Capstone - three works

 

This painting vacation I wanted to explore the spiritual aspect of some ancient sites. Dolmens are burial grounds and can thus be considered holy ground. Sometimes I can feel that, especially when there are no other people around.

The first reference I have used is a picture of the unbroken capstone of the Ahlhorner Kellersteine II that I made about four years ago. I have not used that reference before.

Our teacher and coach Ad van Aart advised me to start with a pencil drawing to 'explore' the structure of the stone, its shadows and light spots. That pencil drawing is the third picture from above.

I continued with dark charcoal, now exploring that spiritual energy of the site and ended with a light within the stone. Another light is above the stone in the clouded sky, as if the sun shines through very dark clouds.

The third work is a watercolour where I was challenged to let the light radiate from the stone. 

The stone was simplified more and more in each step.

The information about the materials I used for each work, their sizes and availabilities and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Flickr account.

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.

'La vie en rose' - for a challenge

 

This month the challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is 'with the wind' and is inspired by the National Windmill days which is usually held in May.

The theme 'With the wind' or 'The wind behind' made me think of windmills of course but also 'La vie en rose' or life in pink (moods).

So I selected a nice pink sheet of tinted cardboard and made a drawing of a modern windmill that does have some wind to make it turn. To show that movement, charcoal is the easiest material and I added some Tinted Charcoal for the landscape.

That landscape is inspired by the memories of our last trip to the Moselle region, where windmills were everywhere on the hilltops.

I did not try to be accurate, the angle between the windmill wings is not exactly what it should be, but the general idea can be understood and that is all that matters.

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

Freedom - for a challenge

 

The April challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about freedom and inspired by the fact that in the next month we are celebrating that we were liberated from the occupier and World War II ended.

In April my mind is more engaged by another kind of freedom, the kind we celebrate with Easter.

So I made a drawing of a human figure - outlines only - on white paper and painted with watercolours around it, from light yellow to orange. After that had dried I used willow charcoal for the dark areas.

The idea is that the shining figure drives the darkness away. 

As this is one of my first experiments with these materials combined the result may not be perfect. 

Still I am happy with the result - a very detailed work was never my plan for this one.

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

View on Dordrecht from Papendrecht (The Netherlands) made during a workshop session

 

The 'Teekengenootschap Pictura' from Dordrecht is 250 years old and that is celebrated with different activities. One of these activities is a series of workshops about drawing during the summer months. I have attended the first one and now also the last one. (the two in the middle were either booked full or inot possible to attend for me).

This one was all about the View on Dordrecht from my home village/town, Papendrecht. Following the Old Masters, we were to make a charcoal drawing of a view on Dordrecht preferably featuring the iconic buildings like the 'Grootshoofdspoort', the 'Grote Kerk' (big church) and less old, the railway bridge between Dordrecht and Zwijndrecht.

Because the weather forecast was not so great, we were on the terrain of the marina where we could go indoors if needed. So we did not have the 'classic' views of Cuyp, Willaerts and many more, but the view we had was still worth drawing.

We had a large sheet of paper and I folded it in two, so I could make two drawings on one sheet - and the smaller size did feel more comfortable to me as well.

The weather still was not bright, dark clouds were above us almost all the time and that can be seen in mu drawings. We were behind a row of bushes and these can also be seen in my drawings. The river was mostly behind these bushes and the view was limited, but I decided on two 'looking directions' that would give a view on Dordrecht.

The second, portrait format drawing is more a view on the 'Drierivierenpunt' (three rivers point) with the Water Tower of Zwijndrecht in view and the ferry from Papendrecht to Dordrecht waiting for its time to go.

Both drawings are to be seen in the Library of Papendrecht after September 26th in the exhibition of the works that were made during the workshop.

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

Storm coming - two paintings, one storm

 

In the middle of our painting week a storm was expected in the evening. Thunder and rain were predicted and we sat at the dinner table when suddenly the wind started (what a relief from the warm and damp day) and dark clouds were coming in.

Most of us (painters) stepped away from the building to make pictures of these beautiful clouds and of course I did that as well.

