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Wednesday 27 September 2017

Drawing diary: June


With me utterly failing to catch up on my drawing diaries, I might have to settle for skipping some months. Indeed, lately my thoughts haven't been with blogging so much. Setting up my last rMA research and thesis plus managing my health have absolute priority, and take up almost all of my time. 

That said, I would like to share some drawings I made during my trip to Switzerland this summer. It wasn't just a holiday; I went for the PhD defense of yet another friend (yes, my friends are too smart!), this time in Zürich. It was amazing! Since you don't know my friends, I won't bore you with the details, but here are some sketches and (crappy phone) photos I made while traveling.

Switzerland impressions, with markers and fineliner (0.1 mm)

At the day of our arrival, our friend recommended eating at Frau Gerold. This was a great idea! In an outskirt of the city with an industrial atmosphere, one alley turned out to be filled with tents, plants and buzzing with people. It was full of Switzer hipsters (if there is such a thing) and had a great festival vibe. Containers were stacked and improvised into shops.


That same evening, near Frau Gerold, we saw people surfing in the city. Coming from the Netherlands - a country with lots of water and waves in the North Sea - it seemed pretty surreal to see people surf in an artificial environment. But I guess you get pretty desperate if you're a surfer and your country is situated so far from the sea!

A couple of days later, we met near the lake to hang out and relax. I practised drawing people (I still suck, ugh). It was such a nice day, though. We swam in the lake and looked at the boats and the Swiss mountains afar. Most of all, though, so many friends and acquaintances living all over the place coming together was something really special. I can still close my eyes and feel the happiness of that day.


The last full day in Switzerland was my birthday! To celebrate, my PhD friend took us to the Ibergeregg for a hike. I used to hike in the Swiss mountains with my family on holiday, so this made me extremely nostalgic. My friends are all plant nerds, too, so we delighted at all the cool orchids and other alpic species. While the others looked for more exciting plants and birds, I sat down to draw the mountains. I also drew Neotinea ustulata (burnt-tip orchid, Brand-Knabenkraut or aangebrande orchis), which I had never seen before.

Even though I was only in Zürich for a short time, I have many fond memories of my trip. I'm happy that I have the drawings hang on my bedroom wall to remind me of those days.

11 comments :

  1. That hike in Switzerland was a helluva birthday present!

    And yes, I really enjoy your art this month too.

    But what I wanted to say the most was about your thesis and research: you've got this. I believe in you, Rav.

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  2. Those drawings really convey that Alpine summer feeling very well; just looking at them makes me oddly happy.

    You are of course right in your priorities (and I hope things go well) but I just wanted to say that I'm hoping that circumstances will allow you to find some more time to blog again soon as I always look forward to your posts! I miss reading your opinions on happenings in SWTOR. ;) Or even LOTRO; I was expecting you to have some tales about what the Mordor expansion is like by now.

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    1. Thank you so much for saying that. I felt so happy, too, when I drew them.

      I'm afraid I fell right into a hole of anxiety and depression after publishing this, so sorry for replying so late. I have tons of ideas for blog posts (sometimes it feels my mind is an idea machine just to taunt me that I can never execute them all), but I'm just not feeling it. I'm so stressed and blogging puts more pressure on me. Drawing makes me more relaxed, so right now I'm focusing on that. Don't worry, I'll be back at blogging at some point, I always do, but thanks for the kind words. :)

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  3. Love the feel in the drawings. The chosen medium really gave them a nice look too!

    I understand real life taking over and blogging being put on the back burner. I've been having that issue too and managing my health is also part of it. Give your research, thesis, and health the attention they deserve. The internet will still be here. :)

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    1. It was mostly laziness, because markers are easy to take with you and don't need to dry etc, but I'm happy you think it turned out well! Also, thanks for the nice words. :)

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  4. Sounds like it was a fun trip. :)

    I like how colorful these drawings are. Might be also because I've been playing a bit of Fallout 4 lately so seeing so I might be more sensitive to colorful pictures than usual. :)

    The pictures also look pretty good even if they were took from a cell phone.

    +1 to what everyone said too. :)

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    1. It was a great trip! Usually I don't like the result when I use many different colours together for drawings, but this time for some reason it did work out. Happy you like that, too! The photos I enhanced in Photoshop to make them look somewhat presentable. I'm happy to hear I did alright, but it's such a headache, haha.

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  5. Absolutely love your Switzerland travel drawings!! They are so detailed an lovely!

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