Wednesday 27 December 2017

Our chestnut tree in winter - charcoal drawing


In front of our house is a small chestnut tree. It came as a just budded little tree and is now almost eighteen years old. The last few years we have lots of flowers in springtime and chestnuts in autumn.
From my kitchen window I am watching the leaf buds grow thicker in springtime, and I cannot wait for the leaves to sprout.
This year I am trying to capture that process in drawings and paintings and I have started now, in winter. The leaf buds are already visible when the autumn leaves have fallen off and I have chosen a nice angle to work from with the help of my camera of course.

The days are grey, a cold wind blows and sometimes a chilly drizzle falls.
To show that feeling in a painting is not easy, so I chose to make a charcoal drawing. I started with the outlines of the branches and wiped the charcoal to the right side of my paper as I was trying to give the illusion of wind and movement. The branches were filled in with some dark colours from my box of Tinted Charcoal Pencils and I think the feeling of winter in The Netherlands was captured on my paper.

More information about this charcoal drawing (size, materials used, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Sunday 24 December 2017

Christmas Morning



The conclusion of Advent is Christmas - of course. After the four Sundays of Advent, with more and more light coming into the world and my paintings I just had to paint Christmas as well. Because I had used my mothers old missal as the source of information for the Gospel readings of Advent, I turned to that book again. I found that sixty years ago there were Gospel readings for Christmas night, dawn and day. The readings for night and dawn follow each other, but the Gospel for Christmas day is very different from the stories we have been reading before and is not easy to translate to a landscape painting. 

I chose to paint a landscape inspired by the Gospel reading of Christmas dawn. 
Luke 2, 15 -16; "And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger." (source of the English text is www.kingjamesbibleonline.org)

As this scene is at dawn, there is much more light. The Star is supposed to be in the sky until Epiphany and shines brightly now. On the right side of the road are fields like those where the shepherds spent the night. They have left for Bethlehem, but the remains of their fires can still be found. On the left side of the road is a town like Bethlehem could have been and some fields that might be used for agriculture. Of course this landscape is imaginary, like the ones I painted for the four Sundays of Advent.
The sky still has some of the colour of the night, so I used indigo again, but the landscape is well lit and has much more colour.

This project was really nice to work on. Indigo is a great colour to work with as it is usable for all tonalities in a landscape painting. Adding more and more colour was also coming naturally as I have painted all five paintings in order within a few weeks time.

More information about my Advent project can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com

Saturday 23 December 2017

The fourth Sunday of Advent


This year I decided to paint landscapes that were inspired on the Gospel readings belonging to the four Sundays of Advent. 
That is easier said than done, because in the Roman Catholic Church in The Netherlands we read the Gospels in a three year cycle.
So I asked my mother for her old missal, published in 1957 (long before that three year cycle was introduced) and used that as my source of information.

This painting is inspired by Luke 3, 4b - 5: The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth (source of the English text is www.kingjamesbibleonline.org)
Of course I have included some other elements that are connected to Advent - at least they are connected for me.
The star is a sign we hang in our windows when Advent starts and we remove it after Epiphany. So in every painting the star is present, though hidden behind some clouds.
A star means night, so the main colour is Indigo and only where the light shines other colours are introduced. 

The landscapes are scenes that are familiar to me: I did not search the internet for the landscapes of Israel, but I chose to paint variations on the nature of The Netherlands and Belgium. Sometimes I used a lot of imagination, sometimes I did not add much to the original landscape.
Because the text of this Sunday is related to the text of the third Sunday I have tried to make the landscapes look like they are related also. I used most of the elements that featured in the other paintings, such as the bushes, the reeds, a stone, small trees, the path of course and the illusion of a forest in the background.

More information about my Advent Project can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Saturday 16 December 2017

The third Sunday of Advent


This year I decided to paint landscapes that were inspired on the Gospel readings belonging to the four Sundays of Advent. 
That is easier said than done, because in the Roman Catholic Church in The Netherlands we read the Gospels in a three year cycle.
So I asked my mother for her old missal, published in 1957 (long before that three year cycle was introduced) and used that as my source of information.

This painting is inspired by John 1, 26 and 28: "John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 
These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing." (source of the English text is www.kingjamesbibleonline.org)

Of course I have included some other elements that are connected to Advent - at least they are connected for me.
The star is a sign we hang in our windows when Advent starts and we remove it after Epiphany. So in every painting the star is present, though hidden behind some clouds.
A star means night, so the main colour is Indigo and only where the light shines other colours are introduced.
There are three light rays this time and more light is introduced by suggesting the morning twilight.


The landscapes are scenes that are familiar to me: I did not search the internet for the landscapes of Israel, but I chose to paint variations on the nature of The Netherlands and Belgium. Sometimes I used a lot of imagination, sometimes I did not add much to the original landscape.

More information about my Advent Project can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Friday 15 December 2017

Still near Fauvillers - behind each bend in the road.....


The path we were following was curved around the hills of The Ardennes and we were expecting to descend into the Forest of Anlier very soon. But behind every bend in the path we had new views and I could not resist the temptation to make some more pictures. Especially because the light was changing fast - from misty to a clear sky with lots of sunshine. Once inside the forest that would not make so much of a difference, but now on the hillside the landscape looked much warmer.

