My girlfriend Justyna and I got the idea to make a drawing together. I've recently been enjoying watercolour so that became the medium of choice. We also used a bit of ink. It took us a few hours to make and is smaller in size than most of my drawings: 13.2 x 25.2 centimeters, on special watercolour paper. The artwork shows a sleeping fox at night, lying in the grass next to a goban with go stones on it. 

On the 13th of April, Justyna and I did our first paper marbling session in 2020. In this blog post I share the pictures of the process and the final results.

Paper marbling, also known by its Turkish name ebru or by its Japanese equivalent suminagashi (墨流し), is a technique of ​aqueous surface design. Marbled paper dates back to at least the 12th century AD and has traditionally been used for book binding and other decorative purposes. By dropping paint on the surface of water or a thickened fluid called size, and by manipulating that paint, all kinds of wonderful patterns can be created. The designs are directly transferred from the size onto paper or other materials such as fabric.   
I discovered paper marbling in 2016 through a short 1970's documentary called The Art of the Marbler. Since 2018 I have been incorporating marbled designs in my art, particularly in my series of designs on the game of go that include animals. I sell those designs as posters and postcards to go players, go tournaments and other go organisations such as clubs, national associations/federations and schools.

It is always a lot of work to prepare a marbling session. Personally I mix a powder extract of carrageenan seaweed or a thickener with water to create the size. This has to be prepared the day before you want to marble, as the mixing creates air pockets that need time to disappear. It is possible to marble with air bubbles on your size, but this will result in white circles on your print where the bubbles touch the paper. In most cases that is not the desired result.
​For the paint I use "ebru boyası" by the brand Art Deco, especially made for marbling. I have tried many types of paint, water, carrageenan extract, paper, you name it, but my best results came after I bought a ready-made set from Dodin's Marbling, a shop from Israel. Later I bought the same paint from an online marbling store in the Czech Republic and some additional tools like brushes with horsehair bristles from shops in Turkey.
The great fun of marbling comes after all the preparations have been taken care of, once you can start dripping paint on the surface of the size-fluid. The drops of paint expand and flow, patterns in all colours appear with ease and are just as easily changed with the touch of a stylus or a comb. It is satisfying to control the fluid motions of the paint. At the same time, you are never fully in control, since the paint finds its own natural way to flow. Marbling always surprises: one moment you have a beautiful pattern, then it changes completely when you drop a new colour in the tray. Or you think the colours look so-so in the tray, but when you transfer them onto paper all of a sudden they come to life. There are so many techniques to create different styles of patterns. Marbling is a bottomless well, an endless source of unique art that reminds me of nature and the cosmos.

Would you like to see more of my marbling? Have a look here.
The originals of these marbles on paper are for sale for 7,50 euros each. Let me know if you're interested!

To celebrate having almost 800 likes on my Facebook page and because I want to do something to lighten the mood during the Covid-19 crisis, I decided to start a new project on the 1st of May. I will be making new drawings regularly (the aim is new art every few days) and I am giving away the originals amongst my followers.
This is the second drawing I will be giving away in the lottery. 

Giveaway drawing #2 "Sniffing the Third Line"
14-05-2020
20,4 x 20,9 cm
Watercolour and ink on paper

​I have been thinking about drawing a cat playing go for a while, inspired by several photos of cats playing around with go stones and in particular by two Japanese artworks made circa 1850. A few years ago Dutch go collector Theo van Ees showed me two woodblock prints by Kunisada Utagawa I (1786-1864) from his collection, in which a cat or a cat-like animal is positioned next to a go board with stones on it. These artworks were printed in a small picture book sized 17.5 x 11.5 centimeters, called ehon ​in Japanese, one of them on the cover and the other on the inside.
The print from the inside of the booklet is black and white and seems to depict a mythological go match taking place in a forest. Perhaps the two players are situated on a mountain, because clouds are visible under and above the branches of the trees. Next to the two fierce individuals, who are clearly immersed in their game of go, sits an animal. It probably is not a cat, but instead a wild animal of sorts, since it has claws and finds itself in a mountain forest. A bear, maybe? 
According to the seller that Theo bought the book from, the print shows "a demon playing the game of go". That is all I know about this print and I would love to know more about its story.  

