Pumpkin - a pencil drawing

 

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I found the 'Sketch a day' app and made a small sketch every day. That time I was inspired to do a bit more than a quick sketch and today was the same. 

The prompt 'Pumpkin' inspired me to do a bit more than a black and white sketch, so I took a piece of grey paper and my watercolour pencils and made this drawing.

After the first pencil layer I used water to 'awaken' the colours and after that had dried I added more colours for more depth. This technique gives nice results and I have described it before.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

The entrance to the quarry - a charcoal drawing

 

During our short vacation in the Moselle Region we also visited 'Besucherbergwerk Fell' a place where visitors can learn about the old slate quarries and mines. There are some signposted walks that lead you to several quarries that are closed but can be seen from outside. There is an information centre and a part of the old mine is open for guided tours.

We did the short walk as the weather was not encouraging the longer ones and made several pictures of the quarries, the information given there and the old mine carts on display.

In this drawing I 'forgot' the fence in front of the entrance to the quarry. I used charcoal and some of my Tinted Charcoal pencils on a grey background.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can be found in my Tumblr blog.

Lichens - a pencil drawing

 

As written in earlier posts, when I am on a short vacation I do take only drawing materials with me and make smaller works than usual. During these days I actively search for subjects that are great for these small drawings, full of details that need sharp pencils and nothing else to do that day. As far as my patience goes...

Very close to our vacation home was a bush that had some of the larger branches covered in lichens. The light colours of the lichens are great on a black background so I started drawing. The lichens have been treated with water, to 'awaken' the colours and after that had dried, I applied a second layer of colour. I did not do this to the branch, to make the subject stand out as much as possible.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing, its availability and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can be found in my Tumblr blog.

Grape Leaves - a pencil drawing

 

For the reference picture I used for this drawing we had to walk a bit further from our vacation home in the Moselle Region. We enjoyed the autumn colours of both grape plants and trees this season.

During a walk we saw a lot of grape plants with only yellow leaves, but at one point we saw more colours. Of course I made a picture and used that for this drawing.

The scene is simplified to make the bright colours of the leaves stand out and I chose a black paper to draw on for the same reason.

The drawing is made with water soluble pencils and after the first layer I used water to 'awaken' the colours. After that had dried I applied a second layer of colour for more depth.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Rose hips - a pencil drawing

 

For our short vacation in the Moselle Region I had only brought drawing materials like pencils and charcoal. Usually the light in a vacation home is not fit for painting, so I prefer to only make drawings.

The bush with the rose hips was two steps away from our vacation home and one of the first days I made a picture of the outer branches with some rose hips.

For the drawing I selected only a few branches and made my drawing using two kinds of water soluble pencils. I used water to 'awaken' the colours of these selected branches. After that had dried I sketched the shapes of some of the other branches very lightly to balance the composition.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

View over the Moselle valley - a charcoal drawing

 

After our vacation in April we wanted to see the Moselle valley in Autumn as well, so we returned for another short vacation to the same location.

The first evening we went for a short walk after being in the car for hours. Just before sunset we made some nice pictures of the views over the Moselle valley from a high point near our vacation home.

I decided to do a charcoal drawing of the view as the clouds were nice and dark and the hills were even darker. 

For this work I had to do two layers, which means I had to use fixative first before I could continue darkening the foreground. This is a method that I am not very much used to, but it really helps getting that nice dark foreground.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Fireplace

 

Last year we (my husband and me) were eating in a restaurant during a short vacation and a fireplace was lit. This was a gas fueled fireplace behind glass, but the idea of the scene inspired me. We both made reference pictures and I have used the best one as my inspiration for this watercolour painting.

The best picture means that I could see the fireplace and its surroundings better than on the other picture.

I used it as my inspiration, the whole scene has changed. I suggested a wood fire - the gas fire has blue flames - and the decoration is suggesting Christmas time, not the autumn decoration in the references.

This painting is made to be my Christmas card for this year.

The scene is suggesting the right season without being too much decorated. It still has to be my painting. 

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Antlers - a Conté drawing

 

A week ago I discovered the 'Sketch a Day app' with every day a new prompt for a sketch. I have been drawing every day, very often a quick sketch that not very great but a nice practice.

Today's prompt was Antler and I had time and inspiration to do a bit more. So I looked for an inspiring reference in my collection of photos from magazines and calendars and I found a nice old photo that I could use with some adaptations.

For the drawing I used Conté first and then pencils for the green leaves. After I finished all I used my fixative, not only for the Conté, but also to 'awaken' the colours of the watercolour pencils.

The result is even better than I hoped I could do.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artworks - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Chestnut leaves - for a challenge

 

The October challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about patterns in nature, almost abstract. Of course I have been doing patterns with the tree bark peintings but for this challenge I wanted something else. 

Now it is Autumn, the leaves of my chestnut tree are falling and I picked up two leaves of different sizes. These I used to make a template out of paper as the leaves were dry andcrumbling.

The template was used for the drawing of my pattern. 

The leaves on top were drawn with ink. After that hed dried I started painting using only a few colours. The ink did bleed a bit but I really like the result.

While painting I adapted my first plan and this is the result I submitted for the challenge.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.