The clouds were very dark but there were also bright spots of light, our pictures are really inspiring. In fact there was not much rain, just a few drops (there was more the next day) and even though we could hear thunder, the lightning was above the lowest clouds.

Of course I used my most impressive picture as my reference the next morning, painting on a large sheet of watercolour paper with a dark colour mixture that should result in dark grey or even black.

The painting is made with the picture as my guideline, but as our teacher and coach Ad van Aart always says, the picture may have inspired to make a painting, but the art happens on the paper. The painting almost painted itself, using my hands as a tool and I know that trying to correct what happened would have spoiled the whole image.

The result is even better than I hoped for.

After the first painting happened so easily and in very short time, I decided to try a second one, on a smaller sheet of paper, using a different kind of paint. This paint is made with two pigments and I hoped it would give me a nice stormy sky.

Unfortunately that did not go as I wished for. This paint works in one layer and adding more does not give me the possibility to make some areas darker. As I work on a tilted surface (both in my studio on a drawing table and on my field easel) the water that runs down the paper slowly takes the paint with it to the lowest point.

Finally I asked Ad van Aart for help, as this would never become a nice dark clouded sky and I was getting a bit tired. The suggestion he made was to let the painting dry and start drawing on it with charcoal or another drawing material. I decided on charcoal and started drawing in the dark parts of the clouds, using my fingers and a piece of eraser to get the result I wanted.

There was one last surprise, after using fixative for the charcoal, the blue pigment from the paint resurfaced a little and that gave just a bit more depth to the final result.

After all this I am really happy with both works, the watercolour that went so smoothly and the experiment that turned out great after I used charcoal.

The information about the materials I used in both works can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

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

 

Asparagus - for a challenge / contest

 

The 'Project Rembrandt' competition is back on television (in The Netherlands) and there is every week a project to paint or draw at home. When the home assignment includes acrylic or oil paint I cannot join, but when it is about drawing or sketching I may have a chance.

This time it was about light and dark and the reference was the Asparagus still life by Adriaan Coorte from 1697. In the real contest the competitors had their own bundle of asparagus and a light source to make their own composition, the people who enter in hthe home assignment were allowed to use the reference from the museum (follow the link above). 

The conditions are working with black and white on grey paper.

As it is not yet completely asparagus season (they are in the shops, but expensive), I used the reference from the link provided in the competition.

The result is the best I could do with the paper, charcoal and pencils I have and I am really happy how it turned out.

The information about the materials I have used and the size of this drawing are in my Tumblr blog. 

Because I have used an existing painting as my reference (with permission as the reference is given in the competition) I am not sure if it is allowed to offer this work for sale.

Quarry, Ardennes - a charcoal drawing

 

Last week we (my husband and me) had a short vacation in The Ardennes and we planned some nice walks, some shopping and I planned some drawing and painting moments. The weather was great, in fact too warm for the time of the year, but great for our walks.

Very close to our vacation home was the first planned walk and we went there directly from the house - for the other walks we had to drive several kilometres to reach the starting point. This walk passed by some nice views, mostly of the river Amblève but we also passe by a small quarry, probably of the slate that was mined in that area.

This small quarry inspired me to make a reference picture and experiment with the composition in a charcoal drawing. I selected a nice area with some difference in colour and texture in the stone and some colour accents by the small birch trees that grow between the stones.

By choosing this composition I tried to apply the lessons I learned during my paining vacation last summer: fill the whole paper with your subject, don't leave room for ground or sky (if possible) and look at the shadows to define the shapes. 

The stones of the quarry alone would give only diagonal lines and would need a lot of explaining to those that would only see the drawing, so for the vertical lines I added some of the trees and crawling plants that grow on these rocks and stones using my pencils. The pencil colours do not stand out very much, as they are placed on the charcoal background.

Shortly after finishing this drawing I really thought that I had better left out the trees and plants, but after looking at the drawing several times, I started to like it much more as it is now. The touches of (autumn) colour make the drawing 'feel' how it was at that spot, dark stones and rocks, but not sombre because of the life that is represented by the trees and plants.