​​​Edit on 19th of May:
My sister Philo Ouweleen, who is a Japanologist, has delved more deeply into the matter. 
Because of the added value of the written text in this type of booklet and its date, it is more accurately described as kusazoshi (草双紙) rather than ehon. More specifically, this is a gokan (合巻), a type of picture book that was popular in the late Edo period. Quality scans of all gokan can be viewed on this page and over here.
The volume that depicts these two go scenes is written by Mantei Oga (万亭応賀, 1818~1890). The title on the cover reads 倭文庫十七編, which roughly translates to "Japanese writings collection, 17th volume". Its full title is written on the inside of the book and reads 釈迦八相倭文庫, meaning "The Eightfold Path of the Buddha, collection of Japanese books". This volume is number 17 in a series of 58 books that tell an adapted, easily readable version of the story of Gautama Buddha and his path to enlightenment. The woodblock print artwork in the series appears to be a collaboration between Utagawa Kunisada I (歌川 国貞, 1786-1864), Utagawa Kunisada II (歌川 国貞, 1823-1880) and Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋 暁斎, 1831-1889). Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豊国, 1769- 1825) is also mentioned. The series was published between 1845 and 1871. The publication of volume 17 can indeed be pinpointed to circa 1850.

All pages of the 17th volume can be viewed in its entirety here. Number 27 and 30 show the artworks that I refer to and in addition number 36 also shows a go scene. 
And what about the black and white print and the mysterious bear? Actually, the bear is a cat afterall! A bakeneko to be precise, a supernatural creature (yokai) from Japanese mythology and folklore. According to the legends, a bakeneko - a "ghost cat" or "monster cat" - begins life as an ordinary house cat which is fed too much and becomes unusually large. Once reaching an immense size (I kid you not), the animal begins to display magical abilities or supernatural powers such as therianthropy, making it a shapeshifter. Pretty epic for a fat cat!

The drawing giveaway project that I started recently is a good reason to draw more. It stops me from procrastinating and forces me to pick up a pen and start making art.  
The second drawing I started as part of this resolution turned out to be a tree. Before I knew it, the outlines of the branches and roots were already on the paper, and then I decided I was going to fill the entire thing with tiny shading. 

The drawing took me several days to finish and was a lot of work, although I did not work on it continuously. It was relaxing and intense at the same time to put my mind on blank and fill the tree with detail. I am happy I stuck with it, because the final result is better than I expected. 
​
I showed the artwork to a few of my friends. One told me it reminds him of the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. He was intent on buying it and I'm happy to say the artwork already found a new home. Another friend of mine associated it with Norse mythology: the tree of life Yggdrasil and the ravens Huginn and Muninn. Someone else commented on Instagram that it reminded him of the book "Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill" by Otfried Preußler. A book I am eager to read now. On Facebook an acquaintance linked the style of the drawing to the style of the film "Le Planète Sauvage" drawn by Roland Topor. Coincidentally, this is a film that I mention in my book "Kamagurkistan" on the oeuvre of the Belgian artist Kamagurka (Luc Zeebroek). Topor was an inspiration for Kamagurka, especially in his early work.
My father was reminded of the poem "Mitleid hin und her" by Friedrich Nietzsche.

I took all of the associations as great compliments. I think some Game of Thrones inspiration might have sneaked in there as well. What does it remind you of? I would love to hear your thoughts.

To celebrate having almost 800 likes on my Facebook page and because I want to do something to lighten the mood during the Covid-19 crisis, I decided to start a new project on the 1st of May. I will be making new drawings regularly (the aim is new art every few days) and I am giving away the originals amongst my followers.

To join and have a chance to win, leave a comment under one of my giveaway artworks on my Facebook or Instagram page.  A few days after posting I will do a draw and announce the lucky winner. Please take into account that the postage costs are to be paid by the winner, as I plan to do this several times and the costs would be too high for me to pay out of my own pocket.
I am also considering doing a lottery type sale for which anyone can buy any number of lottery tickets for a small amount of money. The lottery draw would take place a few weeks later and the winner can choose a drawing from a few works I have selected for the lottery. 

If you want to support the artist, please also consider a donation.
Suggestions for drawing subjects are welcome!

Giveaway drawing #1 "Growth"
30-02-2020
20,9 x 28,6 cm
​Ink on paper

The draw for this artwork was done on the 7th of May. It was won by Lorenzo Allegrucci and is on its way to Italy! Congratulations Lorenzo and thank you for your continued support.