Heidenopfertisch - a charcoal drawing

 

During my painting vacation I made several pencil studies after the reference pictures I made of the Dolmen in North Germany. Not all were used that week and one of them was the base for this work.

I have been looking on maps where I was that day, more than three years ago, and found this dolmen is the Heidenopfertisch, near Visbek.

A reference picture from another angle has been the start of many works that week, but this time I used another study. In my pencil drawing one of the big stones looked as if it was broken and I used that to create the atmosphere I was looking for..

Continuing with the feeling that a dolmen is somehow a sacred place I tried to depict that. 

The chunky charcoal is perfect for night scenes so the landscape and the sky are as good as black. Only the stones are grey, as I wanted them to be.

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 Flickr account.

Martinus Nijhoff bridge - a pencil drawing

 

The October challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is inspired by a poem written by Martinus Nijhoff, a Dutch poet.

The poem is about a bridge and a woman and about connection and I really could not think about something to draw or paint except this bridge.

Not long ago a new bridge has been made named after the poet and that bridge is in my drawing. I have used the image in the link for my reference.

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 Flickr account.

Pine branch

 

For this year's Christmas card I wanted to paint the end of a branch from a pine tree. During our last walks I made pictures of pine tree branches until I had a reference I really did like.

Today I made the painting also because it did fit to the prompt in the Sketch A Day app.

On a fully dried background I first made a light sketch of the branch and started painting. The branch itself needed most of the colours I used, the needles are only one green colour in more layers with two brush sizes for the texture.

The result is really what I hoped for and my husband - who also has to sign the cards - was equally happy, so the cards are ordered, very in time for the occasion.

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 be found in my Flickr account.

Dolmen, evening mood

 

The prompt in the Sketch A Day app was 'evening' so I planned to make a nice watercolour as it was weekend, so I would have time for a painting.

Of course it had to be a landscape and looking through my reference pictures for a scene that could be changed to an evening mood painting I saw the pictures I made of the Dolmens in North Germany. I decided to use one of these.

Using only the dolmen and the horizon line to begin with I made a nice evening sky and when that had dried I painted the ground and let that dry naturally like I did with the sky.

Then the stones, leaving a small area unpainted for the evening light on the top stones. That small line was filled later with the oranges I have also used for the sky.

The 'to begin with' was in fact enough, the result really pleased me and I decided not to add any other landscape elements like trees or a path.

So this is the result: Dolmen, evening mood.

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 Flickr account.

The Gold-Ass - pencil drawing

 

The September challenge of "Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken" is about 'resounding coins' as it can be translated from Dutch. And that was not inspiring for me at all. After a conversation with my husband about the theme he came up with something good, but again not really something I would love to paint or draw.

And there it was, the little Gold-Ass popping up as a real possibility. The story is about golden coins, dropping down. That makes a sound so it fits the theme - more or less - and this is what I wanted to draw.

Looking for a picture of a donkey I found a nice one that I could adapt to the 'stretching' of the donkey before delivering the coins. The coins are there as well, I used metallic pencils for them.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and - if you are interested in my original artworks - my contact information can all be found in my Flickr account.

Pebbles

 

Today the prompt in the Sketch A Day app was Pebble and I had to think of all the instructional videos I have seen about how to paint pebbles using cling film for the shapes.

The technique is simple. Apply colours and lay some cling film over the wet paint. Make shapes in the film and the wet paint will follow the shapes more or less. Let dry completely, remove the cling film and...

Find the stones is the next instruction and that is what I tried to do. Define the shapes of the stones using shadow colours and touches of white.

Because this was the very first time and it had to be ready and uploaded in the app today I used a postcard size watercolour paper.

This was fun! While working I learned about the pigments in the colours I have used and if there will be a next time, I will choose different colours to work with.

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 Flickr account.

Rowan - a watercolour painting

 

After the Conté drawing I had made of the rowan bush I wanted more. 

So I prepared a sheet of watercolour paper with a gold-yellow background and started drawing the composition of my Conté drawing using a brush and paint. For a plant like this, no pencil drawing is really needed (for me) and I loved the small changes this method gave me.

The leaves were painted in the same colour scheme as the Conté drawing: with a dark brown and a red earth colour. 

After cleaning my paint water and returning to my work I decided the berries were not needed here, the branch looks like the birds have already eaten them. The Autumn colours of my palette make that very probable.

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 Flickr account.