Near Vaals (Netherlands) - Winter fantasy

 

A few months ago we were on a short vacation in Vaals, where we made some nice signposted walks. 

The landscape with the highest hills in The Netherlands is picturesque for us (living in a very flat 'polder' landscape) so we made (reference) pictures of those hills and nice views. One of these pictures, made in a lush and green landscape, is now used for this winter fantasy.

Of course I only used the view over the hills and transformed the green of the grass to a white snowy landscape. The trees nearby and the bushes are for another kind of painting.

For this painting I selected a rough structured paper which makes the soft colour transitions you see in the painting very easy as it stays moist a little longer without being really soaking wet. Details are a bit more tricky, not only because of the water holding capacities of the paper but also because of the structure. But as I did not want details, but a nice Winter mood, this was not a problem at all.

The results are even better than I hoped for, maybe because I stopped early so I could not overwork this one.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this work and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. 

If you are interested in my original artworks, please contact me.

Hibernation - for a challenge

 

The December Challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about hibernation. What if we also could go into hibernation - instead of facing the cold Winter weather - what would that be like?

So I imagined a nice warm bed with extra duvets, slippers on the bed mat and a snowman outside the window. Nighttime and a moon are also included. What would I dream about? And what would the snowman dream about? Because in a world where humans can hibernate it must be possible that snowmen can dream.

These questions are answered in the drawing/illustration so I will not write much about those dreams.

For this one I decided to use my markers on a small sheet of paper.

The information about the materials I have used and the size of this work can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

If you are interested in my original artworks please contact me.

View on Monswiller - a winter fantasy

 

This time I was inspired to paint a Winter mood and - as it is not yet Winter in The Netherlands - I looked for a reference in my old sketchbooks. This scene, a view from a roadside restaurant on the small town of Monswiller inspired me.

Of course I had painted a watercolour inspired by this scene short after I made the sketch, but this time I wanted to change a lot, not only did it have to be a Winter fantasy, I also changed the format from 'landscape' to 'portrait' so there would be much more sky and a bit more foreground.

The church tower is placed at a 'good' spot in the composition (one third from below and one third from the right side) and I made the drawing starting from that place, adding some slopes to the foreground and leaving room for a nice cloudy sky.

Using some of the colours that are not my first choice I set myself another small challenge, but sometimes I wonder why these colours are not so often used - maybe it's about habit.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

If you are interested in my original artworks, please contact me.

To die for - for a challenge

 

The November challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is in Dutch 'Om je vingers bij af te likken' which translates (Google translate) as 'To die for'. The original phrase is about licking your fingers after eating something delicious.

And that is what I wanted to draw this time. A cat licking his fingers/paw after eating. Another cat is also present to suggest the food.

For this drawing I used examples from a book with tutorials about drawing cats (not much more than a line sketch and a result in grey shades) and I added the colours using my imagination. To be able to draw two cats I used one of my larger sizes of paper

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

If you are interested in my original artworks, please contact me.

Little white mushroom

 

During one of our forest walks last month we saw this little white mushroom, standing all alone. It was early in Autumn and this was one of the very few mushrooms we did see.

With my phone camera I tried to make a nice picture, even using the 'Macro' setting, but everything was sharp in the picture except the mushroom. That happened a few times and I kept the best as my reference pictures.

The background was full of dead leaves, patches of earth, mosses, small stones etcetera so I decided to only suggest a messy forest floor instead of showing all the details. The little mushroom is my subject so it has to stand out a bit.

Of course the mushroom was not completely white, some of the colours in the background are reflected on the white surface. These colours are used to paint the structure of the hood.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

If you are interested in my original artworks, please contact me.

Hills - landscape

 

During our short vacation in Vaals (The Netherlands) we made a few signposted walks, enjoying the weather, the hills, the views and the woodland areas we were walking through. Several pictures were made of the nice landscape and I intend to use some of them as reference for watercolour paintings. 

This is the first scene I painted and though the landscape was green under a blue sky, I adapted it to another colour scheme. Sometimes I just don't want to paint another blue and green landscape.

