artacartablog

Chocolade en afvallen

2011-12-31T16:36:00.000+01:00

Als je, net als ik, verslaafd bent aan chocolade, kun je toch afvallen: wel chocolade, maar minder & beter.
In plaats van een hele chocoladeletter naar binnen te schuiven ga je naar een echte chocolatier, eentje van naam en faam. Koop daar één bonbon. Puur natuurlijk, de echte chocolade-junk eet puur. De rest, melk- en witte chocolade, is kinderspul, snoepgoed.
Ga met voorpret in je hoofd naar huis. Straks mag je chocolade gaan eten!
Thuisgekomen zet je de voordeurbel af, de telefoon uit, de tv of radio uit, je mobiel af en leg je huisgenoten het zwijgen op.
Leg de bonbon midden op de lege eettafel, op je mooiste schaaltje. Hoe kleiner het schaaltje hoe beter. Hierdoor zal de bonbon groter lijken. Concentreer je op de bonbon, maak hem het middelpunt van je gedachten. Van je gedachten? Van je 'zijn', van je hele wezen!
Pak de bonbon voorzichtig op en ruik eraan, doe je ogen dicht. Ruik de lange reis die de cacaoboon heeft afgelegd. Ruik wat de chocoladekunstenaar waar je deze bonbon gekocht hebt heeft gedaan met de pure cacao.
Dan neem je een hapje en je stelt je voor dat je de hele bonbon in je mond hebt - maar dat is niet zo, je hebt maar een klein hapje genomen, toch?
Je concentreert je, je proeft chocolade tot de achterste smaakpapillen op je tong. NIET KAUWEN. Laat de chocolade smelten door de warmte van je mond. Zo komt het volledige bouquet van dit kunststukje vrij. Voel hoe de chocolade langzaam doorglijdt naar je slokdarm, een echo van heerlijke smaak in je mondholte achterlatend.
Dan open je je ogen en ziet dat dit nog maar één hapje was, er is meer! In je hand heb je nog steeds een bonbon. Er zitten nog minstens drie of vier hapjes aan. Neem een volgend hapje en herhaal de oefening van hierboven. Vermijdt te denken aan de bonbon in je hand en concentreer je op het spektakel in je mond.
Herhalen tot de bonbon in je mond verdwenen is. Ontspan je en laat de smaak zich nestelen in je geheugen.
Dit is een lastig moment. Het liefst zou je gewoontegetrouw nog een bonbon in je mond steken, en nog één en nog één. Tot de bonbonnière leeg is. Maar gelukkig heb je er maar één gekocht.
Zet je mobiel en de TV weer aan, geef je huisgenoten permissie om weer te bewegen en te spreken en vergeet de voordeurbel niet. Denk aan de volgende week, als je, heel misschien, weer zo'n grote bonbon gaat kopen.
Je zult zien, dat in de uren hierna, net als na goede seks, de herinnering van tijd tot tijd een dromerige glimlach op je gezicht tovert.

De neuro's schieten te hulp

2011-12-03T07:43:00.001+01:00

Dit was echt een feestje om te tekenen en schrijven. De meest beschamende Hollanders op vakantie. Ze willen wel meer zon voor minder geld, maar voor de rest deugt er niets van hun vakantiebestemming en zijn ze blij als ze weer naar huis mogen.

Het griekse drama ontrolt zich

2011-11-27T07:55:00.001+01:00

Na wat tekstuele verbeteringen in de vorige pagina te hebben aangebracht, verder met de volgende pagina. Terugkijkend op al mijn stripwerk, mis ik close ups van mensen. Ik ga daar beter mijn best op doen en hier is de eerste poging, vader Dimitri Mitropanis:

Na een weekend lang worstelen

2011-11-21T07:55:00.001+01:00

Het verhaal is nog jong en moet nog groeien. Wat wordt de toon, hoever gaat de detaillering, wat zijn de kleuren. Dat soort dingen. Maar na dit week end ben ik hoopvol.

Het verhaal is begonnen!

2011-11-20T07:26:00.001+01:00

Het verhaal is begonnen. Ik ben benieuwd hoe het verder gaat. Ik weet wel wat ik vertellen wil, maar zo'n verhaal groeit als het ware organisch. Het beeld komt gaandeweg en bepaald hoe het verhaal verteld wordt.

