Sunday, 13-Dec-15 21:02:39 CET

Raoul 13 December 2015

Sunday 13 December. A sunny beautiful day, not windy at all. Lately it has been very windy but today it is a calm day. Unlike what I usually do I checked the time table of the trains. It turned out to be a day when they carry out maintenance on the train tracks.

So well on time I biked to the train station to catch the bus going to Weesp where I could continue by regular train. I got somewhat terrified though when I discovered I sat in a bus going the wrong direction!

I am still in the bus right now. From Weesp to Duivendrecht by train. From Duivendrecht to Weesperplein by Metro. First I traveled with the wrong Metro but I got out at the next station. At Wesperplein I took Tram 7 to Witte de With street where the gallery is.

Today the model was Raoul. Already earlier I talked about male versus female models so I don’t need to repeat myself on that now but I prefer female models.

I came on time to the studio. At first I thought about doing a portrait only but there was something nice about the pose so it became a complete painting of the model.

Right now I am learning not to work into too much detail, for example in the face. I want the whole painting to be made with the same brush size. During many sessions we have had a big warm spotlight but not this time. Raoul had light from one side, from a fluorescent light, it became a nice atmosphere in the painting. Dutch call these lamps “tl buis”. That comes from French “Tube  Luminicent”. I think this one was of a warmer kind.

Today Lotte, Jochem, Bas and Saskia came to paint. There was also a kitten from the neighbors called Hick. I made a movie of Hick that I uploaded to Vine. He was fascinated by water and he tried to play with it. Hick purred loudly. We became best friends forever after just a few seconds. Then he left. Bye Hick!

So we painted and had our breaks as we do and then we smalltalk a little and then we go on painting again. Between 1 pm and 4 pm. Then I clean my brushes and pack my things and go to carry out the same journey backwards.

Tram 7 back home was all fine. Metro and train too. Then came the big surprise. “Either you have to stand in this bus or you have to wait 45 minutes for the next bus where you can sit”. I took the bus where I had to stand.