Tree stump - Conté drawing

 

During our very short vacation a few weeks ago we walked a lot in our beautiful nature. We had chosen the area of the 'Utrechtse Heuvelrug' for our hotel stay and went for walks in that Natural Reserve which has many beautiful signposted walks for everyone who loves to be in a forest area. The 'Soester Duinen' (see my previous post) is also a part of that Natural Reserve.

During one of these walks I made a reference picture of a tree stump that had been a stump for a long time and was partially uncovered. There were dark and light spots on the stump, caused by moist and some patches were green with mosses or algae. I wanted to draw this tree stump as soon as I saw it, but it took some weeks before I had the time to do so.

The paper I chose is new for me, I did buy it not long ago and I used the 'back' side because that side seems to have more tooth than the other side. And a bit of tooth is needed when I use my Conté Crayons (or charcoal). The grey crayon is lighter than the paper and I added black to make my drawing. Finally some highlights with white and my drawing was finished. Only some final shaking off (of the dust) was needed and some layers of fixative.

To make a good picture for this blog - and other places on the internet - was a bigger challenge than getting my fingers clean after using the Conté  crayons. I have tried various places, but either the incoming light was too visible or the paper reflected the colour of the ground. Finally I placed it on a greyish ground and made my picture(s). Another lesson learned as this is not so obvious when making pictures of a watercolour painting.

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 for information.

In the 'Soester Duinen' - Netherlands

 

A few weeks ago my husband and me went for a very short vacation (one night in a hotel and some nice signposted walks in our great nature) and our first walk was in the Soester Duinen. This landscape was shaped during the last two Ice Ages and has some nice areas of shifting sand - there are not many of these places left in The Netherlands. The word 'duinen' means 'dunes' so the sand is no surprise. The signposted walk was mainly around the large area of sand, we walked in the forest edge looking at the sands, happy that the path under our feet was not shifting.

As we were in the forest edge, we were mainly in the shadow - even though we had a grey day - so the sand was light and the trees before us were back lit by what sunlight did shine that day. Some spots had a nice view with some of the pine trees, the forest ground under these trees and the sand dunes behind that. There always were some more trees visible behind the sand, the 'dunes' are in an oval shape and the opposite forest edge was never far away. 

The area is a popular place among the local people, many dogs were walked, children were playing (it was a school vacation) and we even did see some people with big cameras as there are many forest birds to be heard - and often seen.

Of course some of the pictures I made will be used for a nice landscape painting - and this is the first scene I decided to paint. I have been experimenting with my colour palette and the result is even better than I hoped. This experiment did teach me a lot about the colours I have in my palette, especially about the ones I do not use very often.

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, please contact me.

Snowdrops - from my own garden

 

In my front garden is a row of snowdrops, each year more flowers are showing themselves and I decided to make pictures of the ones that are out (many are still in bud) and make a composition using these pictures. The flowers that are already out have short leaves and seem a different variety - compared to the ones that are still growing.

For the painting I made my compositional drawing first, used masking fluid to make sure the flowers, stems and leaves would stay 'clean' and started painting the background, using the colours from the 'Twilight' special edition (now they are in the normal range of colours) and some salt for special effects. Because of the masking fluid, the paint had to dry naturally so I had to be patient. It took three layers before I was happy with the background.

After removing the masking fluid I was not happy that the fluid had left a stain on the paper (what I really thought is not fit for publishing) and I decided to make the best of it. So there is a bit more colour in the snow on the ground and in the flowers than I first planned. 

The leaves and stems of the snowdrops are a bluish shade of green, the green dots in the flowers, the flower beginnings and the little stems that show when the flowers drop and open are more yellowish green, so I added a touch of yellow in my mixture.

Working with masking fluid never was my favourite technique, now I think that I will never want a bottle of it again. The one I used now was a bit older (as I rarely use it) and is thrown away after the disappointing results of this painting. With 'disappointing' I refer to the staining of the paper, this was 'colourless' masking fluid...  Of course I also suspect my paper was damaged when I took the masking off and the hard edges are always hard to correct.

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

Cleaning - for a challenge

 

The new year traditionally began with cleaning - some people still have time for a thorough cleaning of the house and even do it. We (my husband and me) spread the cleaning chores over the year which we think to be a better way of fitting them in our working life. Opinions may differ 😉

The January challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about that cleaning tradition. We were allowed to take the traditional approach or decide on another kind of cleaning like cleaning up the mind, getting fresh ideas etc.

Nothing really inspired me much, but the traditional cleaning round, combined with the call for more natural methods of doing that resulted in this work. These more natural methods include using soda and household vinegar instead of more aggressive chemicals and that gave me some ideas.

For this work I made a drawing of a bucket, washing cloth, sponge, bottle of household vinegar and a bag of soda using two graphite pencils. A floor was added, wallpaper and a plinth was indicated so the equipment had a room to stand in. I washed that drawing with watercolour, only one layer of paint so the pencil drawing is still visible.

After that had dried, I added the chemical formulas of acetic acid (vinegar), soda, bicarbonate of soda and of course water using a fine liner.

This is what I had planned so I am happy with the result. Using pencil marks first and washing in colour with watercolour was an experiment for me (the pencil marks could have been washed away too) but all worked out really well.

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

A Winter's friendship - for a challenge

 

On the last day of the challenge of one of the Facebook groups I am in I found inspiration and time to make something for the challenge. We had to make a work in winter mood, including a snowman. 

So here is my contribution: a winter's friendship between a snowman and a scarecrow. 

They are in a field that has only some stubbles left after the harvest. A line of low bushes gives them some protection against the wind, but not as much as they would like. Even the crows are gone, so the scarecrow is happy with the company of his new friend - though the friendship will end after the arrival of spring.

For this work I have started to make the drawing of both friends, then I painted the background with watercolours. For the snowman and scarecrow I used my pencils. 

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

Tree stump - pencil drawing

 

Last weekend we (my husband and me) were walking a signposted walk in the Soester Duinen (Netherlands) and at one side of the path was this tree stump. The tree had been sawn off long time ago and the moving sand had left holes under the remains of the tree trunk and the root system but what was left still looked great. So I made some reference pictures and later that day I made this drawing.

For the drawing I planned to use several shades of brown, but while I was working I changed my mind. Sometimes less is more and a drawing in only one (neutral) colour can result in a stronger image than the use of many colours ever will. 

So here it is, a monochromatic drawing of the remains of a tree.

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

Portrait of a wave

 

Yesterday, New Year's Day, my husband and me went to the beach, for a good portion of sea air after having been indoors for several days (for various reasons, like celebrating birthdays and other nice things) and of course I made pictures of the waves rolling in.

As the North Sea is not a deep sea, the waves are not very big, but for us a wave is a wave. The colour of the water also shows that the sea is not deep, there is always an amount of sand or sediment in the water. This time we had a very grey day, not even the illusion of clouds in the sky so the sea was dark and grey as well.

Painting waves is a challenge for me, I still feel the need to improve my skills. For this painting I made a light pencil drawing and did not use any masking fluid, so the whites of the foam are areas I painted around. This time I did not lose many whites, so I think (hope) I am getting better at this. Just after I finished it did feel a little artificial to me, but after having done something else, that also started to look better. Nor perfect yet, but a credible  wave in the North Sea.

As it was a dark and grey day, my colour palette is very limited, I only added a second blue for the green shade of the wave in the middle.

The result is what I hoped for, and I know I will have to practise this again and again... (not a bad thing to look forward to)

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, please contact me.