EDM#73 : Mailbox

mail·box :
1. A public container for deposit of outgoing mail. Also called postbox.
2. A private box for incoming mail. Also called letterbox.
3. A computer file or set of files for the collection and storage of e-mail.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

This is not my own private mailbox, because mine is not interesting in any way. This one is very simply, very "boxy" , old , used and rusty, but still functional. From my point of view - it is the most romantic mailbox I´ve ever seen.

You can find it on the beach Flic en Flac (depicted below in these small photos), located on the west coast of island Mauritius. When I saw it for the first time, it was interesting. For the second time I cannot resist to make picture of it.

3in1: Trip to Macocha

The third day we visit abyss Macocha.
Abyss Macocha is a huge doline, which is 138,7 m deep, with fascinating ground dimensions: 174 by 76 m.
The name of the abyss has its origin from a legend:
In the village of Vilemovice once lived a widower with his son. He married a second time and his little son got a step mother.
In time, the woman gave birth to her own child and wanted to get rid of the stepson. She asked him to join her in collecting the fruits of the forest. As they came close to the very edge of the abyss, the woman threw her stepson down into the depth.
However, the boy was spared from death by being caught on extending tree branches. Wood cutters, working nearby, heard the desperate cries, and saved the boy. Upon hearing the tales of the wood cutters, the village people of Vilemovice threw the step mother over the abyss.
Since that day the abyss has been called Macocha, the Czech word for stepmother.
This doline is part of the cave system Punkevní Jeskyně. The tour shows the abyss from the ground.
The visitors walk through mighty underground spaces and corridors decorated with stalactites and stalagmites. The foot walk is followed by a motor boat ride along the Punkva underground river. The ride includes the visit to the Masaryk Cave, one of the most beautiful caves of the Moravian Karst.

3in1: Trip to Karlštejn

The second day was dedicated to Karlštejn castle , which is situated in the Central Bohemia cca 40 kilometers from Prague.This High Gothic castle (founded in 1348) is the most visited and the most famous castle of the Czech Republic. It was built by Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV as a place for safekeeping of the royal treasures, especially Charles's collection of holy relics and the coronation jewels of the Roman Empire.

This is a detail of an ancient gate to the castle.You can smell a breath of history.
Entirely unique is the original decoration of wall paintings dating back to the 14th century, collection of 129 panel paintings by Master Theodoric in the Chapel of the Holy Cross (the world largest if its kind), the largest portrait gallery of Czech rulers in the country, exhibited replica of St. Wenceslas crown - the coronation crown of the Czech Kings as well as the unique castle well.
From my sketchbook (in the castle is forbidden taking a photography) you can see wooden statue of St.Nicholaus made personally by Charles IV with lead glass behind, rare vase from emperor´s private bedroom , or drawing of replica Czech crown,original is pure gold with gems and pearls and with torn from Jesus´s crown, weight is about 2.5 kg. Replica is from gold coated silver , but it is still gorgeous view.

You can see panoramatic view of several halls and rooms in this castle , look for symbol of eye on this web site

3in1: Trip to Prague

Last weekend we spent in Czech republic,that is a reason why 3in1 title. First day right in the capital city, in Prague. I must say I love Prague, especially Old town with it´s nostalgic atmosphere , Prague is full of interesting views and details .And if you want to draw.... :-) A must for me is always stop at the Clockhouse Tower :
As you see , it is still working, each hour doors are opened and you can see 12 apostols marching. Your next steps can go through Old town to Karl´s Bridge over river Vltava, where you can see stunning view to Hradčany . I try a quick sketch :
Another popular place is Venceslav´s Square , where is National museum . Aim for me this time was exhibition "Hundreds years with the silk ".

This exhibition show unique collection (from China National museum) of silk , from the oldest fragments of silk fabrics (dated b.c.) up to modern times.Very interesting !

EDM#69 : Favourite beverage - Shaken,not stirred

I am a big fan of James Bond films and books and I cannot leave unused the oportunity to draw some of favourite drink :-) :

The ingredients and method to prepare Bond's martini was invented by him and first requested in Ian Fleming's novel Casino Royale (1953). After just meeting his good friend Felix Leiter for the first time, Bond orders the drink from a barman while at the casino Royale-les-Eaux.

