Norway

 A Lighthouse Troll drawn in the guestbook of Kråkenes Fyr-a lighthouse 'inn' we stayed at.

I'm back from the 10 day trip around Norway that I won.  We had an intensive itinery with activities every day-glacier hiking, rafting, cycling etc. but I still squeezed in some sketching between all the extreme outdoor pursuits!

The UNESCO protected wooden shops on the waterfront in Bergen.

The Johannes Kirken in Bergen.

View across the harbour at Flåm

Kalvoya Island

Drawing in the bridge of the Fjord 1-one of the rapid ferries we used to get around the long stretches of water between our destinations.  The Norwegians have always used the fjords to transport themselves and goods-seems to be the quickest way!

 Quick sketches made out the window of the ferry of islands and landscape we passed.

We spent a day under the sun at Hoddevik-a 'surfers paradise'.  While the others practised surfing I found a quiet spot on the jetee to make this drawing.  The air was pungent with the smell of scores of rotting king crabs that had been dashed on the rocks by waves.

The banks of the Oslo fjord are dotted with cute little huts-presumably used for weekend sun-bathing and swimming.

 Sketching atop a glacier was a first for me-I got a wet behind though!

Ringebu Stave Church

Spain pt. 2

Leaving Bilbao we started heading south towards Madrid.  We stopped in Burgos to see El Cid's tomb in the cathedral.

Continuing south a slight detour to the west took us to see the impressive Alcazar of Segovia.

Next day we hit Madrid where we would find our quarry-Picasso's 'Guernica'.  However the museo Reina Sofia was closed the day we arrived so we had to spend an extra night at Madrid's one & only campsite sweating in our stuffy tents.  We passed the evening exploring some of the city's exotic watering holes.

The morning after we went went back to the museo Reina Sofia and finally clapped eyes on Picasso's masterpiece!  In printed form I'd never noticed the bird painted in between the bull and the horse.

I felt I had to make a study of the painting so tussled by hordes of Korean tourists and Spanish school kids I made the sketch above.

After Madrid we headed west into the vastness of Castille la mancha.  We didn't see any Quixote style windmills but we passed literally hundreds of the modern turbine type.
We were heading straight across country to Barcelona but a friend was visiting Zaragoza to the north so we took a sharp left turn & headed up into Aragon to meet him.

Troll update!

My entry to the NorwayYourway contest won!  I'll be the UK representative travelling with 'creatives' from France, Italy, Germany and Russsia through mid-August.  It is going to be a great opportunity to explore an amazing land and report back with lots of sketches.  Many thanks to everyone who voted for me.

Spain

Back to my trip around Spain.  The first stop in France was the Loire valley.  After driving down from Calais we spent a freezing first night in a campsite outside Tours.  It was late May & the camping season hadn't yet begun so we climbed the fence & pitched our tents out of view of the road.

Next day we visited one of the fairy-tale chateaus of the Loire;  Azay-le-rideau before setting up camp at a great site next to the river in Chinon opposite the impressive old fortress.

After lunch the next day in Angouleme we moved onto Bordeaux.  We explored the city on foot a little then drove around looking for a camp-site.  We didn't have GPS or internet access so looking for camp-sites became pot-luck.  Sometimes it took hours but often we found them by following our noses.  The further south we moved the warmer the nights became but of course that means mosquitoes too. The camp at Bordeaux lac had a huge pond full of croaking frogs, mozzies the size of pigeons, hooting owls & a mooing cow!  That was a restless night.

Onto Biarritz on the Atlantic 'riviera'-choc-full of casinos, sports cars & fab beaches, it's like Nice, St Tropez & Monte Carlo in one.  The campsite didn't measure up however- it was right next to the airport!  The pitch was hard & uncomfortable and we were harassed in the night by rampaging hedge-hogs!  Another tough night.

Next day we crossed the border into Northern Spain-first stop San Sebastian.

The North coast of Spain is really quite beautiful-as we drove onto Bilbao we passed through some stunning landscape.  On the coastal road at Islares we found a great resort campsite with an incredible  beach.

Our next destination was Bilbao . . .

The Guggenheim was our first major museum-the building is remarkable.

 Louis Bourgeois' 'Mother' and Jeff Koons' 'Puppy' are the key installations.

Lots of character in the faces of the Spanish people.

Send me to Norway!

Hey all-here's my entry for the NorwayYourWay competition, a campaign to promote tourism in Norway.  Entrants are asked to submit a piece of work inspired by Norway. The 5 winners will tour around Norway sketching, writing & photographing & blog their results along the way.  Please vote for me or enter yourself by visiting the site here

España

Along the drive through France & Spain I kept a 'journal' in the form of a map to keep track of all the places we visited along the way.  We were moving every day so after 3 weeks it was tricky to recall everywhere we'd been but my map helped.

Picasso

The inspiration for my trip to Spain was to see Picasso's Guernica in the flesh before I leave Europe later this year.  The painting is in the museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, I was so excited to see it I virtually ran through the gallery to find it!  It's scale is intimidating & the sheer power it emits is breath-taking.  Hanging opposite it is a fascinating series of photos Dora Maar took of it's evolution.  Picasso had made hundreds of studies in preparation of tackling this all important theme but the imagery changed radically even as Picasso worked on the final painting.  It looked completely different at the rough stage.

The gallery also houses an exquisite collection of Spanish Modern Art including more Picasso, Dali & Miro.

The Picasso museum in Barcelona primarily focuses on the artist's early years; training as an artist in Barcelona & establishing himself as an artist in Paris.  His later work is represented-there's a series of Cannes pigeons and also his well known version of Velasquez' 'Las Meninas'.  The current exhibition examines the relationship between Picasso & Rusinol.

Picasso: The Mediterranean Years 1945-1962 just opened at the Gagosian gallery in London. The show is outstanding covering my favourite period of Picasso's ouvre.  During my time on the French Riviera I often went on the Picasso trail-visiting the places where he lived & worked & the musee Picasso in Antibes; his chateau at Vauvenargues.  I've been working my way through John Richardson's epic 3 part biography of the artist -illuminating stuff.  It's Richardson who has helped curate this latest  show with Picasso's grandson Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, a follow up to their well received 'Mousqueteros' show in NYC last year.  Richardson has contributed an essay to the exhibition catalogue- an essential but hefty publication  (with a price tag to match).

The work produced during this period in Picasso's life is full of post war joie de vivre-it's his most playful & intimate work, based on Mediterranean tradition & mythology and his extended family.  Amid Amidi recently pointed out on Cartoon Brew that Picasso could be considered a cartoonist & it's this period that reflects that notion best I think.  A lot of what we do in animation these days is influenced by mid 20th century graphic animation artists (Kimball, Blair, UPA, Searle et al.)  all of whom were in turn looking at the work of the Spanish master.