Monday, January 13, 2025

Richard Gerstl


From my current sketchbook. Probing new ideas for a future story. Perhaps some of them will eventually hatch. Also, a caricature of Richard Gerstl appeared. A tragic Viennese painter who committed suicide after a failed affair with Mathilde Schoenberg, wife of the famous avantgarde composer Arnold Schoenberg (whom he has been giving painting lessons). Good painter, btw, and I feel a little bit guilty of making fun of him.  Interestingly, he had been taught by the very conservative Christian Griepenkerl (a delightful name) who had also been giving Egon Schiele a similarly hard time - and who rejected Adolf Hitler from entering art school. That is three strikes!

 

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Sketchbook #90


Started a new sketchbook. Number 90. 'Argh! Just when we were winning!'

 

Thursday, December 12, 2024

Hotel Blanc


From my sketchbook. When i was thinking about what to give this post as a title, I thought of the song 'Hotel Blanc' by Edward Ka-Spel, which is one of the most surreal pieces in my collection.
 

Monday, December 09, 2024

Everything Hangs Together - the cover design


The cover design for my upcoming book. Again, it will be in Dutch only (sob). It is sceduled for the spring of 2025. The title translates as Everything Hangs together. The story is quite complex and I won't go deep into that, but basicly it deals with the tension between random chance and interconnectedness. IRL you do not want to accept much of the latter, bc that's paranoid. On the other hand, in narratives, random chance is perceived as weak.

 

Sunday, December 08, 2024

More sketches / Working on Book #what lives under the bed

 Some sketches. Was talking with a publisher about my book idea, “what lives under your bed”. It’s a series of monsters that come out when the kids are mis-behaving, did Timmy forget to floss? The Garglflank might come out and swallow you up. Don’t eat in bed, or Ugly Ted might get the idea your friends, and come out  and eat up what’s left. 


It’s fun making things to scare kids. I hope to inspire them to do the same to each other. 





Wednesday, December 04, 2024

Live music in The Golden Glove


Page from my upcoming book. I could not resist the reference to The Golden Glove by Fatih Akin. (If you haven't seen it, it's about the grimiest bar in post-war West-Germany)