Nieuwe strip?

2011-11-17T09:06:00.001+01:00

Ik ben weer tegen een mooi verhaal aangelopen waarvan ik denk dat ik wel een strip kan maken. Het speelt in Griekenland en gaat over economie. Kan het actueler?

Nieuws uit Memory lane

2011-11-02T14:42:00.002+01:00

Ik herinner het me natuurlijk niet zelf, maar mijn moeder heeft het zo vaak en met zoveel kleur verteld, dat ik het beeld op mijn netvlies gebrand is. Het is dus nog maar 60 jaar geleden, dat niet christenen in Amsterdam niet in een katholiek of protestants ziekenhuis werden opgenomen!

Nog meer Spakenburg

2011-10-23T08:29:00.003+02:00

De botterwerf van Spakenburg is helemaal operationeel, maar oogt als eenmuseum. En niet veranderd sinds ik hier op mijn fietstochtjes kwam.

Spakenburg-Bunschoten

2011-10-22T10:00:00.002+02:00

Met mijn zusje uit USA, die heel erg geïnteresseerd is in klederdracht, naar Spakenburg geweest. Feest der herkenning. Als jongetje maakte ik langer zwerftochten op de fiets. Kwam zo ook in Spakenburg terecht. De botterwerf ligt er nog net zo bij als toen. En de vrouwen met de z.g.n. kraplappen kwam je vroeger overal in het gooi tegen. Nu nog alleen in Spakenburg en op markten waar vis of brood uit Spakenburg wordt verkocht.

UIt de serie 'Memory lane'

2011-08-29T07:45:00.004+02:00

Voor Memory lane deze tekening gemaakt voor een herinnering aan een vakantie aan de Loire. Vond hem zelf zo geslaagd, dat ik hem ook zonder tekst wilde zien. Dit is de brug van Charité-sur-Loire, een tikje naar het noorden bezien, zodat die grote, lleijke, maar karakteristieke kerktoren er niet op hoefde.

Zomaar een losse tekening

2011-08-20T07:42:00.002+02:00

Met Judith & Sarah een dagje Deventer gedaan. Een heel mooi stadshart, dat ik iedereen kan aanbevelen. In het zonnetje op terrasjes is ieder stad wel leuk, maar Deventer is extra leuk. Het verleidde mij zelfs tot een tekening, die geen onderdeel van een strip is …

Marum, Friesland

2011-08-15T13:19:00.002+02:00

Jaren heb ik in Friesland gewoond. Met wisselend genoegen. In Friesland wonen weinig mensen, maar de meesten zijn Fries …

Lamu

2011-08-09T14:54:00.002+02:00

Een aardsparadijs. Toen was het te saai voor mij, nu denk ik met weemoed aan het lanterfanteren daar. een beetje door de traditionele Swahili stad drentelen, af en toe nagroepen worden; 'Mezungu [witte]!".

Istanbul

2011-08-08T08:21:00.002+02:00

Overstaptijd in Istanbul, doorgebracht met zwarte thee en een orthodoxe rabbi. In de gouden hoorn met zicht op de Blauwe moskee en de Haya Sophia.

Jagtlust

2011-08-02T07:40:00.002+02:00

Peter Vos en Frans Pannekoek noemde het 'Het verloren Paradijs'. Ik noemde het destijds gewoon Paradijs, totdat de weg terug voorgoed was afgesloten …

Veliki Luki

2011-07-31T08:17:00.002+02:00

Tijdens een ballonwedstrijd in Veliki Luki, Rusland, staat ons - Jasper Coucke, Mathijs de Bruijn en ik - een Antonov A2 ter beschikking. Mathijs die met alles vliegt wat los en vast zit, vloog ons door het Russisch luchtruim.

Ibiza

2011-07-31T08:02:00.003+02:00

Hoewel ik me al hippie voelde, haar tot op mijn schouders had en in een Afghaanse herdersjas door het dorp liep, werd ik pas echt hippie toen ik naar Ibiza ging. 6 Maanden hield ik het Dolce va niente uit. Toen ben ik, gek van verveling, weer naar de beschaving die ik zo verwerpelijk vond gelift.

