Where is the bridge?!

We have had a couple of really sunny weeks lately, enticing me to take sketchbook, pen and watercolours out and explore the city. The reopening of the Adolphe bridge was the perfect occasion. It is one of my favourite places in the city and boasts one of the prettiest views over the "ville haute".

The bridge, also called Nei Bréck (new bridge) by the locals, is one of the most iconic monuments in the city and had been closed off for renovations and improvements for the future tram to run through.

I was decidedly a bit naïve in my eagerness to sketch the bridge, for when I arrived it was still covered by the scaffolding... No sketching my favourite bridge today! So instead I sat down in the middle of the temporary bridge next to it, looking back at the building of the state bank, another iconic building. It is where the original headquarters of the European Coal and Steel Community were, the forebearer of the European Union.

This view, with traces of the working site soon to be removed gave me a sense of documenting another, far smaller, moment in history.

However, the day was decidedly windy and I was soon covered in gravel and sand, so I stubbornly finished my sketch as fast as I could and moved on to a more secluded location between the trees, from where I could make a quick sketch of the tower.

Les Rotondes et La Buvette

Last Saturday I met with other sketchers for a sketchcrawl organised by LUCA at La Buvette, the pub at Rotondes in Bonnevoie.

The Rotondes used to be buildings where trains were repaired and stored. They were repurposed a few years ago and have now become this trendy place where various cultural events take place, such as exhibitions, concerts, plays, etc.

Unlike so many places in Luxembourg it is not overly clean and organised. I love the occasional messiness of the place.

Undeterred by the cold, we started out on the outside, where the food truck is. I couldn't resist sketching the trailer and the many seemingly randomly placed cables with their colourful lightbulbs. I'll have to add some colour to this sketch sometime.

Spot the sketcher

I have to say we were quite the troopers out there. The day was pleasant but pretty cold. At some point my hands turned a shade of purple. It got so bad that I didn't even feel the heat emanating from the glass of mulled wine I was holding.

Luckily, the inside of the Rotondes is just as interesting as the outside, and we warmed ourselves up at La Buvette. The servers are very friendly and we enjoyed the cosy afternoon atmosphere.

Isabelle is one of the latest sketchers joining our group

I'll have to go back when the weather is nicer. These round shaped buildings are so interesting, they deserve more attention.

In and around the Notre-Dame Cathedral

For the USk Luxembourg sketchcrawl in December, we decided to explore the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg city.

The weather was quite mild for November, so I decided to tackle the exterior of the building, finding my vanishing point, etc. That did not, however, prevent me from sketching a tilted bell tower, hehe.

It is not my first attempt at sketching the cathedral, but it is the first time I take my time doing it. The belltower and spikes are definitely the trickiest parts, but also the loveliest, in my opinion...

... until you actually enter the cathedral. Which is surprisingly big.

Maybe because the cathedral is nestled between other buildings, so it's a bit difficult to evaluate its actual size.

It is very lovely, with colourful stained glass windows, and has just the right amount of ornaments. 

There are many interesting details that might escape your notice if you don't pay attention, like the fact that each column has a different pattern on it.

I didn't have the patience to actually represent those patterns on my sketch, nor did I feel like working on the perspective. I just picked up a few watercolour pencils and started skribbling.

And while the result is probably not a masterpiece, I did enjoy myself immensely and find the sketch more interesting than the other one above. 

Sketchcrawl in Esch-Belval

A few weeks ago, we organized a sketchcrawl in Esch-Belval with the Luxembourg Sketchers.

We were lucky to have Olga, a local sketcher from Esch, with us as our guide.

I was pleasantly surprised to see about 10 people turn up at our meeting point. Our group is getting bigger and bigger!

Our first stop was around les Hauts Fourneaux, the blast furnace, in Belval. This structure represents Belval's industrial heritage and is now open to the public.

Just a tiny part of the ancient blast furnace

Today, the Belval site is constantly expanding and its regeneration programme's ambition is to turn the ancient industrial site into a large scientific and cultural centre, with new offices, appartments, a busy music venue (Rockhal), a university and many public administrations moving there.

Olga took us to the high school from where we had a great view on the whole site. It is a perfect place to grasp the magnitude of the works being undertaken there.

I am very curious to see how Belval develops in the future.

Cranes everywhere

 

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.