At the 'Oestergat'

 

During our short stay in a vacation home in Kortgene we also walked in other areas of the islands. This scene is on the North coast of the island of Noord-Beveland, at the Oosterschelde. These waters are still connected to the North Sea, but the inlets are protected now, after the huge flood in 1953 dams were constructed. Not all dams are permanently closed and the Oosterschelde still has salt water and tides.

This scene is a remainder of the past, the 'Oestergat' or Oyster Hole was made to keep the oysters fresh and alive before they were sold and transported inland. The basalt blocks and stones have different textures and the hole is protected by a small harbour-like structure with an inlet for the water and of course for the boats that brought the oysters in from the sea. The seagulls and oystercatchers are still finding oysters and the coastline is scattered with broken shells - the birds drop the oysters from the air to break the shells so they can eat the flesh.

Nowadays we are only allowed to walk on the stones, the mudflats are forbidden for people, this is an area of very fragile nature. I walked down as far as was allowed and made some pictures to have references for my drawings and maybe for some future watercolour paintings. For this drawing I tried to show the shapes and textures of the basalt blocks contrasting to the mudflats and the dyke in the background. 

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

On the Pier of Hoek van Holland - looking towards England

When I am on the Pier of Hoek van Holland, I do not only look towards the seashore. The Pier is really a long way into the North Sea and at the end of it is a radar post with a helicopter platform which is the only one in The Netherlands (maybe even in the world).
On the left side of the Pier is the canal through which the Port of Rotterdam can be reached, on the right side there are some of the basalt blocks that protect the beach. When I am at this spot I have walked further towards the end of the Pier compared to the spot where I made the sketch for my previous watercolour painting.

For this sketch I really had to imagine the Pier without all the tourists and fishers.
The radar post is the one on the right side of the Pier, on the left side is a light beacon. They both seem to be on the horizon, but the beacon is much closer to the point from where I am sketching.
The waves do often fall over the edges of the Pier, leaving dark wet marks on the concrete. 
We were here on a Sunday, so there was some traffic at sea, but not as much as would have been on a weekday. I have suggested only one ship at the horizon. Sometimes even that one ship was not to be seen that day.
The previous painting had a lot of clouds in the sky, but half an hour later those were all gone. There was a strong wind that day, I really could not have painted on the spot if I wanted to do that.

After I got home I looked at my sketch and thought 'Why did I do that?' because it was not a very detailed sketch, a few pencil lines and notes about the colours on white paper. 
I decided to paint the scene and make the best of it. Using the right colours for the basalt blocks, the light beacon and of course the sea would bring back the scene that inspired me to make that sketch - I hoped. And that is exactly what happened.

More information about this watercolour painting (size, paper and paint used, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

At the Pier of Hoek van Holland

We did not really have a long and hot summer this year. Most of the times it was cool, windy, cloudy and sometimes even rainy weather. Some days we had a lot of sunshine and one of those sunny days was used to visit the beach and the Pier of Hoek van Holland.
That pier is made out of basalt blocks and some of those are at the side of the pier, for extra strength. 

At some point I decided to sit down on the edge of the walking path over the Pier and make a sketch of the view I had there. The great sea vessels were on the other side of the Pier, where the Port of Rotterdam connects to the North Sea. It is strictly forbidden to swim this close to the Pier so at that point there were no tourists either.
This way I had a nice view with only some sailing ships on the horizon. I had a nice time sketching this scene and I also enjoyed painting it.

The basalt blocks with sand blown up to their sides are still a bit of a challenge, but I am confident that some day painting them is as easy for me as painting the sky. I have painted so many clouded skies in my landscapes that it is a part of my landscape I am very confident about. I still need to give attention to the sky but there never is that moment of "I can never achieve what I want here, I might as well throw the thing away" which almost came up while painting the basalt blocks.


More information about this watercolour painting (size, paper and paint used, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com