Op naar de Krim

2011-07-26T10:57:00.006+02:00

De wedstrijdleider bij een ballonwedstrijd geeft de ballonvaarders opdrachten op grond van de meteorologische condities en natuurlijk de wedstrijdregels. Mijn eerste buitenlandse klus als wedstrijdleider was het eerste nationaal kampioenschap van de Ukraine.

Kilimanjoro

2011-07-23T08:16:00.002+02:00

In 1990 ben ik met Hermen Molendijk naar de top van de Kilimanjaro gewandeld. Toen lag er aanzienlijk meer sneeuw op de top dan nu. Het vroor er 26 °C. Ik was kotsmisselijk en had barstende koppijn van de hoogteziekte.

Het Bonte Paard

2011-07-16T23:18:00.002+02:00

Een periode waar ik kennelijk met gemengde gevoelens naar kijk. Toch was het niet allemaal treurnis. Ik heb er ook lieve mensen ontmoet.

Bij gebrek aan …

2011-07-15T07:47:00.004+02:00

Omdat dit blog toch vooral voor bekenden van mij is, en de internationale doorbraak op zich laat wachten, hou ik op met dat aanstellerige engels en ga verder in mijn moers taal.
Bij gebrek aan nieuwe onderwerpen, maar wel geplaagd door 'tekendrang', ga ik maar wat herinneringen ophalen. Een autobiografie is het niet, dat verondersteld chronologie en volledigheid. Autobigrafisch is het wel. Echt gebeurd voorzover herinneringen ons niet bedriegen, wat ze wèl doen, is bewezen.

Into the ice pack

2011-05-15T14:20:00.007+02:00

Salomon Andrée is in trouble, right from the very start. After a splash and dash in the stone cold water, he now is loosing controle because of the lack of ballast. The balloon is dancing like a yoyo en entering the ceiling. That means ice on the balloon. Andree and the man are in to a bumpy ride ...

Part one of the Salomon Andrée story is finished

2011-05-05T06:13:00.003+02:00

Part one of the Salomon Andrée story is finished. Though all pages are made with equal care for composition and color aswel as the actual storytelling, I had to pick one to show here. I choose the return of Andrée and his expedition to Stockholm because I like it very much, don't know why. If you want to find your own favorite page, look at http://www.artcarta.nl

Going steady on Salomon Andrée

2011-04-27T14:27:00.003+02:00

Page by page the story of Andrée continues. The prologue - or 'Part one' is ready and to view at http://www.artacarta.nl
Salomon Andrée, Knut Freankel and Nils Strinberg are airborne. Now the drama unfolds itself step by step. I know what is comming but I'm still curious how it will develop.

Salomon Andree rivisited

2011-03-18T08:33:00.008+01:00

Started all over again with the story of Salomon Andrée and his companions, the unfortunate balloonists who attempted to cross the North Pole with his balloon.
This first page took me 2 day's to get it wright. Sometimes it seems that the first page is the hardest.
Before I made a shortstory of this, now L will try to telle the full story with juicy details and many drawings.

The shadow project

2011-02-26T23:21:00.008+01:00

Me and my shadow
Strolling down the avenue
Oh, me and my shadow
Not a soul to tell our troubles to …
A song by Whispering Jack Smith, where it all started with

Today I set the first step of the 'shadow project'. I will try to find writers to write dialogs for the shadow men, thus inspire me to make drawings. I'm hoping of a lot of response from all over the world. If you want to know more, look at artacarta.nl
So if you read this, think, write and send and don't forget to spread the word. I will do so to by every medium I can lay my hands on.

Portfolio

2011-02-17T06:36:00.006+01:00

At last my website Artacarta has a total new face: Simple and clear. It is now possible to see a story in thumbs real good and when you klick on the thumbs you get an image which you can read without your reading glasses. It's very funny to see recent story's like the Collyer Brothers together with my first one 'Geluksvogels.
[Klick her to go there]

A new hero

2011-02-07T12:47:00.000+01:00

Done!

2011-02-02T08:26:00.004+01:00

The Collyer brothers, my latest story is done. I put it on Flickr as a set [along with all my earlier work: www.flickr.com/photos/artacarta/sets/ ]
Enjoy, I tak a short rest until the next story comes along.

