Hat(s) in the lead role - for a challenge

 

The theme of the July challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken'  is 'Hats in the lead role' where a pun can be found in the Dutch title (lead role = hoofdrol and  head = hoofd).

I only have a straw hat that I mostly use when painting outdoors, to keep the sun from my eyes and still see the right colours - something sunglasses cannot do. This hat is in my possession for many years now and I have changed the decorations several times. This times it is a small ribbon and some crocheted flowers. The ribbon is not exactly in the angle between the brim and the bulb, it never is because I did only sew it in a few spots, afraid of damaging the straw.

So for this challenge I put on the hat, asked my husband to make a reference picture and use that picture for a small watercolour painting.

Because the hat had to have the lead role, my composition is all about that hat and both the background and me (the person wearing the hat) are mostly suggested. 

The information about the materials I have used and the size of the painting can be found in my Tumblr blog.

If you are interested in this painting or any other work I made, please contact me.

Broadleaf Cattail (Typha latifolia) - pencil drawing

 

Our usual walk to the small park area close to our home and back passes by several ditches and small canals because we live in a very wet part of the country. This time of the year the reed plants are much higher than we are and we can also see these 'cigars' in between the greens. We always thought these were reed 'fruits' but when I looked for the English name I found out that these are not reeds at all, but something very different, the broadleaf cattail. Never too old to learn...

When we passed by these plants, I wanted to make a drawing, so some reference pictures were made, I thought about composition, materials and the best time to make the drawing for some time and I made the drawing.

I wanted to use the paper my daughter gave me for my last birthday as the shade of the paper is almost that of the reeds that were also in that patch of water-plants. Using my Graphitint pencils I started drawing and made up the best composition while working. The 'cigars' were the most important parts of the drawing, the leaves thar were the closest to them were also drawn in almost as they are in the reference picture and the other leaves are added where the drawing needed them.

The 'cigars' were given some extra emphasis with a little drop of water to 'wake' the colours of the pencils. 

Making a good picture of the finished drawing was the biggest challenge of all. Either I could see the light on top of the drawing or I lost the colour of the paper completely. Finally I went outside in the shadows and made this picture, not great, but the best I could do. I do refuse to install a professional photo studio in my home (where do I get the money to buy the stuff in the first place) to make pictures of my paintings and drawings when making the paintings and drawings is where my heart is.

The drawing is what I hoped it would be, so the result makes me want to draw more - and more.

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

If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

Windmill 'De Liefde' in rainy weather

 

Today we - members of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' - planned to go painting en plein air at the windmill 'De Liefde'. That windmill is open for visitors and will run every Saturday in summer. It is situated at the river Lek and the views are really great. In the right conditions you can see the skyline of Rotterdam from the gallery.

Today we did not have the best weather conditions, it rained. So after coffee and some talking about windmills and painting, I decided to go outside and make some reference pictures for the painting I wanted to make.

Looking West, I could see the windmill, the river and the incoming rain. At the horizon the river just vanished into the rain and the clouds and I just wanted to paint that - but not en plein air. So I returned home, stretched some paper and started working.

For this painting I wanted the windmill to be recognisable, but I did not want to include all the details. Most details are not even visible in the reference picture because of the weather conditions and the mill had a little back light.

The greyness of the sky and the river made me use my new colour again and this time I also used it for mixing the greys, greens and shadow colours. I really enjoyed this.

This watercolour painting is what I hoped for, so I am really happy that I went home to paint in my little studio.

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

Forest walk - Kalmthoutse Heide

 

Last weekend we visited the Natural Reserve 'Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide' again and followed the signposted walk 'Bos' (forest), a walk we have not done for years. 

Things have changed along that walk, it is much more interesting now after the forest area has had some maintenance. Trees have been cut - several of these are still on the forest floor providing food and shelter for smaller animals - and more light and bushes are growing now. We enjoyed our walk very much, not only because the trees give shelter from the sunshine and it is always cool in a forest area.

Of course I made several reference pictures, the dead tree trunk has been posted earlier, this time I made a watercolour painting of that nice forest area, with lots of trees and a forest floor with lots of different plants and bushes. A bit of sunlight was also visible in the reference picture and I hope it can also be seen in the painting.

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

Dead tree, Kalmthoutse Heide - Conté drawing

 

Last weekend we were walking another signposted walk in 'Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide', a Natural Reserve that is in Belgium and The Netherlands. Border-crossing nature it is called and we love to go there for a walk. 

This time we had a walk in a woodland area that is on the edge of the moorland (heide) that gives the Natural Reserve its name. Under the trees we had a nice cool walk with some great views. The reference pictures I made there will be used for watercolour paintings. 

This area has a lot of dead trees in it, either because of the fire that destroyed a part of the nature several years ago or because the trees just die and are left in the area to provide food for insects - who attract birds, who attract predators, etc.

This tree stump was standing in an empty field beside the path and I just wanted to draw it. So the picture was made and the drawing as well. Because this stump really is very dead, I used grey paper and the corresponding colour combination.  As written before, I have selected colour combination for dead trees and another combination for the living ones.

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

If you are interested in my art, please contact me.

Pisces - for a challenge

 

The June challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is all about Colourful. So first I thought of a stained Glass window, then of a colouring book image, then of Mosaïc, then of...

Finally I picked my Zodiac sign as my subject and tried to make the painting as colourful as possible. I did not use all the colours in my palette, but the ones I used  have more layers to make them as strong as possible.

The background is made with my new paint, a highly granulating colour from Daniel Smith. This paint has more than one pigment in it and the results are better than I hoped for.

Last thing added was the constellation of the Zodiac sign using white watercolour paint.

For the picture, the contrast are a bit changed - the natural light is very unkind now, too much sunlight, direct and reflected to make a good picture of my work.

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.

Tree (trunk) - Conté drawing

 

A month ago Springtime was just beginning in The Netherlands and we made a nice signposted walk in the 'Rucphense Bossen' a natural reserve not too far from our home. We have walked there before and we have seen all the signposted walks at least one time and many of the walks twice or more. Returning in a different season really makes us look at the landscape with renewed attention.

This time I saw some tree trunks, starting to grow new branches and showing that cutting a tree does not have to mean that it dies. These were growing into bushes but as spring was just beginning, there were not many leaves yet.

Of course I made some reference pictures with the intention to make a Conté drawing, using only three crayons and the naturel paper I have since my last birthday. (thanks again to my brother and sister-in-law for that paper) 

The tree is still very alive so my choice of paper is 'naturel' and the crayons have shades of brown and white. Compared to this, dead trees are portrayed on grey paper using black, grey and white crayons. 

I am building a nice set of Conté drawings these past months and I really like working like this. Scrubbing my fingers afterwards is the only 'not so great' thing about this technique.

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