The creative process

Writing

On every journey Geert works in his sketchbooks, but equally devotes his time to his writing. He loves to write and started this many years ago when he first migrated from the Netherlands to Australia. Phoning was too expensive in the eighties, and he had the strong need to communicate with his parents and friends. He found that he loved to put words together and later – when email came on the scene – he simply increased it.

As he hikes or rides, words and stories pop up in his head and sometimes he stops to record his thinking on the spot. More often it’s the quiet reflection after dinner in a remote camp, that makes his memory work. His writing usually follows a diary format and the books he publishes can be very personal. That has its pro’s and cons but Geert believes in honesty in his journals.

Hiking gives him more of this tranquil joy than bikeriding. The monotonous process of putting one foot in front of the other repeatedly, and especially after a few weeks when his fitness has improved – makes him walk ‘meditatively, wherein he can solve all the problems of the world and becomes exceptionally creative.

With bike riding the elements of fatigue, speed, pain, and danger, make this much harder.

Sketching

Sketching is another form of recording, as is photography or filming. Sketching is certainly not high end painting, although it can be. There are a few reasons for this. Limited time being one, and lack of resources another. Because carrying a painting easel, and oil paints on a journey would be ridiculous, Geert works in sketchbooks and with a watercolour set with the only basic colours he needs. These are lightweight, small, and the joy of painting in this medium is that it dries and cleans quickly. Just a bit of a stir in a water container and Bob is your uncle. As a lover of black ink, he uses this medium a lot too. In fineliners when he has little time, in old fashioned pen & ink and with bamboo pen & ink work, which gives his linework a bit more ‘attitude’. He also carries a few brushpens with full strength ink and a few diluted ones for grey tones he might use.

Quality

The results in sketching can be very different. Sometimes a very quick 2 minute sketch can be stronger than a detailed study of a landscape of 2 hours. The quality of paper is essential. If the paper ‘holds’ his colours well, and responds sensitively to his mark making, the work is simply a lot better.

What is most important though is that a sketch is a quick collection of some moments somewhere on this planet. A sketch is a bit like a user object. It’s raw, used, frayed, torn sometimes, and might have stains on it that weren’t meant to be there, and can be damaged. And that is all cool.

Comfy

Sketching can be an uncomfortable process. In order to find a good composition, he has to crawl, climb, or move until he finds a vista that he likes. It can be a hard sit on rocks, branches, or moist, sitting in wet grass or moss. It can be hot or cold, or sometimes so windy that colours dry in his mixing tablet. If however, he finds a camping table, he can spread out his gear and sketch more controlled in a comfortable manner. [And drink coffees]. On rest days – usually at some stunning location – the quality of his work goes up a notch.

Social tool

Sketching is also a great social tool. People simply come up and watch. In China, Geert had people surrounding him, some even standing in the water as Geert tried to sketch a temple across a lake. At the Mekong in Vietnam, he would be visited by a returning American marine, a returning boat refugee, and a child who asked him to colour in a picture. Completely humbled, he had to accept that he slept in the main bedroom of a house while the occupants themselves slept on the floor. And there was no arguing either! In the French Pyrenees when he stayed a night in a hut of the French Alpine Club, where he was surrounded by French walkers who were all arguing about the scenes in his sketchbook, and where he should go next! “Australia has the best shiraz in the world”, a winemaker and nuclear scientist – now working for Airbus in Toulouse – shared with him. Point taken. Doors have opened for Geert that would always have been shut. Words aren’t needed, nor complex translations. Just let the art speak.

Filming

On the DD&GG journey Geert used a GoPro, mounted to his handlebars or strapped to his head. He’d brought a drone but send it home after a few weeks. The limited battery life and the space and weight it took up in his panniers made it a luxury item he wouldn’t need. When a friend reflected on the editing process he asked; “What would you do if you did this again?” And Geert answered he would include a few more interviews with people, and have somebody else filming, every so often. As with the sketching and writing, the filming is also a very personal individual experience.

Inspiration

Geert draws inspiration from Rembrandt van Rijn, Vincent van Gogh, Andrew Wyeth, George Tetlow, Albert Namatjira, Miles Davis, John Hiatt, Bruce Springsteen and many of his current and ex students.