The Entrance

In  my two previous posts I have written about the estate we visited a few weeks ago and the different wrought iron fences that were to be seen from the road and the parking place. This fence must be (or may be) the main entrance to the estate of Singraven (Netherlands) as there is a road towards the building. It was closed like the others and my husband made some great reference pictures for me.

In my first post about these fences I have painted a side entry - or exit - where no road or path was blocked by the fence.
The second post was about a fence at the other side of the road, where we could enter a nice lane for a short walk.


For this painting I have made up my own composition again, so the building may be the same as in the first painting, I have changed its position again and I have also changed the amount of bushes and trees in the garden between the estate building end the fence.

The reference pictures were made when there was a lot of sunshine (for a few moments) and I have used the shadows of the small poles and the fence to create a different atmosphere for this watercolour painting.
I have used the same paper size and colour scheme as in my other paintings to connect them in more ways than only the subjects.

More information about this watercolour painting and the others I have made with the fences of this estate as sources of inspiration can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Invitation for a walk

During our short visit to the east of our country we did not explore our beautiful nature as often as we usually do. In my previous post I have already explained that this time there was a large group and we included everyone as much as possible in the plans.

This is one of the wrought iron fences we saw on the estate of Singraven. 
Compared to the one in my previous post, this one is on the other side of the road and there is an opening for those that want to make a short walk on the lanes and paths of the domain.
In fact we did enter here and made a short walk before we gathered for lunch and the drive to all our different homes.

The colour of the fence and the posts beside the gate is almost the same as the green and brown mixture of the bushes behind it and I had to look very carefully to find the shapes I had to draw.
I did take care to make the fence 'disappear' again when I painted it. 

The large trees did cast so much shadow that there are no significant 'light spots' on the grass and the lane. I have tried to show the light green of the springtime leaves on the large trees, they did manage to catch some sunlight.

More information about this watercolour painting can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

(Behind) The fence

A short vacation of only two days in the east of our country is not enough to paint on the spot, but of course the camera was in our luggage and we used it very well again.
As we were with a group of eight, including three generations, we were a bit limited in the choice of walks, excursions and sightseeing tours but we did all have as much fun as possible and I have some great pictures to paint from.

One of the places we saw was the estate of Singraven, although we did not visit the main building as it was closed for public during the weekend. 
There was a nice path for all of us to walk and beside the water mill on the other side of the road is a nice restaurant where the food is great. 

The view towards the main building has some nice wrought iron fences and I have made some pictures of one of them. The fence does not stand in a road or path, it just marks the border of the estate. It ends in the bushes on one side and in a small pond on the other side. The road towards the main entrance of the building is different, with lantern posts and of course there is a road in that scene.
The absence of a road or path is what attracted my attention in this scene.

This painting is composed with the elements I have mentioned, the main building, the grass, bushes, a small pond close to the building, branches of a nearby tree hanging over  and the fence. 
The scene is almost imaginary and I have tried to paint the atmosphere of the evening of a nice day in springtime, when the light starts to fade away and the view grows a bit misty.

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

Inspired by Rembrandt: The trees

This year is a special year as we remember that 350 years ago the great Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn died. The Rijksmuseum has started an online contest for (amateur) artists that are inspired by Rembrandt. We were asked to submit one work of art and write a short text about how we were inspired by Rembrandt to make this.

Rembrandt is famous for his self portraits and portraits of other people, groups and group scenes, like the Nachtwacht (Night Watch). As I am not good at painting people at all, I have thought for a long time that this contest was not for me.
But then I saw a - not so very good - reproduction of the etching 'the three trees' (De Drie Bomen) in a magazine and I decided to use that for my painting.

This scene is about everything I like to paint: a landscape, trees, clouds and a great atmosphere. I really thought I could make my own version of this  famous etching.

The prints that Rembrandt made of his etchings were black and white of course and I decided to paint a monochromatic watercolour using sepia. Rembrandt's oil paintings have a lot of brown colours, so this choice was easily made.
I have also thought to add reds, yellows and other browns to the monochromatic painting using watercolour pencils.

So I started my painting. First a sketch using the reproduction in the magazine as my reference and then painting in sepia. Before I knew it my painting was finished, nothing to be added by using pencils.
So a second version was started, I deliberately stopped painting much sooner, added the pencil colourings and this was the result:

I compared both versions and could not really decide. The first version seemed to be the best. So I asked the opinions of my husband, children and mother and they all thought the same. Version one was to be submitted.

Writing the text about why I painted this, how I was inspired by Rembrandt, was the next thing I had to do and my brother and sister-in-law reviewed my text for me.

The entry forms were filled with all the needed information, texts and the required pictures were added, the whole thing was submitted and the waiting started.

Yesterday the message came that out of 8390 entries I was unfortunately not chosen for the next round. Of course I regret this, but making this painting, trying the second version and writing about it (in a limited amount of words) was really a great learning experience.

The painting is framed and hanging in my home now and I am still proud of the result!

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

Ash tree - a charcoal drawing

Our day of Plein Air painting - with members of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' - was longer than just that one watercolour in my previous post. Not long enough for two watercolours though so I made a charcoal drawing.
Again no architecture, but the tree that was close by the spot where I had been painting my watercolour painting.

