View over the Moselle valley - a charcoal drawing

 

After our vacation in April we wanted to see the Moselle valley in Autumn as well, so we returned for another short vacation to the same location.

The first evening we went for a short walk after being in the car for hours. Just before sunset we made some nice pictures of the views over the Moselle valley from a high point near our vacation home.

I decided to do a charcoal drawing of the view as the clouds were nice and dark and the hills were even darker. 

For this work I had to do two layers, which means I had to use fixative first before I could continue darkening the foreground. This is a method that I am not very much used to, but it really helps getting that nice dark foreground.

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

Fireplace

 

Last year we (my husband and me) were eating in a restaurant during a short vacation and a fireplace was lit. This was a gas fueled fireplace behind glass, but the idea of the scene inspired me. We both made reference pictures and I have used the best one as my inspiration for this watercolour painting.

The best picture means that I could see the fireplace and its surroundings better than on the other picture.

I used it as my inspiration, the whole scene has changed. I suggested a wood fire - the gas fire has blue flames - and the decoration is suggesting Christmas time, not the autumn decoration in the references.

This painting is made to be my Christmas card for this year.

The scene is suggesting the right season without being too much decorated. It still has to be my painting. 

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.

Antlers - a Conté drawing

 

A week ago I discovered the 'Sketch a Day app' with every day a new prompt for a sketch. I have been drawing every day, very often a quick sketch that not very great but a nice practice.

Today's prompt was Antler and I had time and inspiration to do a bit more. So I looked for an inspiring reference in my collection of photos from magazines and calendars and I found a nice old photo that I could use with some adaptations.

For the drawing I used Conté first and then pencils for the green leaves. After I finished all I used my fixative, not only for the Conté, but also to 'awaken' the colours of the watercolour pencils.

The result is even better than I hoped I could do.

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

Chestnut leaves - for a challenge

 

The October challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about patterns in nature, almost abstract. Of course I have been doing patterns with the tree bark peintings but for this challenge I wanted something else. 

Now it is Autumn, the leaves of my chestnut tree are falling and I picked up two leaves of different sizes. These I used to make a template out of paper as the leaves were dry andcrumbling.

The template was used for the drawing of my pattern. 

The leaves on top were drawn with ink. After that hed dried I started painting using only a few colours. The ink did bleed a bit but I really like the result.

While painting I adapted my first plan and this is the result I submitted for the challenge.

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.

For rent - for a challenge

 

This September the challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about bird migration. It took a while before I found the idea for my submission, but here it is. Of course there is a tree involved - no surprise here. 

When the birds go south for the winter, their nests and tree homes are left empty for months. So my painting for the challenge is about those empty homes and what might happen during Autumn and Winter.

The sign says - translated from Dutch - For rent during the Winter.

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.

Connection! - for a contest

 

This time I did not paint for a monthly challenge, but for a contest by 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken'. The contest is mostly for those that like or need to work more than a month (the time for the challenges) to complete a work and last year was the first one. I did not compete last year and did not plan to do so this year but after a conversation with one of the other members made this work.

The theme is 'connection' and I really thought that I would not find inspiration for that theme.

In a forest the trees are all connected by their root system and the fungal threads in the ground. So a forest and some mushrooms (the fruits of the fungi) are a good start. 

Then, something special had to be added. Thinking back to the kind of work I made during my painting vacation it had to be a bit alienating or at least strange.

An old fashioned telephone - a very antique model - would do the trick, with the cable leading into the ground to make the connection. The listening device is off the hook, so connection is made.

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

Vordenstein - a charcoal drawing

 

A few weeks ago my husband and me went for a walk in Park Vordenstein, not far from Antwerp, Belgium. The walk was a nice one, the parc area has a lot of different landscape/garden types and there is also some information to be found along the route.

At one point we were close to the chapel that belonged to the castle and I made a picture to use as reference for a drawing and or painting.

This is the first work made using that picture, a charcoal drawing showing the landscape that attracted my attention.

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