Serious doodles

Here's some serious doodling. I did this during a conference session (yes, I was listening) while in Istanbul.

Very interesting to just use squiggly lines. There was no planning involved in this little sketch. I had no idea where my pen would go once I started. I think that little bald guy in the middle is Darwin.

Personal Space Issues

So, the other day I was in the the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey with my wife. Not a good place if you have personal space issues. Have you ever seen a Sea of Humanity? This is it. Wikipedia says it has 4,000 shops, and has between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. I believe it.

The best thing was the carpet salesmen and believe me, there are HUNDREDS of carpet shops in the Grand Bazaar. Each salesman is part charmer, part comedian. They are the nicest, most annoying sales people I have ever seen. As you walk by, they call to you, they get in your face, they walk with you, and they cajole you to come a buy a carpet. Here are a few of the things I heard, each one from a different carpet guy. (For full effect, read these with a Turkish accent.)

"Sir, let me help you spend your money!"

"Sir, I've been watching you, you look like you need a carpet."

"Lady, it’s my turn now. Come see my carpets."

"Where are you from? I have friends in Toledo, Ohio! For you, I make a very good price."

"My carpets are better than the rest. Please Sir! Just two minutes!"

"Do my carpets fly? Yes. You pay me money, for you they will fly."

"C’mon lady. You need a carpet – just two minutes. Come look! Listen to me. Have some tea."

"Sir, your wife needs a carpet. She pick, you pay. That’s what the man is for!"

"Sir, you need to spend your money. The finest carpets are here."

PS. We didn't buy a carpet.

Grand Bazaar Istanbul

Just one of 58 "streets" of the Grand Bazaar. 4000 shops!

This little clip cracks me up. I followed two guys carrying a sheet of glass through the sea of humanity in the Grand Bazaar. I hope they made it to their destination.

Sunday Sketches

This Sunday I attended the worship service at Basel Muenster. These two Moleskine sketches were done freehand during the service. I added the detail later when I got home. They are a bit unfinished, but I wanted to get something posted this week. I really enjoyed making these. I enjoyed trying to draw the Pastor's black robe and white collar. This was another one of those combination things - worship and drawing. I won't forget this day ever.

Obviously, the entire service was in German, so I only understood about 1/2. Still I found the entire service inspiring. The architecture, the organ, the echoing voice of the Pastor in this huge cathedral all contributed to lifting my thoughts to God.
So, I admit that I am not used to this kind of service, but I think our modern contemporary worship lacks some of the grandeur and awe that you experience in a Muenster. Worshiping in a cathedral is indeed a special experience. I want to do it more. I found myself looking up a lot during the service trying to take in the entire space.
The Basel Muenster is a Protestant church part of the Evangelical Reformed church. Centuries ago, it was a Catholic church, then came the Swiss Reformation and all of the Catholics were kicked out of Basel. Click here to visit the church's website.
Oh, and the church bells!! I have to mention those. As you walk toward the cathedral just prior to the service, the bells are amazing - calling you to worship. Nothing like it. And the cool thing is how the bells stop pealing right at 10am. Then there is this moment of quiet, and then the booming organ begins. Stunning! I never experienced anything like this growing up in Summit County.
See the little 7 second clip below to hear the bells on the walk to church.

The Bells of Basel Cathedral

Sam Rotman in Concert

Last night Mr. Sam Rotman gave a piano concert here at our school. What a treat that was. While Sam played the piano I drew in my Moleskine. It was a great combination of music and drawing. The hour and a half seemed more like 15 minutes to me.

This is a close up of Mr. Rotman at work. I loved the curve of his back and neck as he played. He certainly was "into" his work.
I couldn't help but notice how Sam methodically took off his glasses and put them on the piano just prior to playing each piece.



















Click here to learn more about Mr. Rotman.

Sermon Notes?

These are my notes from yesterday's church service. Yesterday we heard reports from the seven mission trips. It was very encouraging service. I enjoyed taking notes this way. I did almost all of this during the service. I cleaned up some of it once I got home.

