November 2009 Archives

As a rule I try not to look too much at how other people portrayed the celebreties I am asked to draw. But I think I can safely make an exception here, and take to heart that one is allowed to take some freedom. Although I sort of doubt my editor would be happy if I would try it this way. He should be though, he should be exhilarated. Meanwhile Michiel is having mishap after mishap. Now he's got pine nut poisoning! He had a terrible headache and he was complaining that everything he ate tasted bitter. Bless the internet. He had eaten some old pine nuts he found in his dad's fridge...

A parental advice thingy about how terrible children are in restaurants. I feel I have to counter this week's column in my own little corner here. Never had any problems in restaurants with our children, on the contrary. As a rule they are on their very best behaviour when in good company, to this day. Piffin loved eating in restaurants so much that she used to trick us. I remember one time in particular, it was in Ludwigsburg. Piffin complained of thirst, and we decided to take a break and to sit down for a drink. The waiter came to take our order, "Spaetzle met Sauce" she told him in her loveliest voice. We had no choice, and also ordered food.

Michiel donated this sabre to the war museum, and a 1886 hand gun (didn't really feel like taking it home on the plane). Which was in mint condition according to the police weapons expert, could probably be fired without any problem, if there was ammunition. He said it was English design and Belgian made, maybe stolen from the factory because there were no serial numbers. We don't know much about this photo, other than that it must be a distant relative. I did some image research, but I can't even find the uniform. I hardly think it was meant for battle, it looks so neat, no pockets at all, leather gloves, and this high collar. He can't be very important with only one star, and he is obviously barely older than eighteen.

And again, my favourite part of the illustration process, changes. I told the publisher I'd have time for this on Friday afternoon, but of course it is more work than I thought. I knew that, @#$%^&! It'll also cost me my Saturday morning. And then seemless into the next sketch, I have December almost booked solid. I will do my best to satisfy my clients, so I don't have to do changes. Which is an illusion really, I know beforehand which ones will want changes. But I love them all equally dearly.

Michiel does dig up some treasures while eliminating the household. I plucked the image above ("L'Impudique Albion," caricature d'Edouard VII by Jean Veber) from the internet, but it is very probably also to be found in the bound Michiel found with years and years of issues of the French anarchist satirical magazine l'assiette au beurre. I can't wait to look through the whole volume! And I promise to scan and show some images that are not online yet. Read about the magazine here.

I haven't felt like blogging the past few weeks, that's all. (oh yeah, and I had that wretched flu) But I have to keep documenting my work, so here's more or less what I did. I've also started my next Luxity spread, but not much more than image research. Michiel and his brother are still in Holland, taking care of the aftermath. Which is no small beef by any means, wrapping up a household, a life, their past. They had the cat put down. They're prepping the house for the sale, clearing the yard, trying to get whatever we want to keep shipped overseas. I'm trying to support them via Skype, bless Skype.

Our dear friend Jeremy wrote this incredible obituary. I couldn't do it better in a million years.

I will remember many happy days sitting with you and Erica in your garden under the walnut tree, trips along the IJssel stopping to look at geese, pear trees and pigs and ponies, chess tournaments in Guernsey and Ghent, the Kroller-Muller by bike, car and wheelchair, eating slips at Urk, mussels in Joppe, a week in Ireland where I nearly died of fright as you drove your enormous Peugeot through the streets of Sligo seemingly oblivious to the fact that you were sharing the road with other traffic, and a myriad of other moments. I never fully recovered from the time when you took us to swim in a lake and you and your whole family stripped naked and plunged in. (Margaret had nightmares for weeks - only surpassed when you let her loose on Kitty, galloping towards the German border with Michiel and Josef in pursuit.)

We loved breakfast at Gorssel. Watching the way you tackled a boiled egg - for some reason you had to turn your chair at an angle to the table, before cutting the top off the egg and showering it with salt. Your stubborn refusal to buy a kettle. And we loved it too when you opened the trap door in the kitchen floor and brought up cool bottles of beer. Happy Days!

Most of all I will miss playing chess with you. We were friends - but not when you were playing chess. Every game was fought as if your life, reputation and manhood depended on it. I loved it when - occasionally - I got you in a tight spot. There would be dark mutterings; starting with "What is he doing?" and ending with "I see what you are doing, I see, I see...".
I remember you in Ghent staring at the board with your head in your hands - a study by Rodin in utter dejection as you contemplated your position. Another frightening moment: you hurtling down a cobbled hill in Ghent at breakneck speed and throwing yourself head first onto the road. Dusting yourself down, righting the bike and cycling off with no loss of dignity - as if this was to be expected in any journey of more than 5 minutes.
I'm sorry I won't be able to share these moments again. You were loved, liked and admired by all of us...

If you want to see the whole series, you have to become Piffin's Facebook friend. She would love that, she wants desperately to stay ahead of me in friend numbers. Isn't artschool just amazing, I don't understand why not everybody goes to artschool, it should be mandatory. And on the not so bright side of today's news, Michiel and his brother in Alice Springs are on their way to Holland right now, because their father is in really bad shape. He suffered so much already, and now he's got pneumonia. I think we all still have hope, but Willem himself seems to have lost it. I will keep updating his blog.

I did do an illustration job, the last two days. But the client told me it was still a secret project. Not as exiting as that sounds, just five spot illustrations, but fun enough. So here's something different. An old friend from artschool sent me the bottom right one today, he had found it in his archives. I dug in mine, and found five more. Unfortunately they are all "colour experiments", which in pre photoshop, pre computer times was more than moving a slider. It's fun to move the hue slider on these ones, the same experiment we worked very hard for at the printing press back then happens effortless. Unfortunately I don't posess a copy in the original colours. The tile floor was black and white, and my skin was skin colour, my lips red.

My dear neighbour Marilyn sent me this photo and I just have to post it, even though it is past Halloween now. Of course everybody started joking about me as a grandmother, but I don't care. Isn't Moe just the cutest baby, and he lives right next door to me. I was walking down the street with his mom, and suddenly he stretched both his arms out to me. I took him and we went trick or treating at neighbour Marilyn's house. Neighbour Marilyn is a set designer at the movies, and her house was decorated real scary. But Moe was just intrigued by all the lights, and did not want to leave there. So now neighbour Marilyn is in love with him too.

They are so poor, they don't even have chairs anymore.

The greengrocer was actually selling them like this, I had never seen that before. And for 2,99 $ each, a steal really. We've eaten sprouts for two consecutive nights now, and I there is enough left for two more nights. And they stay fresh as long as I keep them on the stalk. Michiel took the picture, here's proof: