Book Launch: Urban Sketch Book: Urban Sketchers in German speaking countries.

If you happen to be in Berlin next week come to the launch of this interesting book. 

The book portraits Urban Sketchers in German speaking countries. The list become so big that it was necessary to create two books. In band one  you have sketchers from the north area. Me and other sketcher will be signing your books. Come for  meet. talk or sign your copy. I will be happy to see you.

Digital sketchwalk in Apple Kurfürstendamm

A lot of people came to my sketch safari (Zeichensafari in German)  to the Apple Store Kurfürstendamm, Berlin. This was part of a collaboration between Apple and Urban Sketchers to celebrate 10 years of Urban Sketchers. Similar sketch walks  took place the same day in Hong Kong (with Rob Sketcherman) , Singapore  (with Don Low), and San Francisco  (with Uma Kelkar).

Apple provided all participants with an iPad pro and a pencil. After a short presentation about my work and some information about the app procreate we went to the Bikini mall to draw the area.

It was a sunny day but cold, but people seemed not to care much. We did a short exercise there and we finished the drawings back in the store. Thanks to Apple for this opportunity and all the people that came.

My presentation at the Apple Store in Berlin

I have to thank Michael for the nice pictures and Binod for accepting to pose as a model for a portrait.

First I talked a little about myself an my travels

Then I talked about ten tips to draw portraits 

At the end I did a portrait with the iPad Pro and Pencil

And here you can see the video

Drawing portraits with the Ipad on the Apple Store Berlin

I invite you to come to this little free workshop where you can learn a few tricks how to draw with the app procreate. The workshop will take place at the Apple Store in Berlin.  Registration is required, since there are only few places available. To register click on the image:

Tausend Bar

I won't tell you where the Tausend Bar is. You can look for the address on internet, but nevertheless with out somebodies help, you won't be able to find it. It is a secret, one of Berlin secret places. When you get inside you get surprise but a very elegant futuristic atmosphere like a James Bond movie.

And there in the darkness was Miss Natasha Enquist singing,

 I had my last day of my dry twig workshop and I was still in the mood for that technic. The music and a mojito helped me a lot.

She leaning on a table.

Guido Westerwelle ist tot

That is the headline today in German Newspapers: Guido Westerwelle is dead. He was a German politician from the FDP Party. He became foreign minister and vice chancellor between 2009-2013 during the previous Merkel government.
I draw him 2013 during an "open door" day at the Foreign Affairs Building. He was there talking to the public, without any knowledge about his leukemia. A year later after he retired from politics, he got the diagnostic after doing some tests for a minor operation. What shock me about his death, is that he was young and he was suppose to start a new life, and from nowhere he got this illness. He was just 54. It could happen to me, it could happen to anybody. R.I.P

Again on Tv

Last Thursday there was again a reportage about Urban Sketchers Berlin in the Program "Stillbruch" by local Television RBB. I was interviewed while sketching refugees in Bantabaa, a local organization in my neighborhood that offers German courses for refugees, that are not accepted by the system. I like it very much. The conversation with me was in English, so that the refugees in the room could also understand it. Later we moved to a Market in Moabit.

Click here to watch the video on the RBB Mediatheque.

So what do you think? 

The Flight

Berlin - Istanbul -Dar es Salaam

Although I travel a lot, I always feel fear by flying. It is not the fear of an accident, but to loose my plane. Always I try to arrive to the airport with many hours of anticipation. I can only breath again when I am on the system, usually after check-in, with me seating in front of the the boarding gate. Still things can get wrong, like on my way back when I was waiting at the wrong gate...

I tried to start writing in German this time, but soon stopped.  I feel stupid when I write mistakes. My English is not much better, but I think there are more bad English speakers in the world that bad German speakers, so I feel in a good company.

This was my first time with Turkish Airways, and I was pleasant surprised. If I would hade time I should had stopped a few days in Istanbul. It has always been my dream to sketch in Istanbul. Next time should be..