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

Please contact me if you are interested in my work.

Thülsfelder Talsperre (Germany) - charcoal and pencil drawing

 

The last full day of our short vacation in the North of Germany we went for a walk around the Thülsfelder Talsperre, a small reservoir made to prevent nearby towns from flooding in times of heavy rains. The walk around the reservoir is only 10 kilometres so ideal for a walk. The walk is signposted and there is a lot of information about the lake, water management and the nature surrounding the little lake.

The reservoir has a dyke on the North and East, the other sides are shaped more naturally though there are dykes at a small distance. The first hours of our walk there were some dark clouds which had even darker reflections in the water. During the walk there were a lot of (reference) pictures taken, but I had to pick one that was good for a drawing to make that same afternoon. Other pictures will be used for watercolour paintings.

As said, the clouds were dark and the reflections were even darker. The opposite shore was backlit, so there were only contours visible and the reflections were equally dark. The exact shoreline was not to be seen but it is safe to assume that it is in the middle, between the bushes and their reflections. There were some small ripples in the water made by the wind or some swimming birds.  The herbs and the tree in the foreground are also only silhouettes and in fact the blue of the sky and its reflection are the only colours in this scene. 

All that makes this scene perfect for a charcoal drawing with a bit of colour added.

The result is what I hoped it would be so this was a great end to a wonderful day.

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

Peat Moor, Molbergen (Germany)

 

Not far from our vacation home lies the Peat Moor of Molbergen. This used to be exploited, but now it is turned into a Natural Reserve with an educational twist. There is a 'learning path' with information signposted in the first, dry area of the Moor. We walked that path, learned some things we did not know yet and made several (reference) pictures. The area is beautiful and as there were some darker clouds that day, the reflections in the water were inspiring me to paint and draw.

As I did only bring drawing materials and some watercolours for an under painting, I started with a dark greyish blue and made my drawing with charcoal. Pencil was added in the foregrounds where some light coloured grasses were important for the friendly atmosphere of the drawing and in the reeds on the other side of the small peat lake.

The reintroduction of high water levels did cause some trees to die and the remains of those dead trees are reflected in the water which had not even the smallest hint of a ripple that morning.

Even though I have used heavier paper for this drawing, the watercolour under painting is not as nicely graduated as I hoped it would be. As I have used a very dark shade of blue, I could not hide the imperfections of the under painting with the charcoal  - a lesson learned for the next time.

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 walk in the forest, Dwergter Sand (Germany)

 

Last week we (my husband Peter and me) were in Germany for a short vacation. As usual we went on Monday and returned on Friday so we had only a few days to explore the landscape, views and restaurants.

Monday afternoon, after several hours in the car, we went for a walk just behind the Parc, in the Dwergter Sand. When leaving the parc, you enter the forest area, so that is really great. We did buy a map with several walks to select from and we used that map well during our stay.

The first walk was 'close to home' and we did see a lot of the landscape, fields, patches of forest and a little stream nearby. Of course several pictures were made for reference.

This scene was selected because the sunlight was really highlighting the small hill in the foreground while the trees all were very dark - perfect for a charcoal drawing.

For this drawing I started with a watercolour under painting made with a few colours and left to dry overnight. This approach is perfect for the bright, sunlit hilltop to stand out in the final drawing. 

In the morning I added the charcoal and after I used fixative once I also added pencil colours (and a second layer of fixative) because I was not really happy with the foreground.

The drawing was now what I hoped it would be and looking again after several hours I was even more pleased with it.

The paper I have used did not really react very well to the wet watercolour, next time I will use heavier paper for a watercolour under 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.

Megalith - charcoal drawing

 

This charcoal drawing does have a very unusual source of inspiration, a documentary about megaliths do be precise. There were some wonderfully atmospheric landscape shots in the documentary and I started sketching the one that made the strongest impression as soon as possible to remember that landscape and atmosphere.

My sketch does have a lot of notes - as usual - and I wanted to work from that sketch even before I had the time for a watercolour painting. Watercolour painting needs some preparation because the paper has to be soaked, stretched and dried again before I can start painting.

