art

Every single time I’m brave enough to go outside and draw or paint in public, something happens that lifts my mood. It’s not that I particularly yearn for contact with strangers, but whenever it happens, I end up feeling a little more connected to my surroundings.

I ended up talking to that woman and her husband for half an hour. At first, I thought they were tourists because that part of the city is mostly inhabited by them, but they had actually just bought a new camera and gone there to try it out. Very cute!

I love wearing my Apple Watch. Not only does it tell me that I apparently lost the ability to stay in Zone 2 while running, it also tracks everything else, lets me quickly set timers, pause my podcast without fishing my iPhone out of my pocket, and gives me glanceable information about my life.

Unfortunately, it looks like shit. That’s why I invested quite some money (€40) and bought this very pretty Casio watch. I love it! It’s shiny and has much more of a visual opinion than the Apple Watch, which has looked basically the same for the last decade.

Even talking about my woes of if and how to see myself as an artist makes me feel a bit like a fraud. Imposter syndrome needs to be suppressed. When I allow myself to feel and behave like an artist, though, I get these little glimpses of something that somehow feels true. It’s great to be able to talk to Cecilia about these things. She has produced more art in the last couple of years than I have in my whole life of perhaps, sometimes, maybe considering myself an artist.

I’m currently figuring out how to survive winter without getting depressed, and finding a place to draw where I won’t freeze my butt off is one part of my preparations.

I wanted to try sketching people and artwork at the Hamburger Kunsthalle and somehow ended up joining the “Friends of the Kunsthalle.” I can now visit as often as I want without paying €18 every time, and I even got a cute little membership card to flash at the entrance.

No shade, but neither Munch’s nor Lassnig’s work did much for me. I did, however, enjoy the piece of chocolate cake and strolling through the exhibition with Anna. I love that going to museums is a regular part of our relationship, and I love living somewhere with enough museums and exhibitions that there’s pretty much always something new for us to see. Even if, occasionally, the cake ends up being the highlight.

I bought a tube of white gouache to use for occasional highlights in my watercolor paintings and haven't touched it once since. Anyway! I'm very happy with this little hand gesture. It's dorky, funny, and reads well.

Cecilia has mentioned several times that she likes showing up in these comics as the person on the other side of a FaceTime call. Unfortunately, we decided against video this time because we both needed to get our steps in and went for a walk while talking on the phone instead. Which was great. Catching up and shooting the shit for three hours is always nice, but it’s a bit easier for me when I can walk around and keep my hands busy by drawing strangers while doing so.

I bought a second-hand table and set it up in my office as a dedicated art desk! It’s great and really cosy. Kind of like the Sheep Detective film we watched at the open-air cinema. Come to think of it, it was a great day overall.

We met at the park to paint trees. Nils painted Mareen and me instead. Weird choice, but I guess our new outdoor painting club doesn’t benefit from rules that are too strict.

I’m always a bit nervous about drawing and painting in public because I don’t always feel very confident in what I’m doing, and having someone look over my shoulder isn’t very conducive to my process. For the first time, someone actually stopped what they were doing, came over, asked me a couple of questions, and shared their art journey with me and it was... nice. I liked it. If you see me painting in public, say hi. But please don’t stalk me just to say hi, that’s weird.

This is the first drawing in a new sketchbook, and I love how it turned out. Anna and I spent the evening in a park celebrating a milestone in our relationship, and I love that I get to share moments like this with her—that she’s interested in them simply because they matter to me.

I tend to keep things to myself because, I guess, I often feel like no one’s really interested. So putting myself out there by sharing something I don’t even think is that special, and then being met with genuine interest and openness, feels really great.

I built a shelf for my art supplies! I now have a whole new section in my office dedicated to storing my pens, pencils, paper, sketchbooks, brushes, and paints. I love it!

The Year of Art has been going on for more than six months now, and I don’t feel like I’ll be stopping anytime soon. This really has a chance of becoming a lifelong project, so it felt worth improving the logistics around it.

Baltrum is one of those strange little places you find on Germany’s islands, where nothing much ever happens except for the twice-daily ferry that brings in and carries away the tourists. I have a peculiar fascination with villages like this. They feel like a theatre production where most of life revolves around serving tourism, but the actors and crew can’t leave the stage when the season ends and no one is left to watch the show.

I lied to Anna for her own good, because I’d prepared a little gift for her, and her investigative skills were dangerously close to ruining the surprise. Thankfully, I’m apparently a pathological liar, because she didn’t suspect a thing and was very happy to receive this little robin.

Days like this are the best.

I'm already looking forward to next year!

I love drawing in this journal, but I’d love even more for AI to handle the scanning and editing for me.

I turned 37 on that day! That number doesn’t remotely reflect the age I feel I should be, but who am I to argue with Chronos?

I mentioned the quality of beds in the UK to a few friends, and many agreed that modern sleep technology doesn’t seem to have made it across the Channel.

London’s parks are on another level. Ted Lasso didn’t lie about Richmond’s beauty, and Anna surprised me with a Sofar Sounds concert in an old chapel.

We were the only ones in the class, and it was more of a “here are the materials, do what you want” kind of deal than anything else.

I’m trying, once again, to become a bike person. It’s easier to get to Anna’s new apartment by bike than by subway or bus.

It was the Long Night of Museums. You buy one ticket and can visit every museum of the city.

Give me a run, an exhibition and good company and I'm having a good day.

The Döner wasn't even good. Fantastic company, though.

Sophisticated Saturday

Our second to last day in Barcelona.

I kind of messed up the background. Please don't unfollow me because I'm not good enough at art.