Japanese Crane - a graphite drawing

 

Yesterday we (my husband, two young guests and me) were visiting 'Dierenpark Amersfoort' in the company our son's family. The walk through the zoo was not fast with a total of five children with us, but we all enjoyed the day.

In the Japanese Garden I made some pictures of the Japanese Crane (Grus japonensis) as references for drawing. During the lunch (and playground) break I made a little sketch in my zoo-sketchbook but this crane deserved better.

So today I made a better, larger drawing using my water soluble graphite.

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.

Corner stone 2 - a pencil drawing

 

That corner stone, so small a detail on the reference picture my husband sent me, I had to draw it again, differently.

The first drawing was for a challenge, this one is for me.

Using my water soluble graphite pencils I made a larger drawing of the ornament, used some water to wash the graphite and added more pencil on top of that for depth. This technique also works with monochromatic drawings.

This time it is only that stone in my drawing, nothing to indicate where it is. And that is how I want it to be, because it is the ornamental stone that inspired me.

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.

Corner stone - a pencil drawing

 

The theme for the July challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is all about 'your creative journey' which can be read as creativity while travelling. I have already made a painting that could be the start of a new path in my artwork and now I have used a picture my husband made for me from his hotel room in Paris.

The view was not inspiring me to do a painting, but one detail did catch my attention. The red brick wall had two beautiful stones on the corner and I made this drawing of one of them adding the structures close to the stone to show its 'natural habitat'.

The stone itself is as detailed as I can get it, using watercolour pencils, water, more pencil for the depth and contrast I want to get.

The wall and the roof behind that wall are only suggested.

Of course this is not a perfect work of art, but I really wanted to draw details like this for some years now so this is the first in what I hope may become another new path in my art journey.

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.

Moselle Valley, walking - a charcoal drawing

 

Last Autumn we revisited the Moselle Valley and made some nice walks. This scene is from the 'Zitronenkrämerkreuz' walk starting in Ensch.

At some point we had to cross a small stream using a bridge that had seen better times. All was safe but we were extra careful.

I made pictures of the stairway/path back up the other bank of the stream to use as references for a drawing or painting.

Today I made that drawing, using Willow Charcoal end some of my Tinted charcoal pencils on a tinted paper.

The result is what I hoped for. Maybe I will use this reference picture another time, but for now I am happy with this result.

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.

Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) - a pencil drawing

 

These days the bindweed (Calystegia sepium) shows its white flowers everywhere in our neighbourhood and I made some reference pictures for a drawing.

Using my Drawing Pencils I had to find a way to show that the white of the flower is not so very white at all. Using light colours I shaped the flower and added the darker background later.

The colours of the flower are created by the shadows in the petals and the light on them. Not to forget the reflected colours of the grasses around it.

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.

Woodpecker - a pencil drawing

 

Today the prompt in the Sketch a Day app is 'peck' and after looking for some translations of the word I decided to draw a woodpecker. The translations were not inspiring and I am not the only one using a prompt like this.

I have gathered an 'archive' of magazine pages full of nature pictures, so after a search I found a picture of a juvenile great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and used that one for my drawing.

At first I planned to use water soluble pencils, use water on the bird and add more layers of pencil, but changed my plan while working. This is only pencil, no water added. All pencils are water soluble but give enough colour to make a nice woodpecker on this tinted paper.

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.

Sunset fantasy

 

Today the prompt in the Sketch a Day app is 'bright' and that made me think about bright colours at sunset.

So I picked some colours (limited palettes always work nice) and started painting an imaginary sunset seen at the shore.

Of course there have to be clouds in the sky so I can paint the bright orange colour under the clouds, where the light of the setting sun touches them.

The dark foreground can be water or sand, that does not really matter. The whole scene is imaginary, painted for the atmosphere.

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