My limited palette has a yellow, two browns and a blue for making the grey-ish shades by mixing it with the brown ones.

This is one of those paintings that are started with a reference picture that is really good, but before all the trees or other elements are added, the painting already looks great, so  I decide to stop. 

I really don't think this painting would improve with foreground trees, it's all about atmosphere. 

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. If you are interested in my original artworks, please contact me.

Virginia creeper - watercolour painting and pencil drawing

 

Last week we visited the Castle Ruin of Valkenburg (Netherlands) and one of the things that attracted my attention was this plant in full Autumn colours creeping over the walls of the castle. I made some reference pictures to make a pencil drawing.

The drawing was made but for several reasons I was not completely happy with the result

and I decided to use the drawing (second picture) as a study for a watercolour painting.

For the watercolour painting (first picture) the paper was given a hint of colour, using the colour of the 'mergel' or marl stones that were used to construct the castle. On top of that background I painted the leaves of the Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) and added the structure of the stones using a watercolour pencil. 

The emphasis of the watercolour painting is now on the plant and its autumn colours as I wanted it to be.

The information about the materials I have used for both the drawing and the painting, the sizes of the works and the availabilities can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Medlar - a pencil drawing

 

Last week we were on a short vacation, this time not only my husband and me, but also our children and grandchildren. That meant I did not have much time to make walks and/or drawings. Reference pictures were made, so I will catch up in the coming weeks.

This drawing was made during our short stay, from a reference picture I made during a nice walk near the 'Drielandenpunt' at Vaals (The Netherlands). We walked in the hills and passed through woodland areas, fields, crossed - or almost crossed - some borders and really enjoyed the walk.

This bush did attract my attention, I had never before seen these fruits. They look like large rosehips, but are in fact too large to be a rosehip. The plant is one of the 'rose' family, a medlar, Mespilus germanica. 

For the drawing I used my watercolour pencils, leaving the background only in one colour (in reality the leaves were still green) and adding water to the fruits, so the colours would be enhanced and so the fruits would be emphasized. This worked as I hoped it would and I am really happy with the result.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Rooted and tenacious (for a challenge)

 

The October challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' has Deep-rooted as its theme, with references to trees in the description. That subject is all I could wish for, trees are my most important inspirations. Though I had some difficulty in selecting which tree I would draw or paint for this challenge. It had to be a living one and this tree, in the 'Alblasserbos', very close to my home (walking distance) is the chosen one.

This tree and another one of the same kind are lying on the ground in a small section of the forest area that used to be an orchard. It looks like the trees have been pulled down when the orchard closed but tenaciously stayed alive and are still bearing their fruits in autumn - now for the passers-by to pick and enjoy.

It has been a while since I made a Conté drawing, so my contribution for the challenge is a Conté drawing of that tree as it is at the end of winter - when the reference picture was made.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

A glimpse (underneath) - Kalmthoutse Heide

 

The end of summer is more sunny and warm than the 'real' summer was this year so we went for a walk over the Kalmthoutse Heide in September, enjoying a nice warm day and the last of the purple colours of the heather in bloom. We made a nice long walk, combining two signposted walks to see as much purple as possible. Of course we also passed by woodland areas, sand dunes and sand paths and some trees that were standing (almost) alone.

Under one of those trees was a nice bench for tired walkers so we sat in the shadow of the tree and my husband made a picture of this glimpse underneath the branches of the tree. He made the request for a watercolour painting and I decided to do this 'my way' with the tree in the lead role.

The roots of the tree were interesting in shape so I gave them extra attention by changing the clarity of the reference picture to see the shapes - compared to the dark mass they were in the original picture. As most of the tree is back lit, it is only natural that the roots are too dark in the picture. With some help from the photo programme I managed to get the reference image I needed, another lesson learned for the future.

For the painting I wanted the tree in the lead role, so the background, a path, bushes and some trees  is mostly suggested. The pine cones under the tree were added for structure as well as some fallen twigs.

