Sleepers on the bus

Careful not to sleep in the bus when I'm around !

Peaceful sleeper

Very dapper sleeper

Portraits without mercy

I have been added to this fun blog called "Portraits without mercy".

Basically it's about sharing drawings or sketches that "show a complete lack of kindness or affection towards the portrayed subject".

Which can happen both voluntarily or, let's be honest, in my case mostly involuntarily.

Although I have to admit that I can sometimes tend to be a bit mean in some of my drawings.

Anyway, here's a link to my first contribution to the blog.

While sketching the ARBED palace

The ARBED palace is one of my favourite buildings in the city.

The other day I decided to try and sketch just a detail of the building. I didn't have time for more and, quite frankly, I am still a bit daunted by the idea of sketching the whole building.

A nice bus driver who was about to park the bus right in front of me decided to reverse and offered me a clear view on my subject, allowing me to sketch to my heart's content.

Detail of the ARBED palace

The palace was built in 1922 and used to be the headquarters of ARBED steel and iron company (Acieries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange), which later became Arcelor and then ArcelorMittal.

ArcelorMittal decided to close the headquartes last year and there has since been a lot of speculation as to the future of the building. It was suggested that ArcelorMittal should sell it to the Luxembourg state for a symbolic EUR 1, but I'm not sure if that actually went through.

In any case, it is a protected building, for which I am glad.

For my part, I think it would make a perfect national gallery of Luxembourgish art. We don't have anything like that, only museums of contemporary art and such, which I think is a pity.

My (soon-to-be-inhabited) new apartment

My new apartment is finally renovated! I've been waiting so long that it somehow seems unreal.

I've been practising perspective in the meantime.

Lots of mistakes, big and small, but it's been a lot of fun making them.

Can't wait to make new sketches when I'll actually be living there!

Here's my future office. With lots of stuff lying around for the finishing touches.

My future office

My kitchen is open and connects with the living room. Again, lots of stuff hanging around.

View of the kitchen from one end of the living room

The living room is quite spacious, specially for one person. I still have to figure out how I will furnish it. I already have a couch and chair, I just need to decide what to do with the TV area.

View of the living room from the kitchen, with door to the balcony

My bedroom, waiting for my new bed, wardrobe and other elements. It leads to a balcony.

My bedroom

My bathroom, which I didn't have time to colour. But I like it like that.

My bathroom - had no time for colour

There's only one room missing: the WC. I didn't have a chance to try it out yet.

I'll be moving in soon. As I still have to buy quite a few pieces of furniture, I'll be living with lots of boxes for a while.

Will that make me a box lady or something? haha

On the merit of waiting rooms

I used to hate being stuck in waiting rooms, specially when waiting for a doctor's appointment.

However, now that I have a sketchbook with me almost at all times, I don't mind them so much anymore.

They have become a great opportunity to sketch.

For example, sketching people is definitely more interesting than reading silly people magazines.

Otherwise, when alone in the room, the outside view can be more alluring. For this sketch, I only had time for the outline. I did the colour at home.