Sunday 29 May 2016

Walking around the Naardermeer - 3


The walk around the 'Naardermeer' is marked counter clockwise and starts at the most southern point. First you walk the eastern edge of the area which is lined by high trees, bushes, fields with cattle and a few farmhouses.
As it was springtime, all the trees and bushes were showing fresh green colours and some of them were in bloom, like the chestnut trees and the hawthorn bushes. In the fields were lots of flowers showing their yellow, white or violet colours. The grasses themselves bloom with a reddish brown haze.

Altogether great to look at and not so easy to paint, as I do not want to show all the details, but the impression of the scene.
This was a peaceful spot with a very gentle feeling with lots of green, birds singing and sheltered from the wind.
I tried to paint this impression and I think I succeeded.

More information about this watercolour and the others I painted inspired by our walk around the 'Naardermeer' can be found at www.jannekesatelier.tk 


Saturday 21 May 2016

Walking around 'Naardermeer' - 2


The walk around our Natural Reserve Naardermeer is about 20 kms long and there is a nice variety in views, landscapes, vegetation and animals.

This time I found some information on the site of the owner of the Naardermeer: Natuurmonumenten (Natural Reserves) an organisation for the protection of our nature.

"The reserve of Naardermeer consists of several lakes, such as the Great Lake and the Wijde Blik. Around it lie swamps and marshy meadows with shallow ponds. Numerous animals and plants take advantage of these wet conditions."

The reference photo for this watercolour was taken (by myself) from a lookout point overlooking the lake called 'Naardermeer' (which the reserve is named for) where it is about to flow into the 'Grote Meer'. (The Dutch word 'meer' means lake.)

I was attracted by the clouds, the reeds, the water and the bushes nearby to show the depth in the scene.

More information about this watercolour and the other one I painted after our walk around the Naardermeer can be found at www.jannekesatelier.tk 

My website had to change address due to circumstances beyond our control. 

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Walking around the 'Naardermeer'



Last weekend we went for a walk around the Naardermeer - and 'we' are my husband, my son, my son's girlfriend and me. The walk is about 20 kms and we made lots of pictures. 

The Naardermeer is a very special area in the Netherlands, so I give some information I translated from the Wikipedia page: 
"Naardermeer is a protected area on the northwestern border of the Gooi, between Muiderberg, Naarden, Hilversum  and Weesp. It is a lake area with reeds, meadows and swamp. It accommodates many (unique) wetland plants and animals, such as cormorants. It was the first area that Natuurmonumenten purchased after its creation in 1906 to protect, and was the first Dutch nature reserve."
"In 1874, the Eastern Railway between Amsterdam and Amersfoort was inaugurated. This line cuts through Naardermeer from west to east."
Of course there is much more information to be found, but these quotes describe the area very well.

As I already mentioned, we made lots of pictures and a large part of those pictures have the railway and some trains in them. 
The weather was cloudy and after some time we were feeling windswept.

I had to choose a picture to be the first to be painted and this was my choice: clouds, fields, the railroad, water, reeds and even the remains of a gate are in it.

The landscape has much more variations and surprises, so there are more watercolour paintings to come.

More information about this watercolour (size, colours used, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.tk 

please note: my website's address has changed a bit due to circumstances beyond our influence. 

Monday 9 May 2016

Zürich by fog - watercolour version


This scene was too much fun to make only a charcoal drawing, so I wanted to make a watercolour as well. As the foggy atmosphere gave the reference picture a monochromatic look already I decided to make a watercolour with Indigo as its only colour.

Of course there are differences between the drawing I made and this watercolour, I do not use a projector to transfer my sketches to the paper. 
The difference in techniques and my experiences in them also make a difference, of course.

While painting I decided to change the way the bridge stands out from the background.

More information about this watercolour (size, paper and paint used, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.co.nr 

Friday 6 May 2016

Zürich by fog


Last winter my son and his girlfriend went to see Switzerland - part of it. 
They also visited Zürich and managed to make some really nice pictures in foggy weather.

One of those pictures became the inspiration for a charcoal drawing. 
As the picture really is hazy, I had difficulties to find the outlines of all the buildings. I usually feel more confident fading lines when I know where they should be in the first place. And I really had to fade a lot as only the left side of the bridge was not hidden in the fog. 

As I was working on this drawing, I also wanted to paint a watercolour after the sketch I made using this reference picture. So there is more to come!

For more information (size, paper used etc) please visit my website www.jannekesatelier.co.nr 

Sunday 1 May 2016

View on Ptuj


As I mentioned before, my children like to travel and they bring home lots of pictures and stories. Both the pictures and the stories are inspiring me to paint although sometimes the pictures have to wait a while before I am ready to use them.

This is a scene in Slovenia, the small town of Ptuj as can be seen across the river Drava. The reference picture was made by my son Martijn.

The reflections of the buildings and the trees in the water attracted my attention here and I have been wanting to paint it several times, but I kept hesitating about what paper size to use and how to crop the reference picture - or not at all.
Today I just started sketching and ended up approximately halfway the reference picture. 
This way I could give more attention to the reflections and that is what I wanted to do here.

More information about this watercolour (size, colours used, etc) can be found on my website  www.jannekesatelier.co.nr