Moleskine notebook. Uniball signo RT GEL 0.38 pen.

Unboxing my Canteo Biella notebook

I just bought this notebook in Switzerland. I am quite impressed with this moleskine-like book. The big difference is the elastic band that goes over the top right corner. Not only does it hold the book closed, it also holds a really cool matching pencil (included with the notebook!). This is one unique book. Apparently, it's only available in Switzerland from Canteo.
Sideview - note the all-black pencil. Even the wood is black.

Front view - similar feel to the Moleskine, but the elastic band goes over one corner. Why didn't I think of that?

Rear view. Note the pencil and the really cool company logo on the back.

The company Biella originally made office supplies for the Swiss government. Today their products are available to the average Fritz on the street through a company called Canteo. You can learn more about them at their website.

More unboxing of my Federal Bundesordner.

Inside the front cover you find a little pocket that holds a set of 5 really cool page markers.

Here's a close up of the page markers, the all black pencil, and the company logo. I have to admit that these slick little clips are what attracted me to this book. Aren't they cool? Notice the little Swiss Cross on each one. Don't you want some? They are available separately, but I just HAD to purchase the book with them.
The text basically says in French and German, "Federal Binder Collection". As I said, this company used to make the official binders for the Swiss government - not too exciting - but now they have taken the same standards and level of care and applied it to a new and more personal product.

Another close up of the page markers.





















Close up of the page ribbon, book mark/clip, and pencil.

Inside back cover. Another nice addition...two pocket flaps to hold something like a business card or something larger. Amazingly, this book came with my business card already in it. How did that do that? (Just kidding.)

Why Blog about a little notebook?

Why did I blog about this little notebook? 1) I love paper, notebooks, books, pens - and new ways to keep my things organized. 2) I love things that are unique. 3) I really like things that are excellent and this is one. 4) It's a great combination of craftsmanship, attention to detail and reasonable price. 5) I love that they included a really cool looking pencil and a set of VERY unique page markers. Moleskine doesn't do that. 6) I wanted to show my brother Jim pictures of something that he can't purchase in Ohio - at least not yet.

Finally, this is a blog about creativity and seeing God in the world. This item is creative, but I also appreciate that someone in this company took the time to do something right. I believe that whenever we do that - give our best to a product, a plan, or a mission, we honor God - we show some of His DNA shining out through us - His ultimate creation. Isn't this what God meant in Genesis, when he challenged Adam to take dominion? So, when I hold this in my hand, not only am I grateful to those that made this booklet, I am also grateful to God for endowing us humans with the skills to help others.

By the way - this company sells many different sizes and paper styles of this notebook. Check it out at www.canteo.ch

www.canteo.ch

Well said...

"To be a schoolmaster is next to being a king. Do you count it lowly employment to imbue the minds of the young with the things of Christ and the best of literature and return them to their homes honest and virtuous persons? In the opinion of fools, it is a humble task; but in fact, it is the noblest of occupations." - Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536). Learn more about Erasmus here.

Erasmus is buried just 30 minutes from our place. Here I am standing beside his memorial column where he is buried in the cathedral in Basel, Switzerland. Eramus was a great Christian educator.

Watercolor Attempt

A watercolor of the same pen and ink sketch in an earlier post (see below).

I love having time to draw and try watercolor during the Easter break. I'm getting faster at this medium. I find that I get better results if I am less careful and just let the watercolor do its thing.
As you will see this is another version of a pen drawing I did. I wanted to do it one more time, larger, and in color this time. I really like the shadows in this shot. This watercolor is 7x5.5 inches.
A house wall in Eguisheim, France.

No Greater Love

Selections from John 19
Moleskine Sketchbook
Uniball Signo RT gel 0.38

Post-Easter comments...Now that Easter is over, I thought I would add some additional text to this post. This drawing was a challenge. I have been thinking about how I could depict some aspect of the crucifixion for years. I have been very intimated by the whole concept. The other morning just before rising out of bed, the idea you see above suddenly came to me: to draw the nailed hand of Christ. Again, I was intimidated - this time, not just because of the subject matter, but also because they say that drawing a realistic hand is one of the hardest things to draw well. In the end, I surprised myself at the level of realism I was able to achieve.

