Urban Sketcher

Documenting urban life in Vancouver and beyond.

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My urban sketches are published in the Berlin newspaper!

Posted on Dec 31, 2012 in Berlin | 1 comment

Urban Sketchers article in the Berliner Zeitung

Two of my sketches were published in the Dec. 29/30 weekend edition of the Berliner Zeitung, the main newspaper here in Berlin. You can click on this image to see it open in another page, then click on it again to magnify.

When I came back from Osnabrück, I saw that the Berliner Zeitung had published the article about Urban Sketchers that Omar had told me about. I was able to get two copies of the Dec. 29/30 weekend paper. The article featured two of my sketches! It was a big thrill to see my artwork published here in Berlin. It’s like an official confirmation that I have contributed something to the artist scene here.

Here is a link to the article online if you can read German. It also includes a gallery of more sketches from several other people.

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Altes Museum in Berlin

Posted on Dec 31, 2012 in Berlin | 0 comments

Late brunch at Anna Blume

Our late brunch at Anna Blume Cafe involved a 3-tiered contraption for two starting with savoury items at the bottom to the fruit and sweet jams at the top. When you have this breakfast at 2 pm, who needs any more food for the rest of the day? I am all for eating just two big meals a day.

On December 30, Jeff got the full picture of my typical day in Berlin (since I usually sleep from about 4, 5 or 6 am until 11 am): we had a good long sleep until about noon, went out for breakfast around 1:30 pm, then walked for a while and just made it to the Altes Museum on the Berlin Museum Island around 4:00 pm where we had to line up for about 20 minutes to get in.

The tricky thing in this Berlin winter for me has been to see any daylight at all; my western Canadian work schedule (and OK, my art/blogging/natural inclination) usually has me up working during the night, and sleeping well into the day, so that by the time I get out on the town, it’s often around 2:30 pm. Then dusk starts by 3:30 pm at this time of year, meaning that I only see one hour of daylight on many days. But from speaking with my new illustrator/designer friends I have found that many of them keep a similar schedule, and they don’t even have the excuse of working for clients that are 9 time zones away. We night owls get a lot done, we just don’t do it when the early birds think it should be done.

And at the end of our day, we went to a small sauna in my neighbourhood, the Saunabad Rykestrasse, which has only two saunas but costs only €10 for a 2.5 hour visit. We very much enjoyed this small sauna at the end of our day.

Berlin bottles

Despite many holidays in a row, the Berlin garbage and recycling collection department is clearly not about to add extra shifts, they are just letting it pile up until they get around to removing it on their regular rotation.

Berlin TV Tower and Dome

From our line-up for the Altes Museum, we could see the Berlin TV Tower and Dome. This is what happens when you subscribe to the night owl lifestyle. You finally start doing something just as it’s getting dark.

Altes Museum, Berlin

Staircase in the Altes Museum, Berlin. I’ve been captured by the grand staircases in the museums I visit. Perhaps because those are usually the only places where photography is allowed. That said, all of the Berlin State Museums do seem to allow photography, so I was able to capture some art that caught my eye. See below.

Portrait of Theodor Mommsen by Franz von Lenbach, 1897

Portrait of Theodor Mommsen by Franz von Lenbach, 1897. While I am a big admirer of abstract and modern art, the sheer craft of draftsmanship is something that most people, including artists, never master. The ability to create reality in a drawing instills awe in people, and in me too.

"Old Man and Raven" by Ilja Repin, 1885

“Old Man and Raven” by Ilja Repin, 1885. The light and shadow and the economic means in which they are depicted in this very small painting, and its energy, captured me.

"Young Man Standing" by Adolf von Hildebrand, 1881-1884

“Young Man Standing” by Adolf von Hildebrand, 1881-1884. I think there should be more portraits of gorgeous young men, not just always women.

"The Bronze Age" by Auguste Rodin, 1875/76

“The Bronze Age” by Auguste Rodin, 1875/76. Ditto.

"The Princess Warwara Wassiljewna Galitzin" by Heinrich Friedrich Füger, 1798(?)

“The Princess Warwara Wassiljewna Galitzin” by Heinrich Friedrich Füger, 1798(?). I was drawn in by the orange shawl — my favourite colour.

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