Crop

 

Today the prompt in the 'Sketch A Day' app was 'Crop' so I first looked at the other entries to see how other people interpreted the prompt. I do that very often, there is a slight difference in translation possible. The prompts are in English, I am Dutch. Looking at the other entries also helps me find inspiration when that is needed.

Working with water soluble pencils helps me to define my subject by using water to 'awaken' the colours of the first layer and then adding a second layer of colour for depth. The three plants in the foreground are detailed, the others are only suggested.

At that point in my process I decided to add another meaning of 'crop' to my drawing by adding the lines I use when cropping a picture on the computer before I publish my work online.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Grapevines in autumn

 

During one of the walks we made in the Moselle Valley we passed by some grapevines that had the greatest Autumn colours and some of the grapes were still hanging on the plants. Those grapes were almost black and smelled as if they had started to ferment already.

My husband and me liked the view and we both made some pictures of the leaves and those dark grapes. For this painting I combined two pictures.

After the background had dried I made a composition of leaves, stems and branches and added a nice bunch of grapes.

The leaves were painted in shades of yellow with some dark browns added and for the grapes I combined several dark colours until I got the right purple-brownish almost black colour that I remembered.

Making a picture of my work proved difficult, the November light is not great and a few of my background yellows seem to disappear in the picture. Unfortunately I cannot optimise that without losing the beauty of the grapes.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Pumpkin - a pencil drawing

 

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I found the 'Sketch a day' app and made a small sketch every day. That time I was inspired to do a bit more than a quick sketch and today was the same. 

The prompt 'Pumpkin' inspired me to do a bit more than a black and white sketch, so I took a piece of grey paper and my watercolour pencils and made this drawing.

After the first pencil layer I used water to 'awaken' the colours and after that had dried I added more colours for more depth. This technique gives nice results and I have described it before.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

The entrance to the quarry - a charcoal drawing

 

During our short vacation in the Moselle Region we also visited 'Besucherbergwerk Fell' a place where visitors can learn about the old slate quarries and mines. There are some signposted walks that lead you to several quarries that are closed but can be seen from outside. There is an information centre and a part of the old mine is open for guided tours.

We did the short walk as the weather was not encouraging the longer ones and made several pictures of the quarries, the information given there and the old mine carts on display.

In this drawing I 'forgot' the fence in front of the entrance to the quarry. I used charcoal and some of my Tinted Charcoal pencils on a grey background.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can be found in my Tumblr blog.

Lichens - a pencil drawing

 

As written in earlier posts, when I am on a short vacation I do take only drawing materials with me and make smaller works than usual. During these days I actively search for subjects that are great for these small drawings, full of details that need sharp pencils and nothing else to do that day. As far as my patience goes...

Very close to our vacation home was a bush that had some of the larger branches covered in lichens. The light colours of the lichens are great on a black background so I started drawing. The lichens have been treated with water, to 'awaken' the colours and after that had dried, I applied a second layer of colour. I did not do this to the branch, to make the subject stand out as much as possible.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing, its availability and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can be found in my Tumblr blog.

Grape Leaves - a pencil drawing

 

For the reference picture I used for this drawing we had to walk a bit further from our vacation home in the Moselle Region. We enjoyed the autumn colours of both grape plants and trees this season.

During a walk we saw a lot of grape plants with only yellow leaves, but at one point we saw more colours. Of course I made a picture and used that for this drawing.

The scene is simplified to make the bright colours of the leaves stand out and I chose a black paper to draw on for the same reason.

The drawing is made with water soluble pencils and after the first layer I used water to 'awaken' the colours. After that had dried I applied a second layer of colour for more depth.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Rose hips - a pencil drawing

 

For our short vacation in the Moselle Region I had only brought drawing materials like pencils and charcoal. Usually the light in a vacation home is not fit for painting, so I prefer to only make drawings.

The bush with the rose hips was two steps away from our vacation home and one of the first days I made a picture of the outer branches with some rose hips.

For the drawing I selected only a few branches and made my drawing using two kinds of water soluble pencils. I used water to 'awaken' the colours of these selected branches. After that had dried I sketched the shapes of some of the other branches very lightly to balance the composition.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.