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These sketches are supposed to speak for themselves. Hope they do...

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Observations in sketchbook of the Energewende-windmills in the Schleswich landscape, U-boot construction (or repair) and an art nouveau-esk relief in a Wik mansion...

On a jetty at the Ostseekai, looking back at the Segler statue. Tie me down, fly away...

And finally, an article about my residency in Kiel in the Kieler Nachrichten, yesterday 24th September. It's written by Almut Behl:

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Last week in Kiel, I'm sketching like a madman. Elaborate decorations on a housefront at Goethestraße that I cannot ever reproduce, those funny statue/bearers elsewhere, renovation activities at the old marine base. Attended another Pure Fruit board meeting...

And once more the seafront (or should I say fjordfront?). Scratch scratch & splatter:

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Streetpeople sketches (inner city):

Caravans that seem randomly parked at Feldstraße (summerholidays are over):

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Been ploughing around in Kiel's past again, and doing old-style drawings.
But first some freestyle:

Then bunkers. I have been posting about them before, those giant multistorey concrete blocks in the city. Here is a second set of them, for some of which I pedalled around 16 kilometers. These lot are functional, being used as sound studio, cinema, museum or foundation for some great grafitti.

Strolling about in the heart of Kiel I stumbled upon the remnants of a synagoge. The tiny Jewish community in Kiel used this building in the Haßstrasse untill 1910 as synagoge, before they moved to a larger site more off-centre. It was destroyed during the bombardements in 1944. On the banner a plea to restore it.

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Seeräuber Jenny, the song in Dreigroßchenoper (Brecht/Weil), took hold of my drawing hand today. It's the marine aspects of this town, and probably memories of the destruction.
Anyway, here is a Fridaynight abstract:

Closing down with a fragment of the gigantic, landmarking 'neue Rathaus' building (only 100 years old):

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First, related to a post earlier on Kiel-born Harro Schulze-Boysen, one drawing of Liane Berkowitz, another member of the German underground resistance group Rote Kapelle. Often the photo taken from her by Gestapo, shortly after being arrested, is used to portray her. I think this one does her more justice. And no, she has not much to do with Kiel...

Then an impression when I passed by the Kiel red lights district, at Schwedenkai, yesterdaymorning. The street deserted but for this one guy totally pissed ('blauw' in Dutch, which also means blue, the color).

A little further down, near the Wall, a stripped advertising pillar. I found that somehow symbolic for the previous situation.

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Following up from this mornings posting, more semi-random Kiel pics.
These came up when driving into the city by the 'boulevard-'route. The casino at the southside Wall (I believe this is a remnant of the old city moat, but now a completely artifical-looking pond). On the north side is -quite fitting- Kiel's red light district, or houseblock if you wish.

 

And all those awkward trees used to liven up the streets.

Did I already mention this is a great place for cycling?

 

Attended a board meeting of my Pure Fruit comic artist hosts, at their HQ in Königsweg. Introducing:

 

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Mixed bag of pictures this morning as I'm structuring my Kiel 'adventures' into a whole:

On the waterfront, near the canal locks

Eichhofstrasse

Going mythical, marine fantasy

And then, on a more personal level:

Result of the 'Bleierabend' artist meeting in JuMe café, theme was (obviously): Holland

'Wasserbombe', the avatar I'll use in the Comic Battle at Reeperbahn Festival Hamburg next Saturday. 

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Quizzical days, the soul wondering whether to lift up into the rainfilled clouds, or dive down into the gray waves, elements that shape this country. One might also just float around without getting wet...

 

Then, a couple more impressions of locations connected to the sailor uprising in 1918. The -historical but renovated- building where mass meetings were held; the graves of military victims of the oppression (also from the later Spartakist revolt in 1919, and demonstrations against the Kapp-Luttwitz coup 1920).

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My quest for the soul of Kiel brought me to the Stadtmuseum yesterday, where an ancient standard with the city insigna is displayed. Although I'm warned of the grumpy character of the population, this still looks like a welcoming smile to me. The Holstein nettle leaf radiant, the black boat a mouth. Does it have to do with the port function, by its nature always open to the outside world?

I'm wondering what methods to use in my research and final presentation:

And did one more marine drawing. Ships galore here!

Plus this:

The man with the Hollywood prototype 'evil German' features is in fact an important figure in the antifascist resistance dubbed Rote Kapelle. Harro Schulze-Boysen was born in Kiel, and in the 30's editor of the liberal-socialist paper Der Gegner (couldn't find copies of it from that period, this one's from 1920). During the war he led a double life as Luftwaffe officer but was caught and hanged in 1942.
There is a street named after him.

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Evidently a city on the seashore has salt in its veins. The quest for its soul cannot be without some images of ships. So that's what I did today:

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Mainly pictures here today, folks. Sketched a lot. Coherent stuff will follow!

This morning I cycled to Friedrichsort along a recently opened cycling/footpath across former military terrain. A peaceful thing to do on this memorial day. I saw containerships pass by from an unusual point of view, and harvesting on the only musselfarm of the Ostsee. 

The path goes something like this...

...but to get on it from the south you have to pass this...

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Before going on my way to the Pure Fruit HQ, I looked up Ernst Busch one more time. The famous communist actor/singer/worker was born and bred in Kiel, and started his career here, but never had a street named after him because of a conservatist political lobby. It was only in 2011 that sympathisers could push forward their goal and had the newly build square opposite the Hauptbahnhof, across the Hörn footbridge named Ernst-Busch-Platz. A nice place to hang out, overlooked by the giant Adam and Eve statue of Danish scuptor Bjørn Nørgaard.
There's a small impression of the place on the left page in my sketchbook.

During the weekly editorial meeting of Pure Fruit which attended one of their hardcore members, Volker Sponholz, did this little portrait of me. But I swear I wasn't pointing my pencil at them.

drawing by Volker Sponholz

There was talk about improving their freshly opened Comic Center Kiel, and the coming 8th edition of the magazine, themed 'sustainability'. Especially the financial part of it, for as you probably know all Pure Fruits made until now are, the magazine supports itself by ads and sponsors.
I'm honored to have a 4-page comic in #8.

There were showers that afternoon, and for the first time I got wet by Kielian heavenly water.

Today I strolled around the naval base area, which is now partly demilitarised, quite green and peacefully atmospherical. Below an impression of the hulking Protestant garrison Petrus Kirche:

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Mucking around some today after spending many stressful hours this weekend finishing an assignment in foreign working conditions. Note, I'm not behind my regular drawing table and tested computer this month.
So visited the east bank of the Kiel fjord, the area behind the wharves, to taste the atmosphere and look up some more bunkers. The sketches below are a result of things I noticed. The grafitti-covered bunker on the corner of Iltis and Preetzer Strasse, depicting scenes of war and uprising and the portrait of Rosa Luxemburg. My thoughts dwelled off... how would she feel about her face on 2 meter thick enforced concrete, spiked with telecom antennas? The other one an ancient factory building turned into restaurant/club, with the still functioning Thyssen-Krupp wharves nearby.
They are also style experiments for my final piece on Kiel.
One week of this residency has already passed, need to think about that.