The painting is what I hoped it would be, so I am really happy with the result.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. If you are interested in my work (only original paintings are available) please contact me.

Between Art and Sound - for a challenge

 

The September challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is 'between art and sound' or how music can influence our art. Are we inspired by music or is there something else?

My art is not inspired by music, but a good melody helps me concentrate when I am painting. 

So I decided to do something with musical notes and a landscape. But what? Placing some musical notes in the landscape is not really 'special' enough for a challenge. After some thought I decided to give the landscape an extra layer of paint (or more than one layer) where the music can be found. Exaggeration is never good, so there are only two notes in this landscape.

I have used an old working sketch for the landscape, the first painting after this sketch was made almost six years ago.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its avaiability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Fantasy in green - my chestnut tree (again)

 

Lucky me, to have a chestnut tree in the front garden, now I have an easy source of inspiration two steps from my front door. This watercolour is another one made after a reference picture of my chestnut tree.

This time I wanted to paint the foliage as it is still full and there are many patterns visible. The open spaces between the foliage can have interesting shapes - or not - depending on the standing point of the viewer.

The still growing chestnut has a very different shade of green and makes a nice focal point in front of a dark patch of shadows and leaves. The branches give structure to the image, without them you wouldn't know what you are looking at and I am not yet ready for that much abstraction.

For this watercolour painting I first made a charcoal study - which is not worth showing as it is really only a study in values and shapes, so it is not much more than patches of white, grey and black with some lines.  

If I had painted from my picture I could have been distracted by all the other things that are in our street like cars, other houses and other trees, a bit further away. Making the study first, I could 'lose' these distractions in a first step.

So I used my very sketchy study for my painting and the result is even better than I hoped for. Now I just have to remember this procedure for future paintings.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Tree roots 3 - a watercolour painting and a study

 

The last result of my painting vacation. This scene proved to be very challenging to make a good charcoal study, the charcoal is not as subtle as the watercolour.

Our teacher and coach Ad van Aart encouraged me to use the reference picture for this watercolour, a very grey looking scene with sand, some tree roots and just a few other elements in it. The roots had the same shade of grey as the sand, this was a very open path, too well-travelled for any mosses to grow or dead leaves to stay in place. Only the tree roots in the foreground showed some brown. 

For the reference picture I kneeled down as low as possible (I had to get up again without embarassing either myself or my husband who was with me on that walk) so the shadows of the roots on the ground were very strong.

The composition is mostly decided by the darkness of the shadows.

For the watercolour painting I painted the background first and after that had dried I started to paint the lines of the tree roots, using as little paint as possible. The dark shadows were painted as dark as possible. Some of the gathered bits of wood on the right side of the large root and some large shadow areas (clouds or other trees) were painted and after that the composition was perfected with more shadows and more areas that might contain smaller branches.

The study was helpful for the placement of these areas, but I did not copy it exactly

As you can see, the charcoal study is much darker than the watercolour painting, giving more contrast in the lines, which was not what I wanted for the painting.

The painting is even better than I hoped for, thanks to the helpful comments of Ad van Aart.

The information about the materials I have used for the watercolour painting and the charcoal study can all be found in my Tumblr blog. There you can also find information about the sizes and availabilities.

Tree roots 2 -watercolour paintings and a charcoal study

 

During my painting vacation I wanted to focus on the structures made by tree roots, visible on well-travelled sand paths. For this I made several reference pictures and this scene is the second we picked to work from. The reference pictures were chosen by our teacher and coach, Ad van Aart, together with me. Compared to the first one, this reference picture offered more and different challenges for me as an artist.

After I had made the charcoal study

the composition of the watercolour painting was decided. In this case I had to fill the whole sheet of watercolour paper with the composition of the drawing, not leaving extra white areas.

For the painting I worked on dry paper, leaving the lines of the roots untouched. The mosses and grasses were painted and the shadows on the forest floor were painted using darker mixes than the sunlit spots on the top left.

After these first layers were painted, the shadows on the tree roots were painted and after that was decided that it was a good idea to indicate the structures of the roots as well.