I took a digital shot of my own hand for this drawing and then I "beefed it up". While I like the overall effect, there are some things I am not happy with in this drawing. I think Jesus' hand would have been stronger than this one. I also believe it would have been dirtier and more gruesome than I managed to draw. More blood, more cuts, more dirt, more stress.

I love the text on the cross beam - and how it informs me that the Savior literal laid his life down for me. That's amazing love. TS

Alsacian House

I kinda like the way a sketch looks before shading it.

Below is the same picture after the shading is applied. I used stippling again to make the gradations. I really liked how the sun was hitting this house at just the right angle showing all of the various lines cast by the roof line and shudders.

Naturally, I love these old houses. This is a house in a village in the Alsace wine region of France, not far from where we live. Beautiful part of the world. This was drawn in my moleskine plain paper book. Original size: 5x3.5 inches.

recent doodles

From the pages of my moleskine notebook.

The left side of the page is interesting. I just started making boxes and that's what happened. Those shapes were made over a long period of time. The right side of the page is something I am working on right now. It's scene from a special place in Alsace region of France. I am going to be adding to it. Stay tuned...
Don't you love the creative part of life? Where do these things come from? They come from a creative God who loves to see His children exercising some of his DNA.

Swiss Alps

This drawing is from a photo that I took while in Switzerland. I did something unusual with this drawing that I have never done before. I used a technique known as "Stipling" or "Pointillism", which means the drawing is done using nothing but dots. Yes, it's true. Check it out, click on the picture to see an enlargement. I really like the smooth effect you can achieve with dots.

This is a very famous line of mountains whose names are the Eiger (the Ogre), the Moench (the Monk), and the Jungfrau (the Young Woman)- together they are known as the "Top of Europe". Our God is a great God.

Life comes at you fast

This sermon was brought by Glenn Lewis at Black Forest Christian Fellowship. He pointed out the importance of dealing with sin quickly - today. Life comes at you fast, it is important to be in fellowship with others for the confession of sin, encouragement, and accountability. Click on the image to read about Glenn's unusual illustration used in church.

I worked on these "notes" some days after this sermon was given to give it just a fuller treatment. I wanted to show how life comes at you fast. Apologies to Nationwide, but my insurance policy never covered things like sin, forgiveness, joy, temptation, contentment, or prayer. Only Christ and his body, the church, can touch those things.

Sermon Sketches

I really liked the title of this sermon, "His Way, His Will, His Whisper" taken from Psalm 25. Randy Capp brought this message.

I enjoyed trying to find a way to illustrate Way, Will, and Whisper on the bottom of the page. This has to be done rather quickly during the sermon. But yes, sometimes I finish up my "notes" after I get home from church.
Again, this is a scan from one of my precious Moleskine books.

A little holiday sketching

I was looking for something to sketch recently. Both of the following items were found right outside our door.

These were drawn in my moleskine sketch book. I used my uni-ball signo RT gel 0.38. Both sketchbook and pen are a pleasure to use. Thanks Jim for recommending the 0.38 to me.
If you click on the picture you will see that I primarily used "pointillism" for defining the leaves. That means a million little dots were used in making this drawing. (No dots were injured, abused, or hurt in the making of this sketch.)

Hmmm. What's this?

This is a recent doodle. This is NOT my usual style at all. It all started with one curly line (the one at the 1:00 position). That curly line lead to another, that lead to another, that lead...you get the idea. When this was sketch was finally "done" I was very surprised at myself. My doodling is usually very square, blocky, and rigid - this one was nothing like that. Very interesting!!


I admit I started this little sketch during church on second advent Sunday. When I look at this little sketch I think maybe this is communicating something about "coming" - the coming of the promised Messiah, Jesus, exploding into our world bringing power, redemption, and salvation.