitors on the Guillaume II square. We can always take refuge on one of the surrounding cafés if needed.

Let's meet in front of Cercle Cité on the Place d'Armes on Sunday 4th October at 14:00.

See you soon and don't forget your pencils! :)

About USk Luxembourg and LUCA

First of all I am very happy to reach the blog for this first post!
Thank you Beliza ;-)

Since some years, on the initiative of Jean-Paul Carvalho, LUCA, the luxembourgish Center for Architecture, proposed urban sketching sessions taking place once a month, in Luxembourg City or somewhere else in Luxembourg.

As Jean-Paul met Beliza Mendes a few months ago, we decided to join together under the label of Urban Sketchers Luxembourg.
From now, LUCA will organise one sketching session per month that will be integrated in the USk-Lux program. LUCA will try to give to the sketchers exceptional access to particular places of interest.

We are organizing a common calendar for all the events about sketching.
We will keep you informed soon!
For more information about LUCA, visit www.luca.lu

session at the Fort des Trois Glands / Drei Eechëlen

with Andrea Rumpf, director of LUCA, Jean-Paul Carvalho and the participants to the session in Diekirch, April 2015

session in Belval, July 2015

Arnaud De Meyer
blog : sketching the place

MOBILITÉIT.LU

Public transport and busses are the same everywhere: they offer great possibilities for sketchers. One has a lot of time for observation when there is a lot of traffic.

Luxemburg has a well organised public transport network. Busses tend to be not too crowded so that you can easily get out your sketching gear and make good use of the traffic jams.

 

 

Luxemburg means "banks"! So chances are big that if you take a bus going over Kirchberg you can get a good model of a typical banker…

For more bus sketches: see https://www.flickr.com/photos/67040949@N02/albums/72157655881038762

 

Leen Van Bogaert