A second painting was to be made, with a more 'dramatic' atmosphere than the first one.

To make a painting look more dramatic, a monochromatic painting always works good. For this one I decided to use Indigo, because of the possibility to work from very light to really dark. Again I worked on dry paper, leaving the structures of the roots untouched. The shadows of the roots on the forest floor were painted and the shadows on the roots themselves, where they crossed, were also indicated.

This painting is much more abstract than the other ones I had made this week. One of the other painters liked it so much that the painting was sold.

The information about the materials I have used for the watercolour paintings and the charcoal study, their sizes and availabilities can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Tree roots 1 - Watercolour and charcoal study

 

For this painting vacation I planned to make watercolour paintings inspired by the patterns of tree roots in the paths we take when walking in the forests. We always use signposted walks, so the paths are very well travelled. Several reference pictures were made during our last walk in 'De Soesterduinen'.

Our teacher and coach Ad van Aart helped me to select the reference pictures I was to work from this week and this one is the first. They get more difficult after this one, although tis also was a nice challenge.

After I made the charcoal study

we decided that the composition was good, so the watercolour painting had to be placed on the paper in the same proportions. The initial sketch on the watercolour paper took some time, but painting was relatively easy. During the painting process we decided on adding the shadows of the roots and some more patches of green, to complement the green moss in the top left corner. In this way the painting is not really abstract, but the result works very well.

The information about the materials I have used, the sizes of the watercolour painting and the charcoal drawing and their availabilities can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Sequoia (detail) three paintings and a study

This summer I had my painting week again and out teacher and coach Ad van Aart did send me to a beautiful sequoia tree for my first painting. The tree is too big to paint completely, but I wanted to concentrate on details this summer, in this case the beautiful structured bark.

First I made some reference pictures, then I made a charcoal study:

After that I made the watercolour on top, using the original colours as good as possible. Something went wrong with the composition, the study has the tree placed nicely on the paper, leaving white spaces but the watercolour ended up on the whole paper, the wite spaces at the bottom of the tree were gone. The difference in proportions of the watercolour paper and the paper I use for the study made the mistake possible.

So we decided that I had to make at least one more watercolour painting and I changed the size of the watercolour paper I am using so the composition would be placed better on the paper.

The first watercolour was made using only shades of brown - not the original colours of the cedar tree, but the result is really nice.

For the second watercolour I used a very different idea, I made a monochromatic painting using indigo.

The results are nice, this is mostly done as a series of studies, to compare the effect of different paper sizes, composition and colour schemes.

The information about the materials I have used, the sizes of the study and the watercolours and their availabilities can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)

 

A few months ago we (my husband and me) were walking a signposted walk in the 'Kalmthoutse Heide' when we came past some wild black cherry bushes. These plants were introduced in West-Europe about a century ago and proved to be invasive so now the foresters an nature managers are trying to control and eliminate the plant. That is not an easy task so years after we first learned about the invasive nature of the bush, we still could pass by some of them. 

There were still some berries on the bush so I made some reference pictures with the plan to paint these berries.

For this watercolour painting I selected a small size watercolour paper and worked with a very limited palette, trying my new paint colour in this painting both 'single' and in mixtures. For the background I let the paint flow on the wet paper, gravity was my trusted helper here. After the background had dried, I made the drawing of my berries and after these were painted I added the suggestion of the foliage, using the reference picture as a guide for the shapes. In the end I added some colour to the bottom part of the background to make the composition a bit more balanced.

The result is what I hoped it would be.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

The Dunes at Rockanje (Netherlands)

 

Our North Sea coast is special, but I only learned that when I realised that other coast lines have rocks, cliffs, pebble beaches or..   no sand beach and sand dunes. For me all this sand was 'normal' but now I really appreciate our coast much more.

Last week we were at the beach in Rockanje (The Netherlands) and we started walking from the parking place called 'Tweede Slag'. In the evening the beach is almost empty so it is a nice place for a walk in the wind, we enjoyed the fresh air, the views, the birds and had a great time. 