Finaly Langley Collyer was found

2011-01-25T13:17:00.005+01:00

The evacuation of the Collyer brothers house

2011-01-25T13:13:00.001+01:00

Two more page, the end is near …

2011-01-17T21:51:00.002+01:00

Collyer Brothers on Flickr!

2011-01-17T08:44:00.003+01:00

Get yourself a QR reader Apps

Been working hard, some of the result

2011-01-11T10:49:00.004+01:00

Improvement of the Collyer brother pages

2010-12-31T07:32:00.004+01:00

These pages were a little flat, by adding some background color in some of the pictures, the pages become so much mote lively.

Collyer brothers continue

2010-12-30T18:48:00.001+01:00

Collyer brothers continue

2010-12-25T09:46:00.003+01:00

I lover the atmosphere of this one. Some of my drawings make me happy, this is one of them.

Latest version: english

2010-12-23T07:39:00.007+01:00

Here is the hard labour of two snowy days

2010-12-20T11:48:00.005+01:00

Back to the real stuf

2010-12-12T22:49:00.004+01:00

I know this is not Harlem, but I really enjoyed making this drawing and so I want to use it. It's verry New York 1920 or so …

The poster version

2010-12-08T15:24:00.002+01:00

The marabu song complete

2010-11-28T08:11:00.003+01:00

I't getting grimm

2010-11-23T09:52:00.001+01:00

A litlle in between

2010-11-23T09:49:00.002+01:00

A small story inbetween. I heard a wonderful story somewhere that inspired me to a view pages.

Second attempt

2010-10-25T22:56:00.005+02:00

With the inflation it turned out the Eagle lost 35 cubic meter of gas each day.
And although good airmanship would have warned against it, Andree - who couldn't face an other humiliation - gave the order to continue …

In between

2010-10-12T22:43:00.007+02:00

For balloon magazine 'Ballonstof' I made a story about Salomon Andree, a Swedish adventurer, who made an attempt to reach the North pole by gas balloon and failed. Since the 'brothers' take some more research I do some more drawings for Andree and make a full story of it.
Here is his hangar on Spitsbergen.

Background

2010-10-10T09:48:00.002+02:00

The Collyer brothers grew up in a strange setting. Their father was a gynaecologist who went to his work by canoe and their mother was an opera singer. They lived in Harlem, New York. An upper class neighbourhood

The Collyer Brothers

2010-10-08T09:32:00.003+02:00

I'm starting to work on a new story: The Collyer Brother. The sufferd from disosophobia; they were not able to throw away anything. In the end it killed them both.

Done!

2010-10-02T23:10:00.002+02:00

This is the final picture! I'm done.

Finale

2010-09-26T10:54:00.003+02:00

Tokyo 1931

2010-09-23T07:01:00.006+02:00

The end of the journey. I'm very pleased with this image. I gave it the same colours as the picture of Berlin with which the tour started [14 aug.]

New stuff

2010-09-16T08:27:00.000+02:00

Just to let you know I'm still working on Marga

Prologue

2010-08-21T09:11:00.005+02:00

Berlin,1931

2010-08-14T23:12:00.005+02:00

Departure. Love the poetry lines I found on Heinrich Heine. I'm pleased with this page, the colours give a good atmosphere, Marga is her adorable self in the stained overall and the plane has the dynamics and the lonleyness that are typical for Marga.

Kazan

2010-08-03T12:31:00.007+02:00

Kazan is such a peculiar city, that I had to make a drawing of it.

The story get's better

2010-07-31T20:01:00.007+02:00

The book -Kiek in die Welt - is a great help. So much more details about the trip Marga von Etzdorf took are revealed.
An older page get's adjusted and a brand new one emerges from the book.

I have got it!