"'A dry martini,' he said. 'One. In a deep champagne goblet.'
'Oui, monsieur.'
'Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?'
'Certainly monsieur.' The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
'Gosh, that's certainly a drink,' said Leiter.
Bond laughed. 'When I'm . . . er . . . concentrating,' he explained, 'I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold, and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I think of a good name.'"
(Casino Royale, Chapter 7: Rouge et Noir)

This is the only instance where Ian Fleming's Bond orders his martini with both vodka and gin; it is later referred to as a "Vesper," named after the Bond girl, Vesper Lynd. Throughout Fleming's adventures Bond appears to prefer vodka martinis, but also drinks regular gin martinis. In total Bond orders 19 vodka martinis and 16 gin martinis throughout Fleming's novels and short stories .
The film adaptation of Casino Royale (Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Caterina Murino) is in production phase now and you can see it in cinemas November 17 ,2006 .

Note: For me this was good practice in watercolour to depict shiny metal surface, transparent and semitransparent objects.
And no , I don´t know taste of this cocktail :-)

Sioux tagged me ! 5 things

I’ve been tagged by Sioux to write five things in my refrigerator, car and closet. I must admit , I was a little confused, who on this world will be interested in content of my fridge, huh ?. I am a ordinary man, so I have nothing special...But, OK , for this fun I make it.

So, here it is.

5 things in my refrigerator , beside standard things ,yoghurts ,cheeses and vegetables :
- mustards ...you can find there 8 various kinds of mustards at this moment , ... Hot english, barbecue , honey mustard, wasabi, ....I simply love it. I love cooking, grilling, etc. So it belong to it,isn´t it ?
- Thai ingredients for cooking , sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce,satay sauce,plum sauce,coconut milk....because ...did I say you that I love cooking ?
- coffee , ground bean coffee, Guatemala Grand Cru , 100% mild arabica in bio quality in air tight container...I preserve coffee in fridge , I think it will stay fresh for longer time
- salami, for this moment 3 various types there , because... I am not a vegetarian
-a few glasses of yummy pickle young corn ears , hand made by my sister



5 things in my car :
- a small canister with 6l of fuel..for the case I or somebody will need it.
-a startin´ cables...for the case ...you know it :-)
- a small re-chargable battery light
- map of Bratislava and Slovakia, because I need it to my work
- small plush mouse from my daughter (because her diminutive name you can read like ´small mouse´)

5 things in my closet :
- suitcase ( in fact 3) , ready for next holiday or trip
- coats, jackets and winter coats.....thank God it is spring now !
- sweaters in tight vacuumsealed bags
- boxes of summer things ( snorkels, twins, hats,..) and boxes with winter things ( hats, gloves..)
- rechargeable vacuum cleaner , ready for use


Enough for me, I tag Alison and Nina for fun .

EDM#66 : Fire hydrant :-) or some city mobiliar

I know this is not fire hydrant :-). It seems like a good idea to draw fire hydrant . Unfortunatelly , we have not fire hydrants on the streets in our country ( especially those like you can see in american films). Our firemen bring cars with cisterns of water in case of fire. Or in public buildings are some "red box" with some hose ,but nothing spectacular.
I promise I will look for some hydrant to draw .

The alternative was to draw some city mobiliar. This is one of the lamps on Hviezdoslav Square (Hviezdoslavovo námestie ) in Bratislava ( btw.here are placed the US and German embassy in Slovakia ) , drawn today (ouch : in public , on full crowded square ) with ink pen and watercolor pencils&penbrush.
The second picture is the same location , another corner of Hviezdoslav Square , another time , done in fountain pen from windows of McD .

Illustration Friday - FAT

What about a true animal star ?

Next pictures are from my "holiday " collection :-)
Everything done in watercolor pencil.

EDM#65 : Noses

The topic of this EDMC was funny. Drawing "the nose" alone is quite strange , when is missing some "links" to eyes, lips, the rest of face. Each nose is unique , and sometimes drawing of the nose look other way than in reality.
My reality linked to the nose today is ...suffering . It is second week when some flowers or trees are blooming and my eyes and nose are full of tears .

EDM#64 : Sink

Here it is ! Our bathroom sink.
I think I must practice more, especially on shining chrome and shadows on the white porcelain.
Done in ink pen and watercolour pencils.

