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
This January our regional Amateur Art association 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' chose 'Blue Monday' as its challenge.
Next Monday, the third Monday in the new year is thought to be the most depressing day in the year. All good intentions have failed and the weather is usually grey.
Normally that does not bother me so much. I choose my good intentions a bit better (I never did smoke, I know losing weight takes time and so on) so they cannot fail in two or three weeks and the weather....
This year I had to think about a painting or drawing for the challenge and it took some time before I had decided on this scene.
The reference picture was made by my husband during our recent walk in Natural Reserve 'De Biesbosch' and I would have used it for a painting or drawing anyway, but now it is in time for the challenge.
I painted a blue-grey watercolour background and for my drawing of the reed plumes I used my watercolour pencils. The structure of the paper helped me in the drawing of the plumes, especially where the seeds and the fluffy bits are.
The result is what I hoped for and of course I will continue experimenting with this mixed media technique.
The details about paper, paint an pencils used, size and contact information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