Of course I made some reference pictures, this time I wanted to paint our dunes - a seascape would be too easy, we had a blue sea and a blue sky with some clouds. The dark bushes, the grasses and the wind-blown shapes of the dunes inspired me.

Because it was getting late and the sun was behind me when I made the picture the plants on top of the dunes were dark, almost back lit. The clouds were getting dark as well. The slope has many shells or remains of shells as the birds nesting there feed on them. There is not really a path, that area is a reserve for the birds. Of course there are grasses growing on the slopes, on the tops there are small bushes.

In my watercolour painting I wanted to depict the height of the sand dunes at that point so I chose a high horizon and a 'portrait' format for my painting. Showing the contrasts between the dark vegetation and the light sand was one of my goals, and I am really happy with the result.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) - pencil drawing

 

After I had been drawing the Cattails (see my post about them) I wanted to use that paper more often. Because of the special colour of the tinter paper (vert-de-gris) not many subjects are suitable for a drawing. The reeds and cattails inspired me, so I made some reference pictures of the purple loosestrife that often grows near these plants.

The purple loosestrife also grows on the edges of water, just like the reeds and cattails so I made my drawing using the view of the leaves of the broadleaf cattail behind the purple flowers. My reference picture was made from a safe distance and I used that to draw the impression of the flowers instead of showing all the details. 

Making a good picture of my drawing was a challenge again, not only the colour of the paper is somewhat elusive, the magenta I used for the flowers also fades to red. In the end I used a camera (not my phone) and settled for the right colour of the drawing, not so much for the paper.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of my drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

Slope - Kalmthoutse Heide

 

The Natural Reserve 'Kalmthoutse Heide' is not really far from where we (my husband and me) live, it is also a very favourite place to go for a nice walk in nature. The Reserve is situated on the border between The Netherlands and Belgium and most of the times we walk in the Belgian area, but this time we went for a signposted walk in the vicinity of Ossendrecht, The Netherlands. We did this walk before, but that was several years ago and 'wandelpad Haas' did have some surprises. 

The moorland area was closed with electrical fence and in that area were sheep, keeping the moorland as it should be; no grassland or woodland but with lots of heather plants. The walk went around that area, so we could see the sheep at work without disturbing them. There are reference pictures with these sheep, I will use them later for a painting or drawing.

About halfway the signposted walk we were in a relatively high place and we could look down a small slope just towards the next high spot. As the sunlight hit the ground beneath the trees, I made a reference picture - we did have lots of clouds during that walk even some very light rain.

The reference picture was used for this watercolour and of course I simplified the foreground - there were a lot of smaller bushes, some heather and grasses, but I did not want to paint all those details. The background did get some more details, some of the tree trunks on the opposite slope are much lighter in colour than the shadows behind them and I wanted to paint that properly.

The trees were given some extra attention as well, I still want to improve my tree - painting skills. The result is what I hoped it would be.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Hat(s) in the lead role - for a challenge

 

The theme of the July challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken'  is 'Hats in the lead role' where a pun can be found in the Dutch title (lead role = hoofdrol and  head = hoofd).

I only have a straw hat that I mostly use when painting outdoors, to keep the sun from my eyes and still see the right colours - something sunglasses cannot do. This hat is in my possession for many years now and I have changed the decorations several times. This times it is a small ribbon and some crocheted flowers. The ribbon is not exactly in the angle between the brim and the bulb, it never is because I did only sew it in a few spots, afraid of damaging the straw.

So for this challenge I put on the hat, asked my husband to make a reference picture and use that picture for a small watercolour painting.

Because the hat had to have the lead role, my composition is all about that hat and both the background and me (the person wearing the hat) are mostly suggested. 

The information about the materials I have used and the size of the painting can be found in my Tumblr blog.

If you are interested in this painting or any other work I made, please contact me.