EDM#63 : Nature walk find

This is another my daily sketchbook´s picture from time of my holiday. Now I am glad I made it, because you can not take out shells and corals from country Egypt. This rule is not valid for these in your sketchbook :-)
Done in ink pen and watercolor pencils.

Illustration Friday - UNDER THE SEA

This is picture by which I recall our snorkelling trip at the Red Sea.The green fish really exists , it was about 2m long , the name was napoleon fish.
Done in watercolor.

Happy birthday Miška !

Moja fantastická a šikovná dcéra Michaela dnes oslavuje svojich 15 ! Želám jej všetko najlepšie a na budúco-týždňové prijímačky držím silno palce. Ľúbim Ťa , Miška !
*
My fantastic and clever daughter Michaela has birthday today - she is now 15 years old ! I wish her all the best and especially for her next week´s entry examination for secondary school. I love you, Miška !



Look here for more

Holiday

I am sorry for my absence here but for a last few days we were on holiday. We spent it in Hurghada , Egypt , here



It was very hot and we have a lot of fun, especially when I want to learn some moving on windsurf.





Egypt seems to be very one-color country (due to sand of desert) but you can find a lot of colors everywhere around you.

Illustration Friday - SPEED

EDM#61 again : Draw a grouping

Because I was not satisfied with my posting of EDMC No.61 (grouping) I try it again , but this time I try it a little harder for me , because I have no experiences with watercolors, no tuition or practice. So this is my stand for my pipes done in (and only) in watercolors on watercolor paper Terra. I try it really hard, for example black is mixed , not used black from pan.
*
Second picture is a preparation, done with watercolor but not on regular watercolor paper - it is done in my small daily sketchbook....you can see difference !

Daffodil Day

7.apríla sa na Slovensku uskutočnil Deň narcisov a to už jeho 10.ročník. Asi 13000 dobrovoľníkov vymieňalo malé žlté odznaky v tvare narcisov za dobrovoľný finančný príspevok na celonárodnú zbierku na pomoc onkologickým pacientom.
*
7th of April was a Daffodil Day in Slovakia. It was 10th year from 1997 when collectors from Cancer Society (Liga proti rakovine) are exchanging small yellow badge in shape of daffodil against small voluntary contribution in favour of oncologic patients.

Bratislava - evening mood

You can see bridge over the river Dunaj here in Bratislava. On the top of bridge, in this UFO plate, is located restaurant with gorgeous view to an old city and whole Bratislava. Author of this picture is my (allmost)15-years old and very clever daughter Michaela.

EDM#61 : Draw a grouping

Draw 2 or more objects that are the same or similar.
OK. Let´s say : Thai fruits unknown (to me).
When I spent some days in foreign country I always try to get the most of it, get feelings, smell it, taste it. And Thailand seems to be the most colorfull country in this point of view. You can walk down the street and the vendors offers so strange fruits and vegetables you hardly know a half of it - not only by name , by taste too. So that is a case for courageous investigator and his devoted notebook.When you are later in safety of your home , it is sufficient to open the old worn sketchblock and ...voilá : tastes and smells are here again.
The drawings are done by ink pen and watercolor pencils, but paper is absolut wrong (ok- maybe for writing only), it is very soft for pencil and not suitable for water in any case (you can see it at the red rose apple)
But how can I resist so nice handbound sketchblock with hand made paper ? :-)

Illustration Friday - SPRING

Today was a wonderful day. Apart from still high level of water and still present danger of flood in some areas of our country this day became warm and sunny. We spent it at house of parents of my wife, approx. 40 km to south from Bratislava.
They are both pensioners and they have a small garden where you can really see signs of coming spring. The drawing is budding leaves of Datura ( a.k.a. Angel´s Trumpet) in their garden, is done with inkpen and watercolor pencils in sketchbook.

This church you can see when you sit at the yard.It was very pleasant sit here, take a warm sunbath and enjoy a lazy sunday afternoon.


Finally, this lovely potflower was first what captivate my attention. It´s name is clivia a.k.a. Kafir Lily (Clivia miniata) and is really very nice.They own this flower several years and annually is blooming at the beginning of spring.