Umberella meeting of Urban Sketchers Berlin

'Urban Sketchers Berlin' Met up yesterday in the Market hall on Bergmann Strasse (I've always known it as this only to discover recently it's called 'Marheinekhalle'. We were a healthy sized group and it was great to met, in person, a few people whom I know only as three centimeter photos on the Internet. The weather was not at all conducive to drawing or painting of any form luckily the Markthalle has a roof and we all remained in doors.

Fruchthaus Lorenzen

 They were all very busy at the fruit stand but the boss gave me the luxury of a three minute pose

Some familiar and some not so familiar faces of 'Berlin Urban Sketchers'. While we are not quite Honk Kong's Umbrella movement we are moving with Umbrella's.

After a strenuous round of afternoon sketching there was a little trouble finding a restaurant that was both big enough for a group of our size, and interesting enough inside to give us all something to draw. In the end Cafe Josephine won our custom I ignored the decor and drew Werner, Annette and Christian. It was great to have the opportunity to met up with the group again and thanks top Katrin for organising it  

Organ grinders alive and well

Organ Grinders, (or "Leierkasten", "Lyre cabinet" men as they are referred to in German) are alive and well on the streets of Berlin but their monkeys have been stuffed. Here's one spotted recently on the train looking absolutely spiffing old chap.

taking a well deserved reading break

 Perhaps it is all in a name. I used to see organ grinders in Dublin when I was growing up but they are now a thing of the distant past, no longer to be seen. The name "Organ grinder" has negative connotations, and has had for quite some time. Where as It wouldn't necessarily bother if me if I heard the 'Lyre cabinet' man was coming around the corner... even if he was dressed very similar to Otto von Bismark...

'Lyre cabinet' man in front of Alexanderplatz station with a stuffed monkey

Proper Nouns

 People in  Places

Just People

People in Places with some Things

People in Places

could be Lassie

A look at people from place to place

Pencils at dawn,  10 minute sketches in diary

 On the Ubahn with the dog and the news paper

 Night and day train montage

two ladies on the train

Two ladies on the train.

Beach bums

  A marooned boat on the beach in Binz lets people know where the fishers beach starts beach bar is located a few kilometers back from the pier.

  in the same area of the beach there are always plenty bathers with or without clothes, strolling or lying leisurely around. 

 

Up the main street of Binz is the well known hotel Loew Hotel which stands as a classic example of “Bäderarchitektur” (bather architecture) with it’s exagerated and spacious balconies built so that, god forbid anyone should get a tan in the late 19^th century.

„Strandkörbe“ or beach baskets such as this one speckle the length of Binz beach. In the main belonging to the many Hotels which now line the promenade, they can be rented for the day or weekend for a reasonable price. 

ESDIP Berlin life drawing

Life drawing with the great model Evilyn Frantic

A look at Benny, Boats, and a beer in Breege

 

This is Benny, he is the three wheel van that carries the same name as his owner who also owns the smart little fish takeaway in Breege harbour, Benny is used daily to deliver and pick up the fish for the takeaway when not doing this he generally hangs around the harbour car park. 

 

Behind Benny are the Breege harbour public toilets and shower facilities. These facilities are used by the docked sailors, fishermen and yacht owners. they are cleverly disguised as a quaint little thatched cottage. 

 

 Turning to the Harbour itself and looking out across the Jasmunder bodden, moored on the pier are all types and sizes of boats including here depicted the "Phoenix".

 

 A thatched theme is in evidence all over Breege. Here made to look like a herons nest to attract the attention of passing tourists to a local bicycle hire shop. (The Heron is plastic)

another view over the Jasmunder bodden the one that cost me twelve mosquito bites on the sketchpad holding left hand, still not sure if it was worth the preceding three days of pain.  

 

 Finally time for a beer.

Rembradt Bugatti exhition in Berlin

I managed to catch the last day of the Rembrandt Bugatti exhibition in the Alt Gallerei last sunday and it was a great exercise in animal anatomy and generally enriching experience. I still find it unbelievable that he sculpted all of these animals "vor ort" so to speak, in the zoos of Paris and Antwerp.