Broadleaf Cattail (Typha latifolia) - pencil drawing

 

Our usual walk to the small park area close to our home and back passes by several ditches and small canals because we live in a very wet part of the country. This time of the year the reed plants are much higher than we are and we can also see these 'cigars' in between the greens. We always thought these were reed 'fruits' but when I looked for the English name I found out that these are not reeds at all, but something very different, the broadleaf cattail. Never too old to learn...

When we passed by these plants, I wanted to make a drawing, so some reference pictures were made, I thought about composition, materials and the best time to make the drawing for some time and I made the drawing.

I wanted to use the paper my daughter gave me for my last birthday as the shade of the paper is almost that of the reeds that were also in that patch of water-plants. Using my Graphitint pencils I started drawing and made up the best composition while working. The 'cigars' were the most important parts of the drawing, the leaves thar were the closest to them were also drawn in almost as they are in the reference picture and the other leaves are added where the drawing needed them.

The 'cigars' were given some extra emphasis with a little drop of water to 'wake' the colours of the pencils. 

Making a good picture of the finished drawing was the biggest challenge of all. Either I could see the light on top of the drawing or I lost the colour of the paper completely. Finally I went outside in the shadows and made this picture, not great, but the best I could do. I do refuse to install a professional photo studio in my home (where do I get the money to buy the stuff in the first place) to make pictures of my paintings and drawings when making the paintings and drawings is where my heart is.

The drawing is what I hoped it would be, so the result makes me want to draw more - and more.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of the drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

Windmill 'De Liefde' in rainy weather

 

Today we - members of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' - planned to go painting en plein air at the windmill 'De Liefde'. That windmill is open for visitors and will run every Saturday in summer. It is situated at the river Lek and the views are really great. In the right conditions you can see the skyline of Rotterdam from the gallery.

Today we did not have the best weather conditions, it rained. So after coffee and some talking about windmills and painting, I decided to go outside and make some reference pictures for the painting I wanted to make.

Looking West, I could see the windmill, the river and the incoming rain. At the horizon the river just vanished into the rain and the clouds and I just wanted to paint that - but not en plein air. So I returned home, stretched some paper and started working.

For this painting I wanted the windmill to be recognisable, but I did not want to include all the details. Most details are not even visible in the reference picture because of the weather conditions and the mill had a little back light.

The greyness of the sky and the river made me use my new colour again and this time I also used it for mixing the greys, greens and shadow colours. I really enjoyed this.

This watercolour painting is what I hoped for, so I am really happy that I went home to paint in my little studio.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of the painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Forest walk - Kalmthoutse Heide

 

Last weekend we visited the Natural Reserve 'Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide' again and followed the signposted walk 'Bos' (forest), a walk we have not done for years. 

Things have changed along that walk, it is much more interesting now after the forest area has had some maintenance. Trees have been cut - several of these are still on the forest floor providing food and shelter for smaller animals - and more light and bushes are growing now. We enjoyed our walk very much, not only because the trees give shelter from the sunshine and it is always cool in a forest area.

Of course I made several reference pictures, the dead tree trunk has been posted earlier, this time I made a watercolour painting of that nice forest area, with lots of trees and a forest floor with lots of different plants and bushes. A bit of sunlight was also visible in the reference picture and I hope it can also be seen in the painting.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of the painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Dead tree, Kalmthoutse Heide - Conté drawing

 

Last weekend we were walking another signposted walk in 'Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide', a Natural Reserve that is in Belgium and The Netherlands. Border-crossing nature it is called and we love to go there for a walk. 

This time we had a walk in a woodland area that is on the edge of the moorland (heide) that gives the Natural Reserve its name. Under the trees we had a nice cool walk with some great views. The reference pictures I made there will be used for watercolour paintings. 

This area has a lot of dead trees in it, either because of the fire that destroyed a part of the nature several years ago or because the trees just die and are left in the area to provide food for insects - who attract birds, who attract predators, etc.

This tree stump was standing in an empty field beside the path and I just wanted to draw it. So the picture was made and the drawing as well. Because this stump really is very dead, I used grey paper and the corresponding colour combination.  As written before, I have selected colour combination for dead trees and another combination for the living ones.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. 

