Corona drawings and drawing adventures 2021

During the early spring 2021 the corona lockdown continued. Nearly every week there were new rules by the government, shops and cultural establishments closed, home office and social isolation everywhere.

»Sorry we’re closed« – hundreds of little vacant chairs, pencil sketch and large ink drawing.

I remember it was a confusing time. There was hope because the first vaccinations were available for elderly people. We were patiently waiting to get our first shot soon, but there was not enough vaccine for everyone. We had to wait until May. It was a worrying time because my mother was suffering from a bad lung disease and we were very afraid of taking the virus home to her. She was a little bit too young to be in the first row for vaccination.

»Home office«

Ari and I met only very few people and only outside. We used to go for long walks in the forest with our friends just to see each other. It became a nice tradition somehow. I must admit that I miss these intense walks and talks, now that we are almost back to normal.

I remember that I felt very exhausted and overworked at the time. It was a struggle to concentrate on my commissions and meet the deadlines. But it was also a time of creative output. I drew a lot of personal stuff in order to come to terms with the pandemic and to entertain myself.

»Doodle Poodle«

I just loved to take part in the online drawing classes chaired by artist Luise Kloos in February and April 2021. Drawing was a kind of helpful therapy during those lonely lockdown weeks. I could not stop drawing strange furry animals and fuzzy things. I discovered that a common pencil is a tremendous drawing tool that I had spurned for many, many years. Now I can’t live without my pencils any more!

»Spring cleaning« 

»Striche machen«

During late spring and early summer the corona situation got a little better. We spent more time outside and met our friends again. The beer gardens opened at the end of May and we spent quite a lot of time on our favourite pub’ s terrace. Sitting in the sun with a nice cold beer gave us a feeling of easiness. Travelling was still difficult because of strict quarantine rules. So we cancelled our holiday in Denmark with a heavy heart and went to our family’s house in the countryside instead.

»At the beer garden«

»At the Pony Bar«

It was early June when we got sad news. My beloved uncle, my dad’s youngest brother, died unexpectedly. He followed my dad after only 11 months.

My uncle’s garden

Life felt almost normal in July because the corona figures went down and it was possible to travel. It was an adventure for Ari and me to take the train and travel to the little town Irsee in order to take part in the masterclasses at »Der Schwäbischer Kunstsommer«. This Kunstsommer-workshop week is located at the charming old Kloster Irsee somewhere in the south of Germany. The old monastery is a beautiful convention hotel nowadays. Each year at the end of July it becomes an art camp where all kinds of classes take place at the same time for a full week.

We had classes for drawing and painting, music, lyrics, photography and dancing. The week ended with a wonderful exhibition and event evening. I was a participant of Barbara Yelin’s class about graphic novels and Ari joined the painting workshop with Henning Eichinger. 

»Memories« was the main subject of Barbara’s workshop. It made me think about what drawing means to me and when my passion for drawing awoke. I did a series of sketches which show some important stages of my drawing career. It was a terrific week full of inspiration. We worked hard and had lots of fun. Barbara was a wonderful tutor and I was totally impressed by her work as a comic artist.

In the middle of August we opened a fantastic exhibition in cooperation with our friend and colleague Samy Challah at Kunstwerden e.V. in Essen. Samy, Ari and I collected our favourite comical drawings for the show »Trio mit 4 Stiften«. The three of us covered the walls completely with cartoons and really weird and funny drawings.

Collective doodles by Samy, Lotte & Ari

At the end of August it was time for our annual drawing class »Die Rendsburger Zeichnerei« at the Nordkolleg in Rendsburg. Our guest artist Frank Hoppmann, an amazing caricaturist, thrilled the class with portrait assignments and the crazy 80-drawings-in-60-minutes challenge. I had some funny exercises in store, for example »Impfarm-drawings« or the »totally unsuccessful picture«, not forgetting to mention »the animal of the day«. We had so much fun drawing, talking and playing table tennis in the beautiful garden. What a week that was! 

Autumn came with increasing corona figures. At least it was still possible to go to restaurants or to the gym and we had no strict lockdowns. I enjoyed visiting the concert hall. After a long pandemic break of almost 18 months the philharmonic orchestra was allowed to play with entire instrumentation again. What a sound! How much I had missed that!

Drawings inspired by Tschaikovsky (Symphony No. 5) and Josef Suk (Asrael)

Even though I had been quite busy working on commissions, I couldn’t resist taking part in the Inktober challenge again. I decided to use black ink and pencils for my Inktober drawings. The complete series of 2021 is to be found here. 

Inktober sketches

But new virus variants were on the advance already. Delta and Omikron said hello to the world and came with full power and at unbelievable speed. The illustration masterclass at the Nordkolleg was planned for the end of November. The workshop was in danger of being postponed because there were lockdowns in Austria and Holland.

Luckily, all participants, including Mattias and me, were allowed to travel to Rendsburg. It was an amazing week, all of us savoured the time. The participants drew eagerly all day long and the results were absolutely gorgeous! Here’s a long article with many pictures of this illustration masterclass.

Drawing in Rendsburg with guest artist Mattias Adolfsson

The year ended with a sad story. We had to say goodbye to my beloved mum Doris the week before Christmas. She had been sick but we did not expect her to die that quickly. It was a sorrowful time and it was heartbreaking to see her in hospital, knowing she would not come home again.

»Thursday afternoon«

Fortunately, we had our family and lovely friends to give consolation to each other. I consider myself enormously lucky for not being left alone in those times of grief. Thanks to all of you!

Lotte

Links:

Ari Plikat, Samy Challah, Frank Hoppmann, Barbara Yelin, Henning Eichinger, Luise Kloos, Mattias Adolfsson