The speed and accuracy at which he must have worked to form these plaster pieces must have been phenominal. Animals I generally find to be very reluctant or ambivalent models, and moving so quick, very difficult to capture in sketch or painting. I read an anecdote about him that he kept Two Antilopes in his Atelier on loan from Paris zoo, for a length of time to get a good look at them, I don`t think that would be  legal today?.

His early death at 31 by suicide was another tragic repercussion of the affects of the first world war.
He died after the demise of nearly all of the animals(through starvation) in Antwerp zoo, which he had so
tenderly and lovingly paid homage to.

We`re travelling to the east sea again. Wir fahren noch mal an die ostsee.

The initial waiting in Friedrich Strasse was made a good bit less tedious with these colorful cake buying characters. 

 Once on the Island of Rügen it`s into the car with us and on to further exotic destinations

  

 To Binz and the "Haus des Gastes" where everyone gets married

 

And again in the car and the open road,

 

 To Sassnitz the fishing port where only the best herring Fish bread rolls are sold  

then onward yet again to god only knows where ...

.... oh home again,  with the idyllic viewof farm yard

(Not finish will scan in finshed version l8r)

Football fever

for the entire duration of the Brazilian World Cup, Union Berlin stadium in Köpenick, gave up it's playing field to couches brought in by fans in order to watch the matches. A gigantic stage was set up in front of one the stadiums stands and given a make over of 70's style wall paper with gigantic bookshelves, photo frames and of course a humungous TV screen in the centre. A real homey feel was given to a venue with capacity for 21,000 people). We got tickets to see the World Cup final here, as Mario Götze scored the winning goal for German 'Uwe' a man I had never met before hugged me and gave me his Union scarf saying "dass schenke Ich dir" Stadion An der Alten Försterei (Stadium by the old forester's house)

Johnny Lang

Johnny Lang playing a blinder here in columbia Halle in Berlin 

(his hands do not actually look like this in real life, they just move very very quickly)

Pulling Trams in Woltersdorf

A few weeks back a friend of ours told us about a Tram festival that was scheduled for the following weekend in Woltersdorf a lovely small  town east of Berlin. The day before the event he rang me and told me I had been signed up by his son in law to pull one of the trams in a race against the clock. I agreed at the time but was glad to be on the bench as reserve, number 11 in a team of 10. It would have taken two of me to fit into the most other members t-shirt, they won a case of strong beer with a time of 9.4 seconds against 4 or five other teams of ten. They hold the title Woltersdorf starke Männer 2014   

There were also vintage trams to be seen, and drawn at the event. This number 218 is a renovated 101 year old Tram now used for weddings and special occasions. While, Linus, opposite, my friends grandchild is soon to turn 1 himself.

"Huxley's Neue Welt", "John Butler Trio"

 

It was great to see "The John Butler Trio" play here in Berlin a couple of weeks back. I had a ticket for sale outside the gig and a tout told me "You have no chance, they've all gone in already" touts all over the world seem to share the same positive outlook on life.  two minutes after he said this I sold the ticket and went in with a score in my back pocket.

The gig was great and there was no shortage of looks from my fellow attendees as if I had 10 heads when I took out the sketch book and attempted to draw in the dark.  

Schönhauser Alle

 

Still fighting with felt tip markers. The beauty of the broad tip is that it forces one to loosen up and build up from large blocks of colour. A technique which I need plenty more practice in. 

This one is from Schönhauser Alle looking onto the S-Bahn station from the retaurant  "An einem Sonntag im August". just around the corner not to be seen in this picture is the infamous curry wurst stand "Knopkes" with more than 100 year heritage of selling sausages to Berliners.  

We meet up with a good size gathering of the Urban Sketchers Berlin group for brunch buffet, (not exactly breakfast and not really lunch) last weekend here on a day in May in the high twenty degree Berlin heat. Next stop was the giant Karaokee in Mauer Park organised by a slightly mad Irish man every Sunday the sketch of which must remain under the bed forever.

  

On the train journey the previous day I coincidentally sat opposite an elderly gent who I had drawn before from a different angle. The drawing on the left was done in January and on the right done last week. let me know if which is your favourite