If you are interested in my art, please contact me.

Pisces - for a challenge

 

The June challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is all about Colourful. So first I thought of a stained Glass window, then of a colouring book image, then of Mosaïc, then of...

Finally I picked my Zodiac sign as my subject and tried to make the painting as colourful as possible. I did not use all the colours in my palette, but the ones I used  have more layers to make them as strong as possible.

The background is made with my new paint, a highly granulating colour from Daniel Smith. This paint has more than one pigment in it and the results are better than I hoped for.

Last thing added was the constellation of the Zodiac sign using white watercolour paint.

For the picture, the contrast are a bit changed - the natural light is very unkind now, too much sunlight, direct and reflected to make a good picture of my work.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Tree (trunk) - Conté drawing

 

A month ago Springtime was just beginning in The Netherlands and we made a nice signposted walk in the 'Rucphense Bossen' a natural reserve not too far from our home. We have walked there before and we have seen all the signposted walks at least one time and many of the walks twice or more. Returning in a different season really makes us look at the landscape with renewed attention.

This time I saw some tree trunks, starting to grow new branches and showing that cutting a tree does not have to mean that it dies. These were growing into bushes but as spring was just beginning, there were not many leaves yet.

Of course I made some reference pictures with the intention to make a Conté drawing, using only three crayons and the naturel paper I have since my last birthday. (thanks again to my brother and sister-in-law for that paper) 

The tree is still very alive so my choice of paper is 'naturel' and the crayons have shades of brown and white. Compared to this, dead trees are portrayed on grey paper using black, grey and white crayons. 

I am building a nice set of Conté drawings these past months and I really like working like this. Scrubbing my fingers afterwards is the only 'not so great' thing about this technique.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Rose - pencil drawing

Last weekend I was part of the 'Af en Toe Kunstroute', an Art route not far from my home. Showing my art to visitors, talking to other artists and making a drawing was what I did that day. The weather was great, we had over 60 visitors at my location.

Just sitting for over six hours is not what I like to do, so I made several reference pictures of one of the flowers of the climbing red rose in my garden. Pencil drawing is relatively clean (no need to wash my hands every fifteen minutes or more often) and I can put it down, talk to visitors of the Art route and pick it up where I stopped without getting in any kind of trouble.  I selected some paper and pencils and packed these with the art I wanted to show. 

For the drawing I used the first two reference pictures, the flower bud still closed and the same flower bud opening a little bit. I took my time - there was no hurry at all - and after I had finished the two flowers I decided to add some leaves that were not to be as detailed as the flowers - just to suggest a background. 

In reality these leaves are there and many more, but this drawing just needed the ones I added to make sure the rose buds/flower are my subject.

The other reference pictures (the flower is completely opened now) will probably be used in later drawings.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of the drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. If you are interested in my art, please do contact me.

Moving house - for a challenge

 

The May challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about moving house. May traditionally was the month to move house (I did not know that and I think I rarely did move house in May) so that's why we have this theme.

That theme is a bit out of my comfort zone, so first I thought of boxes - but within days after the challenge was announced paintings and drawings with boxes were submitted, so I had to think of something else.

This is a bit 'the story of my life' as I used a print of the map of The Netherlands to point the places where I lived and made small drawings of what happened there. Of course I did not draw everything, things should still be visible.

1 is Venlo, I was born there, but did not live there very long. My father got a job far away so we moved to Zwijndrecht, where we lived in three different homes (2, 3 and 4). I grew up there, played and went to school. 5 is Spijkenisse, another change because of my father's work. I got my diplomas for the secondary school and my professional training there. 6 is Hilversum, 7 and 8 are Amsterdam. There I moved for my own job. I married my husband and the children were born in home no. 8 as well and after that in got too small we moved to our first bought home (the others were rental) in Zaandam, no. 9. Finally, 10 is Papendrecht where we moved for my husband's job and we still live here. I discovered my passion for watercolour painting and drawing here.