A charcoal drawing is quick because I only have to gather my materials and start drawing. To recreate the atmosphere of the scene in the documentary a charcoal drawing is perfect as although there was some colour in the scene the dark clouds and the solitude of that one standing stone made that me want to draw and paint.

Of course I am not finished with this scene now, there will also be a watercolour painting - when I have the time to prepare and paint properly.

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

After the fire

 

During my painting vacation there was time for workshops, but also time to work as we wished to do. After I had used a picture of a skull last year to create a mixed media work, our teacher Ad van Aart brought some real animal skulls and bones with him this year for inspiration.

Drawing a skull from life is a bit different than using a picture, but I thought it clarifying . With a real skull in front of me, I can change my viewpoint to understand its structure which of course is not possible when using a picture.

The skull that inspired me is an animal skull found in Iceland and it belonged to a goat or sheep (that was not clear any more). I made a drawing using my watercolour pencils on a large sheet of paper and after this was finished I added trees with charcoal.  I decided to draw a burned forest, that seems to be the current state of a lot of forest areas.

These last weeks (months) there have been many forest areas on fire, mostly in the Southern parts of Europe, but also in North America and there is a huge fire going on in Siberia. These fires are alarming. I am not directly endangered by the fires or the smoke but the impact on the world climate is huge as we need the forests to cool down the  climate and slow down or even stop global warming, so I do feel uneasy about what's happening.

Now the mixed media work is finished, it seems to have become not only a drawing of a skull and a burned forest area. 

Something mythical has added itself to the atmosphere while I was working. 

These surprises are always welcome.

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

Pollard Willows

 

Very close to our home - within walking distance - are two patches of woodland, both called the 'Alblasserbos'. One patch is close to our home and we walk there most of the times, but the other patch is also worth a visit. It is a small area and somewhere in the middle there is a very wet land, with lots of pollard willows very close to one another. I think these trees are still used to harvest the young branches for baskets and other things.

The trunks of these trees are all short and have these typical shapes that you see only with pollard willows. Because of the wetness of the land the trees are covered with mosses and there are ferns and other plants growing in the treetops.

When we were passing that area I had to stop and make some reference pictures.

Because I have been painting for challenges these past weeks, the pollard willows had to wait a bit but now I have found time and inspiration to make the drawing I wanted to make.

The paper is a light grey tinted piece of cardboard and I have used willow charcoal and some watercolour pencils for the mosses, the ferns, a bit of the first tree trunk and the pool of water. These pencil colours became a bit stronger after I had used my fixative - and I had planned for this to happen and the result is what I hoped for.

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

The mud flats of Voorne in winter - a charcoal drawing

 

When we were walking along the mud flats of Voorne a last week, I made several reference pictures and I also made and posted a watercolour painting. In that blog post I mentioned that there also was a lot of grey in the landscape and I would do a charcoal drawing after another picture of the views we had.

This is not a charcoal drawing on a white background, as I had in mind when I wrote that. Instead I have chosen a sheet of watercolour paper with more structure than the paper I usually use for my charcoal drawings and I made a blue watercolour underpainting as a base for the drawing. The paint is not applied evenly but there is a gradient from top to bottom.

On that blue background the willow charcoal turned out a bit too black to my taste so I added some hints of colour to the mud flats and the dunes on the horizon with my Tinted Charcoal Pencils. 

Using my fingers and a piece of tissue paper to blend the colours finished this drawing, the last one of this year.

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

Timber

 

When we are walking in a woodland area, we always see stacks of timber waiting for transport. This time, walking in the 'Kralingse Bos' - a woodland area in Rotterdam - we saw a stack with some really old trunks that were already in decomposition in it. It had been raining, so part of the wood was almost black and there were a lot of herbs growing near this stack.

I felt inspired to make some reference pictures and climbed around this stack of timber to have pictures from all sides. 

The idea of working with charcoal on tinted cardboard came while I was making these pictures but when I was trying to find the right composition my husband suggested I should try to add watercolour pencils (these are the only coloured pencils I have).

Of course this was an experiment for me and a challenge. The chosen composition is almost abstract and that is not my usual style.

