Snow - charcoal drawing

 

Last week we had a lot of snow, but it has been melting away because of higher temperatures. Last night and today it is freezing again, so what was left remains in its place today.

There is snow left on fields and I wanted to make a charcoal drawing of that last snow. So we went out to see a field that was still mostly white.

Very close to our home we found a nice spot for my reference picture. 

Today the sky is almost as white as the snow so the trees and their reflection in the water have the darkest colours. There is grass visible where snow has already disappeared and there is a trail of footprints - probably made by the moorhens that live here.

The result shas the atmosphere of (last) snow I wanted to capture so I am happy with this drawing.

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

Garden lamp in the snow - a drawing

 

This week we had snow - we still have a lot of snow lying in the garden, on the streets etc. The garden looks beautiful and two of the garden lamps look really 'brave' in this snow. (the other lamps are higher and are not buried in the snow)

Of course I wanted to draw this and I used graphite pencils and a fine liner for the lamp structure for this drawing. This turned out really nice and I enjoyed working on the drawing.

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.

Kalmthoutse Heide, winter

 

During our walk on the Kalmthoutse Heide a few weeks ago I made several reference pictures. Most of them have been used for paintings in the past weeks and today I wanted to paint this landscape.

At this point the signposted walk leaves the forest area we were in to enter the moorland the area is named after (Heide = moorland). Depending on the viewpoint some really beautiful landscape pictures can be made. 

Most of the year and especially in winter the moorland is empty and dark with only a few lonely trees or bushes. Of course the area is not really big, if wanted the trees on the far horizon can be reached on foot within the hour but the feeling of emptiness is not far from us.

That feeling of being in a large empty landscape is what I tried to paint this time.

The winter sky had some large clouds, almost white with some light grey shadows and the colour of the horizon was more yellow than blue or grey. Typical for winter in this part of the world and I liked painting it. The landscape has grasses that turned yellow and lots of dark plants, the remains of the heather and other plants, all suggested like I usually do.

The result is what I hoped it would be and I am happy with it.

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.

Eucalyptus - a pencil drawing

 

My first drawing in the year 2026!

The prompt 'fresh' in the Sketch A Day app had some photo inspiration with it and I picked the Eucalyptus branch to be my subject. Mostly because I have wanted to draw one of these branches for a long time but never had the opportunity. 

In a floral arrangement I got for Christmas was a small branch and I used that one as my reference.

My plan was to draw the leaves only and the stem would be suggested by the shapes of the leaves. This works very well with this branch.

After my first layer of pencil I looked at the result and decided to stop drawing. The black of the paper is still visible and that adds to the atmosphere I wanted to achieve. 

The 'experiments' in this drawing gave me the results I hoped for.

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.

Reflection in the fen

 

A few weeks ago my husband and me went for a nice signposted walk on the 'Kalmthoutse Heide' where I made some (reference) pictures of the beautiful landscape.

As winter was very near the colours of the landscape were turning to a pale straw yellow with patches of brown, depending on the vegetation. The pine trees were still green of course and in backlight that green was a very dark one.

Painting the trees and the reflections needed a different approach than usual, I had to leave the tree trunks light coloured so the dark of the shadows  and lower pine trees had to be painted around all those trunks. With patience and a lot less water than usual I got the result I hoped to get.

This is the last painting of 2025 so I really wanted to post it before New Year (2026)

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.

Feather - a Conté drawing

 

Last summer my husband Peter made a nice picture of a lonely feather on the beach. During my painting vacation we discussed the possibilities of this reference picture for making a painting with an 'unexpected addition' and decided I was to paint another composition.

A few days ago the Sketch A Day app had the prompt 'feather' and I immediately decided to use the reference picture my husband made. 

That picture was used for this Conté drawing, showing only the sand, the feather and its shadow.

Maybe I will try other compositions with the feather, trying to find the best 'unexpected addition'.

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. 

Wreath - a drawing

 

The prompt 'Wreath' in the Sketch A Day app made me look for my black paper, my Metallic markers and some watercolour pencils. Using a jar to draw the initial round shape I had the base for my wreath.

With the metallic markers I made a first layer of branches, leaves and berries and with the watercolour pencils I added more to make a nice wreath. This was the first wreath I 'composed' on paper and I am happy with the result.

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.