To paint a landscape in warmer greens is not that much of a challenge when you mix your greens from blue and yellow colours. In this case I just used French Ultramarine (as I have used Payne's Grey in the previous painting and got a much colder landscape) with some shades of yellow to obtain the desired greens. Or some greens that are very close to what I had in mind.
For this painting I used a larger piece of paper to express the vastness of this particular part of our walking route. We really did have some nice views while walking this path.

Painting this scene was a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon and I am glad I finished painting before the daylight was fading away. These are the shortest days of the year and the hours of daylight seem even shorter when the sky is overcast like we had this last week.

More information about this watercolour painting (size, materials used, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Monday 11 December 2017

Near Fauvillers - walking towards the Forest of Anlier


Another memory from our last vacation in The Ardennes. At this point we have left the village of Fauvillers behind us and are almost entering the Forest of Anlier. Before we really are between the trees we just have to follow this path downhill.

This vacation I have been making my own reference pictures - usually my husband makes them on my request as he is holding the camera.
I chose this scene because I was inspired by the lines of the fencing, the bushes and the path. The electricity poles and cables add to this as well.
This picture was taken a few hours after sunrise and the sky was still a bit gray. (later that day we would have sunshine, blue skies and some clouds)

For the painting I chose a small size (1/4 sheet instead of 1/2 sheet) because the scene 'asked' for that approach.
Some details like the electricity cables, the wire in the fencing and some of the grasses are made with my Professional Watercolour Sticks. As expected I have experienced that they are great for drawing these details, like the dry brush technique they can give the dashed lines I want.

Painting this one was fun for me! More vacation memories are waiting to be painted so you can expect some great views and forest scenes in the next weeks.

More information about this watercolour painting (materials used, size, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 









Saturday 9 December 2017

The second Sunday of Advent


This year I decided to paint landscapes that were inspired on the Gospel readings belonging to the four Sundays of Advent. 
That is easier said than done, because in the Roman Catholic Church in The Netherlands we read the Gospels in a three year cycle.

So I asked my mother for her old missal, published in 1957 (long before that three year cycle was introduced) and used that as my source of information.

This painting is inspired by Matthew 11, 7 - 8a; And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? (source of the English text is www.kingjamesbible.org)
8
Of course I have included some other elements that are connected to Advent - at least they are connected for me.
The star is a sign we hang in our windows when Advent starts and we remove it after Epiphany. So in every painting the star is present, though hidden behind some clouds.
This painting has two light rays, as promised. It shines on the reed that is not shaken with the wind, an image that in this text could be a symbol for the prophet John.
A star means night, so the main colour is Indigo and only where the light shines other colours are introduced. 
The landscapes are scenes that are familiar to me: I did not search the internet for the landscapes of Israel, but I chose to paint variations on the nature of The Netherlands and Belgium. Sometimes I used a lot of imagination, sometimes I did not add much to the original landscape.

More information about this watercolour painting and the first one of my Advent Project can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Sunday 3 December 2017

The Forest of Anlier - in a charcoal drawing


Last October my husband and me were in The Ardennes (Belgium) and I have already published some watercolour paintings I made during and after that short vacation. 
There have been other things to do since my last painting of the Forest of Anlier, like the Christmas Card painting, some decoration stuff that is not painted - I do crochet sometimes - and the Advent project.

So now it felt good to return to the inspiration I found in the Forest of Anlier and I started with a charcoal drawing. 
The scene is one I had already painted in watercolour during one of the evenings in our small vacation home and I wanted to know how it would be in a charcoal version.
This is the result of only half an hour or maybe three quarters of an hour work but I am certain I cannot add any more to my drawing without ruining it. In fact I am very happy with this result.
The scene has changed a bit compared to the watercolour version. That always happens when I paint or draw a scene for the second time. This time the forest in the background is much more open and in this version that's just what the painting asks for. (I do listen to my paintings most of the time, that improves the results)

More information about this charcoal drawing (materials used, availability, etc) and the other paintings I made inspired by The Ardennes can be found on my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Saturday 2 December 2017

The first sunday of Advent


This year I decided to paint landscapes that were inspired on the Gospel readings belonging to the four Sundays of Advent. 
That is easier said than done, because in the Roman Catholic Church in The Netherlands we read the Gospels in a three year cycle.
So I asked my mother for her old missal, published in 1957 (long before that three year cycle was introduced) and used that as my source of information.

This painting is inspired by Luke 21, 29b - 30: "Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand." (source of the English text is www.kingjamesbibleonline.org)

Of course I have included some other elements that are connected to Advent - at least they are connected for me.
The star is a sign we hang in our windows when Advent starts and we remove it after Epiphany. So in every painting the star is present, though hidden behind some clouds.
There are light rays, one for the first Sunday, two for the second - and now I am already saying too much, the other paintings will be published when it is the right time.
A star means night, so the main colour is Indigo and only where the light shines other colours are introduced. 
The landscapes are scenes that are familiar to me: I did not search the internet for the landscapes of Israel, but I chose to paint variations on the nature of The Netherlands and Belgium. Sometimes I used a lot of imagination, sometimes I did not add much to the original landscape.

More information about this watercolour painting (size, paper and paints used, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com