Hamburg 2025

In 2025, I took part in a few meetings of the Hamburg Sketchers. It’s always nice and inspiring to draw together with others. Most of the time, we go for coffee afterwards, and of course we keep on drawing there.

We meet at the harbor, by the water

in parks

and sometimes in lively spots around the city.

Blankenese 2025

Once again this year, I found myself sketching in Blankenese, exploring new spots and revisiting familiar scenes, usually in good sketcher company.

Dirala in der Bahnhofstraße

Im Hessepark

Am Falkensteiner Ufer

Elbterrasse

Süllbergterrasse

Süllbergterrasse

Hans-Lange-Straße

Hans-Lange-Straße

Römischer Garten

Süllberg

Kajüte am Strandweg

Pirna, Elbsandsteingebirge

A few vacation days in the Elbsandsteingebirge. We stayed overnight in Pirna and explored the area by bike or on foot (it’s quite a lot of ups and downs). Lots of forest, big rocks, charming little towns, and the Elbe popping up again and again. Beautiful!

La Gomera 2025

After six wonderful, sunny, and warm weeks on La Gomera, I’m back in Hamburg, scanning my drawings. 

Our apartment was located right in the Vueltas district. Directly across the street was a small supermercado where I could buy everything—stain remover, toilet paper, the best oranges, red bell peppers, avocados, coffee—just everything.

Every morning at 7:45, our alarm clock would go off: the sound of the rolling shutter being pulled up as the shop opened. Now, at home, I miss that sound.

While packing for the trip, I grabbed a small sketchbook at the last moment—a little book that had been sitting in my drawer for a few years. It’s a DIN A6 Toned Watercolour Book in beige, landscape format, which I hadn’t really liked before. But this book, a tube of white gouache, and a few colored pencils became my constant companions, and we became friends. Often, we would head to the harbor bay of Vueltas in the late afternoon, take a swim, and enjoy the last rays of sunshine.

I love the palm trees on the island. They shine, standing alone or in groups, everywhere. When I took more time for sketching, I would bring a larger sketchbook, my watercolor set, colored pencils, and the full setup.

Every place on the island has its own bar, and each bar offers its own specialties. The daily schedule largely depends on which bar has its day off.

It would be really frustrating to arrive in Chipude after a long hike only to miss out on the delicious zumo de naranja at Bar Sonja. Even worse would be ending up at Bar Lucia in Vallehermoso on its rest day—not only do they serve excellent coffee, but also the best Torta de Santiago. And a hike to El Cercado would feel completely pointless if you couldn’t reward yourself afterward at Bar Victoria with pan con tomate y serrano.

A few more sketches from hiking on the island. Most of the time, we had fantastic weather. Down by the sea in Valle Gran Rey, it was wonderfully warm, while up in the mountains, the temperatures were just right for hiking.

Of course, we also had plenty of lazy days at the beach.

And as always, the journey ends, where it begins, at the harbor of Los Cristianos in Tenerife.