I selected a sheet of tinted cardboard  in a medium brown colour, so I could add some darkness with the charcoal where needed and the light green of the leaves would still be visible.

I started drawing the leaves and stems of the herbs with the pencils and added charcoal later. While I was working, I found that I could work with the pencils over a surface with a little charcoal on it, so I could add some depth in my drawing.  The patches of moss on the timber were not so easy, I have to practise a bit more on that.

The timber is done with charcoal and at first I despaired if it would ever be right, but halfway I got courage - things were looking good and I grew more and more confident about the way I had to draw these sawn off tree trunks.

This was an experiment for me and I am very happy with the result. 

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing  can be found in the link at the 'Galerie' page of my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com

City vs Nature - 2

 

When I was looking for inspiration and references for my first 'City vs Nature' work, I was looking for a city skyline and trees. I found something much more inspiring and I used the images I found but the first idea was still there, wanting to be painted.

So today I looked at city skylines and city scenes for inspiration and painted a city scene that is imaginary, but inspired by a lot of real cities. Once again I did not paint a lot of details because I wanted to draw over this painting with charcoal.

The trees in this scene are not there, which is exactly what happens in reality when big cities are built. I have outlined the foreground branches and the trees in the background on the left and filled in the 'negative space' with charcoal. 

The watercolour painting behind the charcoal had to stay visible, I have used the right amount of charcoal to reproduce that feeling of greyness that seems to be present in all big cities.

This mixed media was an experiment for me, it is the first time that I have been filling the 'negative space' with charcoal. 

Covering all those sharp angles and staying away from the spaces that had to stay untouched by the charcoal was a challenge. It made me use a piece of tissue instead of my fingers to rub out the charcoal.

The information about the paper and paints I have used, the size of this work and the availability can be found in the link at the 'Galerie' page of my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Deep in the forest

This is a fantasy drawing, inspired by tales and myths.

In an old forest, hidden from sight lies an old abandoned house, with a low wall around it. When you venture into the forest and go where the path has become a small track used by some very brave or foolish animals, you might see the place. The answer to the question who once lived there is in the local ghost stories and myths.

I have tried to make a charcoal drawing with the atmosphere of an old tale. Because I wanted the viewer to tell the building and the wall around apart from the background, the scene is not as mysterious as I first planned. 

Sometimes I have to adjust my original plans in order to show what I want to.

If I had not done so, the whole scene would have consisted of shades of grey without any structure.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability are in the link at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com

Sleepy

The July challenge of our regional amateur art association (Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken) was 'on the edge of sleep'. There were a lot of hints in the description of the theme, but the first thing that came up in my mind was this.

The innocent models are my brother's two cats that yawn very  ...  inspiring.

Of course I thank my brother for the pictures he made for me. I intend to use them to work on my skills as a cat - painter. This drawing is good for the challenge, but does not suffice as a portrait of these two Asian brothers. As mentioned, I will work on it.

Because one of the brothers is almost black and the other is almost white, I had chosen charcoal for this drawing with the use of some pastel pencils for the colour inside the ears and mouth.
The sheep skin they use as their 'living room bed' is only suggested.

After I had shared this drawing with my brother he sent me the pictures of their reaction - so I have a lot of practice material now.

The information about the materials I have used for this drawing, the size and availability can be found in the link at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Reeds in winter - a charcoal drawing

This is the second drawing I made after the reference picture my husband made during our short walk in 'De Biesbosch'.
The first is in my previous post and after I had finished that drawing I asked my husband whether he would like me to try how this scene looks in charcoal - and the answer was a positive one.

So this is the second version, in charcoal. I have used the picture for my reference again and started drawing the reed plumes after I had made a light grey background. 
The plumes were standing out too much against the background so I have added the suggestion of much more reeds. If I had not done this, the reeds would be standing alone in an unnatural way.
This was not so strong in the first version, possibly because of the softer colours of the watercolour pencils that were used for the reeds. 

This charcoal version has a very different 'feel' to it compared to the pencil version and in fact I like both results. 

The details about size, paper used and availability can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com