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.