2010-07-28T21:24:00.006+02:00

The book, the autobiografie of Marga von Etzdorf, in German [but that's ok].
There is so much wonderfull stuff in there to make beautifull pages. What about an forced landing in the middle of nowhere. A village without fuell, so someone hast go out on a moterbike to find some …

Beeing a female pilots is hazardous

2010-07-20T16:32:00.006+02:00

Beeing a female pilot in the first half of the 20th century was hazardous.
While waiting for the autobiography of Marga von Etzdorf I have been reading about other female pilotos. Amy Johnson, drownd in the Thames. And Ameilia Earhart vanished above the Pasific Ocean. Some believed she and Fed Noonan in her Lokheed L10 Elektra landed on the Nukumaroro atoll and, after perishing from thirst, were eaten by coconut crabs.
Here is the aproach of the atoll-beach …

We move on … Marga and I

2010-07-09T10:27:00.004+02:00

She goes to Mukden and have to stay there, while the Sino-Japanese is developing.
I have picked a different type face for her tekst. As if we hav a page from het dairy.

Hazards

2010-07-07T10:38:00.003+02:00

When crossing the Taiga, Marga was afraid. Afraid that if she was forced to make an emergencie landing the wolfs would find here before rescuer would. When she finaly reached the Baikal lake, it was a tremendous relief.

Lost in the lawn

2010-07-03T18:52:00.005+02:00

Flying over Mongolia in an opensportplaiin must be sensational. But without radar en GPS it's all grass, isitn't? So to oriëntate Marga used the trackop the Transsyberia Express. A small track in a stupendous lawn, easely lost …

Epilogue

2010-07-01T14:39:00.004+02:00

On the previous page I had only a part of the epilogue. On this last one is the whole story:
Marga landen with the wind in the back on Moslimieh, she dameges the plain. She ask the French for a room with a bed to come to herself. Apparently she shot herself. The rest is history.

Final curtain

2010-06-30T00:14:00.010+02:00

After an unfortunate landing in Mouslimieh - Syria, French mandate at the time, in which she damaged her plain a bit, Marga asks the French if she can lay down a moment. They offer her a room with a bed. Half een hour later two shots were heard from the room. The French found Marga, dead all ready. She shot her self through the head with an automatic gun. Nobody ever knew why she did it.

I'm verry pleased with the titel[page]

2010-06-29T06:20:00.004+02:00

Marga von Etzdorff wore a grease stained, verry oversized, verry unflattering over all in many pictures. The shoes she wore beneath them were a sharp contrast. Ofcourse the pictures are all in black/white, bit I like to think her shoes were pink.

Vacation

2010-06-27T21:31:00.004+02:00

I have been away on vacation, out of the reach of internet. All I coudls do on my computer was … drawing.
First I wasn't completly satisfied with 'flying with swans'. There were some swans but no plane.

Then I have to start my story somwhere. Mayby not this page, but it's the closest to page one so far.

Getting into portraits now

2010-06-17T10:32:00.002+02:00

An other improvement. I need t write more text but I like the composition better this way:

Adjustments

2010-06-17T10:24:00.003+02:00

I didn't lik the colour green so much, to yellow, to dominant. So:

The story goes, that when Margo von Etzdorf landed at Hailar, Inner Mongolia, western reportes were waiting at the airfield. It turned out not for her but for famous Amy Johnson, who flew - with a mecanic - aols to Tokyo. Both, Marga and the reporters were disapointed.

An other page, somewhere in the middle of the story

2010-06-13T01:30:00.001+02:00

One rainy sunday …

2010-05-31T00:44:00.007+02:00

… and this is all I came up with.
I'm working in the wrong direction, the last three pages. Each page on it's own is all right, but together in a sequense they are a bit boring. Because they all have the same composition more or less. Big rectangular picture and then a small image enters the rectangel..

Flying with birds

2010-05-25T07:11:00.003+02:00

One day she flu into a group of birds. Th e birds didn't seem to mind and they flu together for a while, the birds and the plane. Marga was ecstatic.
I'm not sure what kind of birds, but for the sake of a picture I choose swans. They only fly about 35 knots, which is very slow for the plane so it's very unlikely. Call it artistic freedom …

Marga at the Wolga

2010-05-24T19:31:00.006+02:00

Part of the journey, from Nishi Novgorod to Kasan, she had to follow the Wolga, this was not an easy way to fly. The Wolga is immense and the branches are as big as lakes, they were easely mistaken for the main stream.