By the way most of the drawings are made with Pitt Pen from Faber Castell color sepia, size S. These markers are water resistant so I can add watercolor after. I feel is better to spare the color in only few areas,  like my hand and the guy. This is called color bridges.

A nice detail was the Turkish sweets you get when arriving at the plane!

25 years of the fall of the Berlin wall

25 Jahre Mauerfall

It felt like  New Years Eve. Many people on the streets walking around the Oberbaumbrücke.  People with cameras, families and friends. The city had a great idea to celebrate the 25 year anniversary of fall of the Berlin wall: thousands of balloons were marking the path where the Berlin wall used to divide the city.

After 7 PM the balloons were set free to fly, in a domino effect. We watched from the other side of the river.

Kreuzberg diaries: Oriental Wedding in Kreuzberg

On my way home yesterday I found a wedding party on my street. In the oriental way the people were dancing holding hands on a circle while a guy with drums and another with a blow instrument were playing.

Gestern ging ich nach Hause und erlebte Musik und Gelächter. Eine Hochzeitsfeier war in Gang in meinem Kiez. Eine Gruppe von Leuten gemeinsam mit Braut und Brautigam tanzte in Kreis. In der Mitte tromelte einen Mann und ein anderer Mann spielte ein Blasinstrument. Ich liebe Kreuzberg!

Praying for peace at Petriplatz

A house for 3 Religions. At the site, where once stand the Petri Church, a house for 3 religions will be built in Berlin. Christians, Jews and Muslims will share a space. In the frame of this interreligious dialog project representatives of this 3 religions met last Sunday under the shadow of a tree at the Petri Square to pray for peace in Israel & Palestine. Other religions groups like the Sikhs, Bahai & Sufis joined. It was also a nice gesture to remember the suffering of people in other conflict areas like Syria , Iraq, Sudan, Mali, Ukraine, etc.

Kreuzberg Diaries: Noon and Evening at the Ohlauer Street

Although the situation is supposed to be over, I got the impression that it was only postponed, and that we will keep hearing more about the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Schule.

Today in the morning was very clam. A security firm guard the school and don't let anybody else get inside. 6-8 police cars are park on the street

In the afternoon a demonstration came to the street. The police was well prepared and immediately blocked the Ohlauer Strasse with their wagons.

A few minutes later everything was over and they cleared the street again.

Kreuzberg diaries: the calm after the storm

Yesterday there was a very aggressive atmosphere at the Ohlauer Street. There were a lot of Policemen.

There were also a lot of people watching.

With the time it got darker and people and police started to leave.

And suddenly I heard music. Rap and Contrabass.

Today in the morning I was surprise to see that most of the police wagons were gone. The street was still blocked by the police. Some activists have spent the night there. They were tired and some of them were still sleeping. The sun shine and someone started playing music. There was a chill-out atmosphere..

Kreuzberg diaries: the Police and the Maiden

The Wiener Street was also blocked by the police today. The news were telling that the police would clear the school building today.

In the afternoon the Wiener Street was opened again to the traffic and some units start leaving the area. However the Ohlauer street stayed blocked to the public. Protesters sat in front of the barriers, while the police stayed behind.

I love this image. She sitting quite on the floor, hardly moving dressed in black, looking quite too elegant for a demonstration. The policemen behind the barrier. The news said that nothing will happen today.

Kreuzberg diaries

The area where I live, Kreuzberg, in Berlin very often makes the headlines of the national newspapers.

This time the Ohlauer Strasse was blocked by a huge amount of policemen. You will think they were after some terrorists, or kidnappers, but they were there because of only 40 people living in an empty former school building asking for the right to stay in Germany.

As I read  in the today newspaper, they might be able to stay in the school building, however, the right to stay in Germany will still not be granted. The police will go away and the headlines will be gone too. That kind of news, showing people's struggle to escape misery is not good for the government that prefers not to deal with the issue of asylum seekers. 

First of May in Berlin

Kreuzberg transforms into a mega party. In the past it used to be chaos and protests.

Later I went to a bar made with containers and a boat at the Spree river.

