Sketchbook – Schwarzmalerei: Jan Philipp Schwarz (München)

Busy restaurants and bars climb the Plaka Stairs below the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, 2017 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

last day at the Animation-School and Beate disapproves of our classy choice of 90ies dance hits, Hamburg, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

This was great: At least a dozen kids crowded around me while I drew this picture, showed me what they had spotted in the picture (by putting their fingers on the page while I was drawing) and stayed with me until the last line – I love stuff like that. Mahé, Seychelles, 2006 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

I’d been eyeing this scooter for some time and when the day finally came and I sat down to draw it, the owner turned up and bereft me of my motif. Fortunately, I had already laid down the sketch and was able to finish the picture. Munich, Germany, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the viewpoint high up on top of the island Ko Phi Phi, Thailand, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

The Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Athens besieged by a bearable number of tourists on a monday morning. Greece, 2017 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

Rain is not the most ideal weather condition for working with watercolour, pen or pencil, so I stayed in using the time for an academic study during my art trip to Belgium, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

a beautiful digger at Ville-du-Bois in the Ardennes, Belgium, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

food was served to everybody (even to tourists like me and my wife) during the peaceful demonstrations of the big city shut down in Bangkok, Thailand, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the dark castle of Castelnou, France, 2008 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

life drawing in Hamburg, Germany, 2007 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

a thunder storm looms behind Corniglia, Cinque Terre, Italy, 2011 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

Driving home from a little work retreat in Italy, where my wife started writing her new book and I prepared a workshop for the national Urban Sketcher Symposium. Italy, 2016 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

inspired by Iain McCaig’s incredible book ‘Shadowline’ I needed to draw a skull, Hamburg, Germany, 2009 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

trying my luck with nib pen and colour, about 15 minutes each, Hamburg, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

excavators at Ko Phi Phi harbour , Thailand, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

Alsace is full of these cute little fire hydrant guardians, Hunawihr, France, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the Olivier is a great bar inside an old church in Utrecht, Holland, 2010 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

people, some from TV, some from life drawing classes, some from the street, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

I drew this picture while my wife was taking a nap on my lap… Mallorca, Spain, 2012 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

holiday home on Chalkidiki, Greece, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

visiting my old school friend Alex in Argenton, France, 2012 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

an Oliver Twist-ish backstreet in Colmar, France, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the fabulous Till on Wangerooge, an island in the North Sea, Germany, 2010 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

lounging at the pool with my wife, Mallorca, Spain, 2012 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

at the Zoological Museum in Hamburg, Germany, 2002 and 2012 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

With a group of colleagues I was granted an exclusive insight into the underground maintenance workshops in Munich, Germany 2016 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the marina peeks out from behind the Bar del Porto in La Caletta, Sardinia, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

under the warm morning sun in Toscany, Italy, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

evening sun over Chalkidiki, Greece, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

staying at the very lovely Parker Cottage in Cape Town, South Africa, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

At the Hephaistos temple a film crew gathered in front of me, filming a documentary. When they were done they turned to me and filmed me as well. Must be a fantastic and amazing documentary. 🙂 Athens, Greece, 2017 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the morning sun spreads over the the hills around our house in Toscany, Italy, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

late afternoon in Radda in Chianti, Toscany, Italy, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

my friend Anna and a stone lion with a similar mane at the Feenteich bridge in Hamburg, Germany, 2011 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

trying to create a painty look with my pen, sleepy street in Pärnu, Estonia, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

milk jug, Toscany, Italy, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

when I painted this it was so dark that I couldn’t actually make out the difference of half the colours in my watercolour box – interesting experience, Cinque Terre, Italy, 2011 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

hiking with my ex through Cinque Terre – somehow she was always way ahead of me… Italy, 2011 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

early morning sun in Perpignan at the Mediterranean Sea, France, 2008 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

dark study of a church during a bright and sunny day in Vielsalm, Belgium, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

while his sister was putting up the washing and singing way louder than the radio, the brother came out to watch me draw and chatted with me. When I was done I gave him my pen. Such friendly people on La Digue, Seychelles, 2006 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

drawing a crossing while sitting on a traffic island in front of a large windmill, Utrecht, Holland, 2010 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

paper lanterns at nightfall on Ko Lanta beach, Thailand, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

