To the compost heap for mark-making tools

My project Sketch my city! Celebrating with Maribor, 850 years, 850 sketches (check the sketches I have posted so far on 850mb.wordpress.com) develops in different directions now. I’m posting there sketches from Sketchbook no. 07 from Regional museum Maribor at the moment. In the beginning of may I have already finished the Sketchbook no. 08 in the Botanical garden and the sketches are on show there since May 9th.

What I liked about the process is that I collected stuff for mark-making tools straight from their large compost heap. I grouped some branches and inflorescences into pens and brushes and tried them out.

 

Some proved to be very succesful, some a bit less.

Well, when I wanted some special texture effects, I just pulled out some weeds from the path and voila!

Watercolours were applied in a regular fashion with a brush, so hey, still plenty to explore in the compost heap challenge! And here are some sketches from the exhibition.

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Last day Berlin postcards

The weather was great and I headed toward Charlottenburg to explore the grounds of the Charlottenburg castle to the west of Berlin.

Today it is a lively public park with a geometric baroque character closer to the castle and a more organic feel of the landscape style park to the north, along Spree river. The baroque part was designed by Simon Godeau, a pupil of Le Notre (author of Versailles park in Paris), and the landscape style part was later designed by great german landscape architect, Peter Joseph Lenne.

And the park has many things one would wish for a succesful urban green, story, winding paths, vistas and views, refuges in more secluded spaces, pond, bridges and island, temples and playground and ancient trees.

Later I went to the Museum insel and even more busy Hackesher Markt, enjoying the warm april sun as did hundreds on the lawns by Spree river.

In the evening, I went to get some turkish kebab and tea, reflecting on things I’ve seen and landscapes that I have experienced. While observing the roof garden just across the street, I just couldn’t help but notice the large cage and some chicken in it. This seemed as an upgrading of urban agriculture to urban poultry farming in the heart of urban metropolis.

Then I went to pack my things and left Berlin early next morning.

Care free (sans souci) cycling in Potsdam

Potsdam is just a short train trip to the west of Berlin. All guides suggest to rent a bike at the train station, so I did it too. I had a great cycling trip up and down the wast pasrk landscapes of Potsdam. Together with Berlin parks they form a Unesco cultural heritage site. Due to its mild climate and picturesque lake landscape it was a great spot for summer palaces and gardens of Berlin nobility. One of the more interesting to visit was Sanssouci Park, built by Frederick the Great, King of Prussia in the 18th century. On his tombstone on the top terrace by the Sanssouci Palace people still put fresh patatoes in rememberance of his -otherwise militant king – fight against famine by stimulating people to grow potatoes.

One of the park I later visited was Kleine Glienicke, which is situated on the shores of Glienicker lake, just across once West-East Berlin bordering Glienicker Bruecke.

Exploring Tiergarten in Berlin

On monday I continued my own landscape explorations. First visit was to Tiergarten park, one of the largest public parks in Berlin and Germany, located in the heart of the city. In the 15th century it used to be hounting grounds, later they introduced baroque geometrical structures and garden elements.

In the 19th century it was changed again. Landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenne designed the grounds as an English landscape park still preserving some original landscape elements. Nazi regime changed part of the park and in the WWII most of two hundred thousands of trees and park structures were destroyed, only several hundred trees remained. After the war the park was slowly reconstructed.

I walked up and down the winding paths, exploring green spaces and sketching and in 7 hours I managed to experience but a portion of this 210 ha large park.

Yet enough to understand the colourful life of this urban park of many shades of green.

I finished my walk at the Branderburger Tor.

I then discoverd one more intimate landscape memorial in the part of Tiergarten, very close to Reichstag. A Memorial to Sinti and Roma, who were murdered under Nazi regime was designed by Dani Karan.

Sunday Workshop with Felix at the Museen Dahlem

The second day of the urban sketching workshop with Felix Scheinberger was at the Dahlem Museum. A great ethnographic collection and collection of Asian art is in somehow dislocated little visited musem, however it will soon be hosted by the soon to be reconstructed Palace Berlin in the vicinity of Museumsinsel Berlin.

Objectives: collect the items of the collection into a visual story, utilising also the comics compositions. 

A workshop with Felix Scheinberger

One of the reasons to visit Berlin this time of the year was to attend a two day urban sketching workshop with a well known artist, teacher, illustrator, author of books on sketching, illustration and so much more, Felix Scheinberger. It was great to see our group in action. It was fun, fast and fabulous!

 

After sketching in Kastanienallee we had some meal at Prater.

And later some more people sketching in a more dynamic situations and compositions.

Finishing the day with a hero coctail: the Moscow Mule!

Another day in the parks of Berlin

In the morning I had a nice walk with my landscape architect friend and did some quick sketches. Later in the afternoon I was exlopiring the parks of Berlin. They were all really really crowded, be it in the Platz der Republik on the large lawn in front of Reichstag or along river Spree in Spreebogen Park.

I had a longer stop in the Bier garten by the Spree, under an ancient Horse chestnut tree.

The bier tasted great and I took some time to sketch the gnarled trunk of the tree.