Bullfighter Julio Aparicio spiked

2010-05-24T09:57:00.004+02:00

In Madrid at the Fiesta de San Isidore is bullfighter Julio Aparicio spiked by the bull. The horn went in to his throat and came out through his mouth. Julio Aparicio survived, the bull did not.

Don't put your bets on one horse

2010-05-10T08:54:00.005+02:00

Although I'm still searching for her biografie [Kiek in die Welt, Berlijn 1933, Union] I have started with 'sketches' for the novel about the Trip Marga von Etzdorf made in 1931. So I'm not only bussy with 'Pedro el Cruel' or 'Madame Butterfly'. The risk is, that none of hese will ever finish.
The number of Junker A 50 juniors I have drawn is countless, but I'm still not satidfied. The corrugated duralumin is typical, but hard to express in my style.
Landscapes not so difficult. During the long hours of flight Marga von Etzdorf red German poets like Heinrich Heine or Joseph Eichendorff:

Arthur Rimbaud

2010-04-16T22:28:00.006+02:00

The news paper published a 'new' picture of Arthur Rimbaud that was found at some flea market. There very little pictures of Rimbaud.
One that turns up all the time is a beautifull picture as a 17 year old. He was already known for his arrogance and his temper. And this picture shows it all. I think I have captured it …

Marga von Etzdorf

2010-04-11T11:41:00.005+02:00

This silly looking women quickend the hartbeat of every aviator back in 1933. She flew in an open plain, a Junker A52 junior, from Berlin to Tokyo in 11 days. Wearing an overall with oil stains, the smell of gasoline there was nothing heroic about her looks.
She made several long distance trips.
Her last flight was heading for Australia, but she damaged her plain with thhe landing in Allepo, Syria. Half an hour later she shot herself. Want to know more? Read Uwe Timm's 'Half shadow'.
I'm tempted to make a graphic novel out of this true story, but I have a few others to finish first.

The way I work

2010-03-29T08:33:00.006+02:00

I call it sampling, like in the music business. I surf the web for images that fit my ideas. This is a time consuming activity.
Then I import it into Adobe Illustrator and draw lines & facets to my liking. For the lines I use a brush, so they are more lively. Somtimes I mirror the image.

So this drawing …

… came from this picture

Pedro 1 'El cruel'

2010-03-23T07:47:00.014+01:00

The story about the statue is, that one night in thirteenhunderd-something, Pedro, king of Castille, walked through the streets of Seville. He had an encounter with Louis Guzman, a member of a family with influence. This family supported the bastard brother of King Pedro, Henry of Trastámara, in his aspiration of the thrown. So the Guzmans and Pedro were enemies. They got into a fight and Pedro killed Louis. An old lady was the unfortunate witness of the killing from her window. She recognized the King by the sound of his knees [as a child he suffered from slight braindamage which resulted in a strange sound as he walked]. When the old lady closed her window in haste, she dropped her lamp, next to the dead Louis Guzman.
When the Guzmans came to find justice for their killed son, Pedro swore the killer would be decapitated and his head would be exposed on the scene of the crime. Because of the lost lamp, the old lady was traced as a witness, but she wouldn't tell what she had seen [Pedro was not called 'El cruel' for nothing]. So when Pedro assured her nothing was going to happen to her, she held a mirror to the King and said: "Here is your killer".
The next day Pedro brought a closed crate, in which, he claimed, was the head of the killer. The crate was placed into an alcove at the place of the killing. Pedro summoned the crate would not be opened until after his death.
His death came on the battlefield with his brother Henry. He was captured and … beheaded.
With which he kept one part of his oath to the Guzmans.
When the Guzman family heard of his death, they opened the crate to find a bust of Pedro in clay. The bust was put on the wall to be replaced later with the one we can see until today.

On to the next …

2010-03-20T13:54:00.002+01:00

Next will be the story of the head of King Pedro 1 'El cruel'. The first drawing of course is the statue that can be seen in the street of Seville today.

Final version

2010-03-08T07:08:00.003+01:00

This is the final version. Some remarks of Martin Tregale Bigpond are used and the final touch cam from my wife Judith. I'm done now, it's ready for the next step.
Thanks to everybody who took the trouble to edit the text.

