Last October we had one bright day in Port-en-Bessin (Normandy,France) and we enjoyed it from the first until the last moment. During our stay there I have already painted the sunrise, this is the sunset of that day.
We did not see the sun set in the sea, there were the cliffs on the horizon that were hiding the view we hoped for, but the colours of the sky were great.
My husband made a few pictures and today I have painted that scene.
I have chosen to do a 'portrait' format so I could paint a lot of sky. The cliffs are really far away and not much detail was visible in this light and the sea was looking calm so I decided to let these elements be of lesser importance. The clouds behind the cliffs on the horizon are only suggested here, I remember they were very hazy.
The details about paper and paints used, size and availability can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
Near my street is a row of holly bushes, kept low and in a nice shape by the gardeners of our community and I pass by it very often and admire the red berries, green leaves and nice shapes.
Of course I wanted to paint these and last summer I have learned how to do that.
I made a sketch of a branch with leaves and berries using several pictures as my reference, making up an imaginary branch of holly that i would like to paint. This branch would have to get a background with a 'window' that is reserved with tape while the outline is darkened with several layers of watercolour paint.
For my colour scheme I decided on a grey background with touches of the red I wanted to use for the berries. The green of the leaves is mixed with the blue-grey that also is in the background and the brown colour of the branch is also used in the background.
This limited palette gives a bit of tranquillity to the painting.
After my background was painted, dried and the masking tape removed I made a drawing of the branch, using my sketch as example. I had to adapt the final branch a little as some of the colour of the outline had bled into the bright part. Most of that is covered by a large leaf now.
While doing this I decided to experiment with my Iridescent Medium, this was used in the parts of the leaves that have the dark background. The medium was mixed directly with the paint (one of the suggestions of the manufacturer of both the paints and the medium) and I really like the result that is achieved in this way.
After all it will be Christmas in a few days and I am more than a bit 'in the mood'.
The details about size, paper and paints used, availability etc can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
Last November my husband had a congress in the South of France and in the high speed train on the way there he made a lot of pictures for me of the early snowfall in that weekend. I have already made some watercolour paintings using these pictures as my reference, and this time I have chosen a scene that was almost only in shades of white and black with some grey for the sky.
The fallen trees in the corner that is down right were not to be seen without enlarging the reference picture on my screen.
Using watercolours these trees might become too detailed and that was not what I wanted. The small sticks of charcoal that I have used for this drawing are perfect for this scene and I am really happy with the result.
The details about paper used, size and availability can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
The December challenge of "Goed Gezien- Goed Bekeken" (our regional amateur art association) is 'Peace on earth'. We just had a challenge about peaceful snowy landscapes so I was still 'in the mood' for that theme.
Peace on earth is also one of the Christmas wishes, so the painting had to have a bit of the Christmas mood as well.
And the words (and melody) of "A Gaelic Blessing" kept going through my mind so I decided to incorporate that in my painting as well.
Of course all that did not come to my mind in an instant, I was talking to my daughter about this challenge and my inspirations and she gave me some great ideas to work with. She also gave me the text is a way that I could easily copy it in the painting.
I have used a (sharp) watercolour pencil for that.
Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace of Christ the light of the world to you
Deep peace of Christ to you
The snow scene was adapted so I would have space to write the text and I have used the shadows of the hills as lines for the writing.
The details about paper, paints and pencil used, size and availability can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