That was not really much about my submission for the challenge, but a bit of information about me. Of course there is much more to tell 'about me' but I am a painter, not a novelist. So for this time you will have to do with what I wrote about moving house in my life.

Kalmthoutse Heide - moorland

 

A few months ago we (my husband and me) went for a walk on the Kalmthoutse Heide, a Natural Reserve we like to visit as often as possible. This time I made reference pictures of the small peat bog opposite the 'Putse Moer', a large moorland pool and very easy to find on the maps of the area.

As usual I needed some time to gather courage for a painting, because this is not an easy subject for me. All those tall grasses - do I have to paint them all or just a few - and which ones need to be in the painting? 

Also as usual I just had to start painting and these questions answered themselves and I just have to do what looks right when most of the paint is on the paper. The tall grasses I added in the foreground and in the middle ground are not really painted, I used water soluble pencils.

Before all that I also decided on the cropping of the reference picture, what to do with the horizon (the trees on the horizon are 'replanted' for the painting) and my point of interest. These choices were not the ones that I need to gather courage for, so I made them after I chose the reference picture I wanted to use for this work.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this work and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Delft - Market place

 

Due to the Vermeer exhibition in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam there is another Vermeer-themed exhibition in Delft. This one is very interesting as it gives the background information about Delft in Vermeer's time. 

After we had visited the museum, we walked through Delft and had a drink (tea and coffee) on the Market place with a view on the 'Nieuwe Kerk', another church (Maria van Jesse kerk) and some of the restaurants that are there. And trees!

The trees were just getting their foliage, so the colours were between a reddish brown, yellow and green and I really like the time of the year when trees are not only green. Making reference pictures was done quickly (the tea was still hot) but then...

Painting a lot of architecture makes me unhappy, I never can get all those straight lines as they ought to be in a painting - which is not as straight as they are in the reference picture.

So I made a pencil drawing of the buildings, added sky, foreground and trees with watercolour and used two line markers to re-draw the buildings, going over the pencil lines in many places and adding some shadows where the painting needed it. Using line markers on watercolour paper does not result in very straight lines, so this is what I wanted to do.

The result is even better than I hoped for, so I hope that now I have found 'my way' of dealing with architecture in a watercolour painting.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this mixed media work and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

Plane tree, winter

 

Not far from my home - I can see it from the garden - is a large plane tree and I wanted to paint or draw it for a long time. Last winter I made some reference pictures of the tree and now I have found the time to draw it.

Of course it also took so long because I wanted to use the Naturel PaintOn paper as my background and I only got that paper recently. After I had the paper I also needed time to think about 'how do I want to draw the tree' and time to draw it. 

The thinking about 'how' resulted in three colours of Conté Crayons that do not at all resemble the true colours of the tree, but are a good combination of values; a dark, a middle and a light value with the colour of the paper between the middle and the light values.

The reference pictures were made in winter, so the tree is still bare, with only showing the seed balls that are still on the branches. By now most of them have fallen off. The many different colours of the bark are only suggested as I do not want to show all of the details. The same applies to the smallest branches, seen in back light.

This drawing is what I hoped it would be and I think I have now found the best way to draw a living tree with my Conté crayons.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

Lilies - pencil drawing

 

The April challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is 'dressed' -  about clothing to impress or for functionality or....

As I do not paint people, I had to think of something else and as my first idea was already used, I turned to plan B. My inspiration/clue comes from the Bible: 

"Look at the lilies, look how they grow in the field. They neither work nor weave. I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendour was not dressed like one of them." (Matthew 6:28-29)

Of course I had to look for these words, I do know they are in the Bible, but I do not know exactly where to find them.

The lilies were drawn from several reference pictures and I used my imagination for the colour scheme, hoping to get a nice composition. My (water soluble) pencils were used to make nice blended colours and the background was added mostly because of the very pale lily below.

Making this drawing was fun, using all the pencils I wanted to - trying out some colours I had not used before (the box of pencils was a birthday gift last year) and I really hope everyone understands why I made this drawing for this challenge.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of the drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.