With a litlle help from my friends …

2010-03-01T07:41:00.007+01:00

After consulting members of the LinkedIn-group 'llustrators seeking Writers / Writers seeking Illustrators', I got some good advise and cronstructive comment. Thank you Chris, Steve, Pbha and Karen.
Steve pointed out that the oppening line was a litlle weak, so I changed it, hopefully improved it.
And Karen … what can I say about Karen. She took the effort of editting the text for misspelling and awkward English. You will find the result here, perhaps you have to scroll a litlle.
I'm verry greathfull to them all and proud of the result.
All I need te do now, is find an editor in Sevilla [or Spain] who want's to publish this.

Chris: http://cfajohnson.com/
Steve: http://shootingpeople.org/cards/steve_turnbull
Karen: http://www.kstoddardhayes.com/
Abha: http://www.abhaiyengar.com/

Challenge

2010-02-21T22:49:00.006+01:00

I made a poster out of 4 pages of drawing and writing and I translated the text to english.
It still has to be checked by some one with more english skills then mine. But here it is [in low resolution].
Click on it to enlarge …

Finishing touch going on

2010-02-20T17:15:00.000+01:00

I didn't like the stake at page 4. So I used most of my saterday to find out how to improve that. It wasn't wasted time in my opinion. Now I'm content. If I only take my time …

Annoying details

2010-02-20T10:08:00.000+01:00

Now that the story is complete, I start to look at it very carefully. I notice annoying litlle things.

For example the hair of the lover on page two is just bad drawing. Besides that is the key moment of the story, the treason of Suson. And that moment is a small drawing in the corner of the page.
I redraw the hair and rearrange the page totaly, even the text.
Now I'm more content, now it's a more dramatic lay out.
Ofcourse I have to look at other pages aswell. The kiss on page one … not good. The fire and smok on page four dito.

Last page

2010-02-19T15:54:00.000+01:00

Page 3

2010-02-18T16:47:00.009+01:00

And page three is done … I think.

I often change things after a while because I'm not 100% content.

I use photo's and paintings for 'model'. In this page for instances I was inspired by Goya's painting of the inquisition and some portraits of various renaissance painters.

What is the story?

2010-02-14T20:07:00.003+01:00

It realy began in 1391, when a frenzied crowd stormed Santa Cruz and slaughterd 4000 of the 5000 jews and moslims living there in harmony together. This crowd was incited by the grand inquisitor Ferrand Martinez, who campainged for years to make Spain catholic, claiming that the jews "…have killed God and use blood from christian baby's to prepeare matsez".
Almost a hunderd years later, 1480, king Ferdinand and queen Isabella appointed new inqusitors for Sevilla.

With the massacre of 1391 in mind some of the jews in Santa Cruz armed themselfs en made plans to retaliate that horrible event, among them Diego Ben Suson, a wealthy jewish banker. Ben Suson had a beautiful daughter, Suson. She was known in Sevilla as 'the beautiful bitch', because she was presumptuous and arrogant. She had a secret affaire with a christian nobelman and hoped by marring him that she would gaine prestige.

It's now februari 1481. She overheard her father and brothers making plans to eliminate some christians. A horrifing thought came to her mind: by this killing her change to marry her lover would be eliminated, her better future would be lost. She betrayed her father and brothers and told her lover and he notified the authorities. The authorities arrested Diego and his sons. They where judged and executed.
The stories differ here. Some say the were hung to be left at the gallow for a year, others say the inquistion converted them - under torture - and the put them on a stake, which was costum.

Suson realising what the consequence of her treason was converted herself to christianity and went into a convent for years. She orderd that after she died her head would be nailed on the door of her house at the Calle Muerte to warn the youth for vainity. And so it happend.
Her head remained on the door far into the 16th century. When it was finaly removed a ceramique tile was with the painting of a skul and her name was placed on the façade of the hous.
It's still there

Getting started …

2010-02-14T10:04:00.002+01:00

… with a new blog. Not just because, but to get my work out there.

Today I finished the first two pages of 'Legends of Seville' [Leyenda de Sevilla].
I start to write in Dutch and have it translated by native speakers.
Susona is a very dramatic story from 1481, with a lot of 'Romeo and Juliet' in it.
Click on the image to see fill size.

Go and find more of me