Berlin Panorama

Ich hatte endlich eine Gelegenheit gefunden, das Sennelier Skizzenbuch  zu probieren, das wir im Barcelona USk Symposium bekommen haben. Von der Terraces des Information Center des Humboldts Forum hat man ein 360 Grad Ausblick Berlins. Man kann die Museumsinsel, der Berliner Dom, das Fernsehturm, die Baustelle und andere wichtige Gebäude.

I finally got an opportunity to use the Sennelier Sketchbook we got in the USk Symposium in Barcelona. On top of the terrace of the Information Center of Humboldt Forum there is a 360 degrees view of Berlin. From there you can see the Museum Island, the Cathedral, the Television Tower in Alexanderplatz, the construction site of the castle and other Berlin important buildings.

Ich hatte auch ein kleines video gemacht

Here is also a small video I did:

Interview bei der Jüdische Allgemeine Zeitung

Durch meine Zeichnungen aus den Jüdische Kulturtagen ist die Zeitung "Jüdische Allgemeine" auf mich aufmerksam geworden. Sie haben mich um eine Interview gebeten.
Sie können den Artikel hier lesen:

Man kann alle Post über die Jüdische Kulturtagen hier.

Coffee Watercolors - Kaffee Aquarellen

As I said I had an exhibition at a coffee fair. So I decided to use watercolors related to coffee.
I was very busy having other exhibition at the same time. The last sunday I painted 3 watercolors on a row. Here are some of the watercolors. Of course they are for sale:

Wie ich vorher erzählt habe, ich hatte eine Ausstellung bei einer Kaffee Messe. Deswegen hatte ich mich entschieden Kaffee Bilder zu zeigen. Ich war sehr beschäftigt, da ich eine andere Ausstellung gleichzeitig hatte. Am letzten Sonntag musste ich schnell drei Aquarellen malen. Hier sind einige von denen und klar, man kann sie kaufen.

Home coffee, 2004, ca 41 x 31 cm   

I did this watercolor when I was living in a small village in Nord Hessen. I was living in an old Fachwerkhaus (that old German Wood structure) surrounded by many objects like this.

Diese Aquarelle hatte ich vor ca. 9 Jahren gemalt. Ich wohnte zu dieser Zeit in einem Fachwerkhaus in einem kleinen Dorf in Nord Hessen. Es gab viele Objekte wie diese um mich herum.

Cafe in green, 2013, Cafe Blinis in Bergmannstr, ca. 42 x 30 cm

Cafe Gipfeltreffen, 2013, ca. 42 x 29 cm

This cafe is very close where I live. It has a fantastic Berlin atmosphere. I really like it. In fact last Sunday when I was painting I realized that I didn't like any of the sketches I had for doing one last painting, so I run down to the cafe and did a fast sketch while taking a coffee and a wonderful cake.

Dieses Cafe liegt ein paar Meter von meine Wohnung entfernt. Es hat eine schöne Atmosphäre. Es gefällt mir sehr. Am letzten Sonntag  merkte, dass ich mir ein Bild fehlte. So bin  ich schnell zu dem Cafe gegangen und habe ich diese Skizze gemacht, die als Vorlage für die Aquarelle nutzte.

I did just a thumbnail: ca. 6 x 10 cm 

Then I went home and used as a reference for this watercolor. I think the fact that I still had the scene fresh in my head helped a lot in this watercolor.

Man kann merken, dass ich das Bild noch in Kopf hatte, als ich es gemalt habe.

Cafe in Berlin, 2013, ca 42 x 30 cm 

Kaffeecampus

Last week I had some watercolors for  3 days exhibited at a Coffee fair in Berlin: Kaffeecampus. I spent most of my time there drawing the fair: guys preparing coffee, people tasting coffee and some scenes from the barista competition. (who makes the better coffee!)

Letzte Woche hatte ich einige Bilder bei einer Kaffee Messe in Berlin ausgestellt: Kaffecampus. Die meiste Zeit habe ich gezeichnet: Leute die Kaffee vorbereiten, Leute die Kaffee kosten und die Barista Meisterschaft (wer kann der beste Kaffee vorbereiten!)