Touristic tour in Jaffa

It's always funny to realize that because you live in a very touristic place, your everyday walks look like a touristic tour… and your sketchbook like a guide book !

Let's visit Jaffa together…

First the port of Jaffa… I went to draw a plane that crashed 2 or 3 miles away in the sea. The 2 pilots were testing the plane, they both swam to the shore and are safe!

 Always nice to seat in Loveat coffee shop and draw the customers

My kids are always begging for ice scream flavor Smurfs and chewing gum…

Then a tour on the big park of Jaffa, in front of the sea

To go back to a crowded and lively area, the old city offers nice opportunities to find a good spot to seat

 Here with Felix Scheinberger, our urban sketcher german friend !

Time to go to the flea market

When the evening comes, the market is finished, HaMalabia coffee shop installs its tables in the market

Not to late to visit a friend and draw her nice arab house…

… before going back home and have a stop to sketch Beit Ali on Yefet St.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll go on Sharey Nikanor and have a fish in Cafe 60

Jaffa greek market

This is one of the new area of the flea market in Jaffa I like to go to and draw every corner, one after the other… So here is a collection done recently but on different days. This is a little bit the way which leads to the meeting point of the last sketchcrawl with the USk Tel Aviv group.

Flea Market - Pinkhas Ben Ya’ir St

Flea Market - Beit Eshel St

Flea Market - Beit Eshel St

Marina - Greek market - Pinkhas Ben Ya’ir St

Dancing robe in Greek market - Yo’ezer St

"Stop bombs" - Greek market - Yo’ezer St

Yafo's flea market

Here is a series I am working on… I felt like loosing myself a bit into details lately, to improve my sens of observation, proportions and work on my… patience !
A good occasion for a nice walk in my neighborhood and sketch the diversity of shops, objects, people one can find in the flea market of Jaffa !

Jaffa

Living in Jaffa offers me many chances to be daily inspired and test techniques… After almost 8 years, I keep on enjoying my environment and feeling as a tourist in my own city!
Here are my latest sketches…

Midron Jaffa park

Night is coming on Jaffa's old city

Mahmadiyya Mosque and the Clock tower build in the Ottoman period

Flea Market in Jaffa

Saint Peter Church in the Old Jaffa

Beaches are noisy again with people playing matkot!

Noga, Jaffa

My turn to post my drawings from the last meeting in Café Casino San Remo, in Noga, Jaffa. More than a month I didn't draw… well, I could definitely feel it ! I struggled all day and had to keep on drawing until the end of the afternoon as a (wonderfull) punishment for having been busy elsewhere !

Marina Grechanik on the right

From left to right : Tania, Aviva and Marina

Ksenia and Ea, our dear visitor from Danemark

We kept on drawing in the flea market of Jaffa, in café Gibberish, with Ksenia

Ink & Beer

Ink & Beer

Thursday evening, rushing from work to pick up my "tools" and then to no.18 bus to get to Jaffa on time to meet the rest of the sketchers. Getting lost in maze of streets surrounding the market and finally arriving to "Sifo" on Nahman 3 st. to find the group busy and quite, each in his own sketchbook. Man, I'm late again :( 

Sitting, greeting the those who are deep into their work (and second glass of "Goldstar"), taking a big breath and starting the fight. A strong espresso suppose to lift my energy up but the 500ml beer gets me all mellow. Its been a long week and I'm tired. So, I'm letting my mind taking a nap and allowing my new Lamy Safari pen do the work for me. And it does. The ink flows freely, the beer follows. 

Colorful end of winter in Tel Aviv

I like to jump from a technique to another one lately, trying to keep on experimenting… 

After my black and white attempts, here is a collection of works I did recently, using simple wax children pencils and watercolors.  The mix of oily pencils and watercolor creates sometimes an interesting effect…

The sky above the flea market in Jaffa !

Funny colored woman in the flea market of Jaffa

Entry to the Old city of Jaffa

In the Old city of Jaffa

Jaffa port from Charles Clore Beach in Tel Aviv

Getting cold in Namal Tel Aviv

Namal Tel Aviv

Nathan in his favorite occupation… drinking beer or drawing ?

My children