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My name is Stefan Bleekrode (34), from Holland and I'm an artist working predominantly in pen and ink and watercolour. For many years I've been doing these highly detailed ink drawings of cities and villages throughout Europe and North America. These drawings bring together my interest in urban design, architecture, countries and places, history, perspective and art.
To me architectural styles express the inner sentiments and moods of a certain era and the people who built it. So each piece is an attempt to capture and reflect on all those layers of history and human endeavour.
Everything I find visually appealing is a suitable subject. I can do a small fishing village in Eastern Canada with the same amount of dedication as a grand panorama of New York or Venice. I find most of my ideas during trips abroad. When I get back home I turn my impressions slowly into fully realised cityscape drawings. For these drawings I always use Indian ink for the drawing proper and afterwards watercolour for shading. A small drawing (18x24cm) takes about a week to do. A large piece (70x100cm) can take over a year. But the amount of time it takes also depends on the amount of detail. Often I work from memory but now and then I resort to sketches or photos for specific details.
More info:
Website: https://stefanbleekrode.exto.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stefanbleekrode