This ash tree was very close to the water, in the foreground are the reed plants that were in the small ditch, still little as it is springtime now.
I did like to draw the way the tree almost took over the edge of the water and made sure there always will be water at its roots. In nearby ditches there were more ash trees that had done the same; the edge of the land has almost disappeared and the tree grows into the water.
I have been looking in books for more information - and to make sure what kind of tree I had been drawing - and this really is the way these trees survive in the relatively open landscape that is found in our 'polder' (there is no translation for this, sorry).

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

Near Meerkerk

The weather is great again for painting outdoors, so I was happy that the amateur art association 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' has planned some of these outings together.
The first day was planned in the village of Meerkerk, where we were guests on the property of our chairwoman. She lives in an old farmhouse and has a nice piece of land around it where we all could find a great spot with an inspiring view.

At first I thought I would try to paint some architecture, the old farmhouse would probably inspire me. Well, I saw this view and never thought of painting farms again.

Standing on the edge of some grassland I chose the view of the water tower of Meerkerk and a row of pollard willows in front of the tower.
The air was a bit misty, filled with dust and pollen so the objects in the distance - like the  background trees and the water tower behind them - were already looking a bit blurred. The pollard willows were much closer to where I was standing, there are some fields of grass between them and the background trees.

These rows of pollard willows are very common in the landscape of the area where I live and I really must remember sometimes that I have to paint these as well, because they grow mostly in 'our' river delta landscape between the rivers Lek, Merwede and Maas (Meuse).

For this painting I chose a small size paper, mostly because I feel more comfortable with that when I am painting outdoor and have to choose my subject on the spot.

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

Through the Archway

There are lots and lots of challenges for paintings and drawings each month and to most of them I do not respond. Some just don't inspire me at all and I simply do not have enough painting time to respond to all the challenges that might be good to try because I will be learning something new while painting.
This painting is a response to the May challenge of one of the Watercolour groups I have joined on Facebook; 'Through the Archway'.
The pictures that are given for inspiration are mostly architecture and one beautiful forest scene. I have waited to paint this, because I did not have much time until now.

The reference picture was made by me or my husband during a short vacation a few years ago and I still had kept it for later use. This is a perfect 'through the archway' with all the tall trees and the branches hanging over the path.
As this is an autumn scene, the trees have lost most of their leaves and the colours that are left are shades of yellow and orange. The forest floor was remarkably green with grasses, I remember there was a lot of wind at times to blow away the fallen leaves.

Painting this scene was not difficult for me, I only had to remember to paint the trees behind some of the bushes. That means not painting the trees first, but adding the dark browns of the tree trunks after I had given the bushes their green, yellow and orange colours.

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

'Dauwtrappen?' - or Treading dew?

The May challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about a memory of mine called 'Dauwtrappen' which can be translated by treading dew.
The custom was - and still is - to rise early on the morning of Ascension Day and walk in the fields and nature while the dew was still there. And be back in time for Church of course.
This year Ascension Day is almost the last day of the month so I have painted my contribution a bit earlier and I will submit it now it is finished.

I have made the scene a bit smaller than groups of people waling the roadsides or the fields and tried to include some dewdrops in my painting.
So I had to paint some grass, dewdrops and someone treading the dew, probably an insect, given the scale I have chosen.

I did study a step-by-step guide in a magazine before I started but the drops in that guide were much larger than mine so I had to adapt the tips and tricks that were given to the size of the painting I was making.

I started out with a drawing, masking the drops and painting the blades of grass. The drops were a bit small and they were not easy for me to paint, but I think I have made something that really gives the impression of dewdrops on the grass.

And then the insects on the blades of grass had to be introduced. In my garden there are a lot of ants, so I added some of these, using a fine line marker and a drop of water.

It took some time to decide what I wanted to paint and then I had to think of how I wanted to paint it, but I really am happy with the results.

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

Japanese Maple in springtime - watercolour and watercolour pencils

It is almost a month ago that we were in the 'Von Gimborn Arboretum' for a nice afternoon walking, talking and making photographs.
One of the trees that inspired me to use the camera and make some reference pictures was this one, the Acer palmatum 'Hessei' (I did make a picture of its name tag) with its beautiful red leaves about to unfold. Only one of the pictures was good enough to use for reference and I had to think a lot about my approach of this one.
I have decided to experiment a bit and combine my art materials in a way that is not so familiar for me.

The last few paintings I have used masking fluid and painted in the background without having to hold back for the reservation of my whites - for the flowers of the magnolia of course.
This time I did not use masking fluid, because the removal of the fluid also means the removal of the pencil lines of my drawing. So this time I have painted my background, trying to reserve the areas of the fresh leaves and painted in the leaves after that. there was a second stage for the background around the leaves to fill up any 'gaps' that were inevitable in the first stage.
The background is made to suggest bushes and branches because this tree does not stand on its own in the Tree Museum.

The leaves are not exactly painted as I used watercolour pencils for them. I have been mixing up to five colours for the leaves before adding a shadow colour where that was necessary. The 'final touch' for the leaves was a fine brush point with clear water, to make the colours of the pencils stronger in some areas.

The results of this experiment with my materials is what I hoped it would be and I will certainly use this combination of techniques again in the future.

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