This was nice: While I drew these houses a local artist secretly drew me on a beer mat, Utrecht, Holland, 2010 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

ASH life drawing class in Hamburg, Germany, 2011 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

this is actually the entrance to a jungle on Praslin, Seychelles, 2006 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

teaching background painting at the Animation-School-Hamburg, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

Saint George church, Athens, Greece, 2017 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

my father-in-law showed me drawings he made in his early twenties where he had shaded the skies all over with lots of wild lines – I’ve always shied away from drawing anything in the sky except for birds, but I like what he did and had to try it myself , Pärnu, Estonia, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

next to the river Isar: view from Ludwigsbrücke into Steinsdorfstraße, Munich, Germany, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

evening sun over Vertine in Toscany, Italy, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

drawing in the dark at “Körperwelten”, Munich, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

“Körperwelten” in Munich, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

looking out of the train window on my way to Pisa, Italy, 2011 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

The remains of the once impressively large temple of the Olympian Zeus on a vast and otherwise empty space in Athens, Greece, 2017 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

I’m always happy when former students of mine become colleagues and friends, Hamburg, Germany, 2011 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

clouds block the rising sun and in the background the Pyrenees are barely visible anyway, at the beach near Perpignan, France, 2008 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

sheltered under a castle roof during light rain, Belgium, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the fabulous Till again, this time in Toscany, Italy, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

candles lit, whiskey poured - all set for a night of drawing, Hamburg, Germany, 2009 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

I spent most of 2008 working on the animated feature ‘Jasper’ and because my flat was 45 minutes away from work I had a lot of time to kill on the train… “Monsters with bow tie”, Berlin, Germany, 2008 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

"Monsters with bow tie", Berlin, Germany, 2008 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

tispy drawing of Hunawihr’s church just after Germany had successfully started into their World Cup campaign, France, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the Schmidtburg of which you can find a step-by-step tutorial on this site, Hunsrück, Germany, 2008 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

looks like I sprinkled some salt on this picture, but it was rainy drizzle that made the white dots. Ligneuville, Belgium, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

Bo-Kaap, the incredibly colourful Malay Quarter of Cape Town in South Africa (2013) and the Old Lanes of Brighton in England, 2004 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

Fröttmaning station in Munich, Germany, 2016 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

One of the imposing lions of Feldherrenhalle in Munich, Germany, 2016 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

this is where Till and I were served a cold beer by a resident – when I’m out with Till we always seem to be given free beer… Argenton, France, 2012 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

my wonderful wife Amiena in her hometown, Cape Town, South Africa, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

Forest of spruces in the Ardennes in Belgium, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the bar 'Katze' in Hamburg, Germany, 2007 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

during my first ever art trip I spotted this voluminous woman coming out of the sea and painted her on the back of a painting that had gone horribly wrong, Mahé, Seychelles, 2006 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

life drawing, Hamburg, Germany, 2005 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

while I was teaching at the ASH I joined Leonid’s life drawing classes, Hamburg, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

Fotizontas’ cute graffiti in a little side street. Athens, Greece, 2017 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

two hours well spent in a park in Vielsam. Belgium, 2015 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

the old harbour of Collioure, France, 2008 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

holiday resort at Ko Phi Phi, (I put a step-by-step tutorial of this picture on my site), Thailand, 2014 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

Cape Point, definitely the most fascinating place I've ever been to, South Africa, 2013 © Jan Philipp Schwarz

My wife again, resting by the pool after a bone-breaking massage during a yoga retreat in Spain, 2016 © Jan Philipp Schwarz