Valtice

While in Lednice, we went off on a wine-tasting expedition to Valtice (German: Feldburg). Like Lednice, it contains a castle – this is one of the gates:

and this the view from the rear of the castle:

While there, we visited a small “Celtic Pub” called Avalon. I’m not sure what was Celtic about it but it was a very nice place.

We also stopped in another pub called “Valticka Rychta”, which was also pretty good but I did not have the chance to draw anything much.

Anyway, we tasted some wine and returned with a bottle of Hibernal, which is a type I had never heard of before, tastes vaguely like a Muskat.

Lednice

We’ve just got back from the town of Lednice (Czech for “refrigerator”; the German name “Eisgrub” seems, as far as I can tell, to mean something along the lines of “Ice-dig”). It’s a small town most notable for its highly impressive castle, built by the Liechstenstein family, who still claim ownership; but it was confiscated by Communist Czechoslovakia, and the modern Czech republic is in no hurry to give all its ill-gotten castles back.

In the square containing the bus stop, this statue was to be seen: one side of the monument declared it to be erected by the locals in gratitude to an aristocratic benefactor; I forget the name, but another inscription read “Gott schuetze das Haus Liechtenstein” – “God protect the House of Liechtenstein!”

The square also contained this building, which I guess is a town hall but I forgot to check.

And this is a Czech stop sign.

While there we made an excursion to Valtice, on which more next week.

Students

A student. She was, I think, 12 or 13 at the time. This picture is recognisable as her, but she is more beautiful than I’ve drawn her.

I’ve never found it easy to capture people’s likeness. I tried drawing her younger sister and somehow made her look like a grumpy Princess Lea. (Of course trying to draw an 8-year-old who won’t keep still is not a trivial task.)

Said younger sister tried drawing herself:

and to be honest I think she captured her own likeness better than I did.

Crocodiles

Sketching a lot of crocodiles for friends recently. (This is for a wedding invitation.)

My initial attempts looked a bit weird.

However, after talking to a friend who studied animation for A-level (or a central European equivalent), I received a few pointers and was able to improve.

Lumen Christi

The carrying of the candle at the Easter Vigil, representing Christ, the Light of the World. (We attended this service in a small, and rather cold, chapel – Easter is very early this year – near where we live.)

Happy Easter!