Dolmen - five works

 

The second project in my painting vacation was a dolmen, capstone and supporting stones or at least what is left of the structure.

The first thing I made was the pencil drawing as a study for the composition and to get an idea of the structure of the different stones. After that came the Conté drawing on Terracotta paper as a 'mood' study.

Then out teacher and coach Ad van Aart suggested a second Conté drawing, with less stones for a better composition. That is the one on the grey paper.

After that study I reduced the amount of smaller stones to three and made a watercolour painting in natural colours. The grey-blue and the earth colours ate what is to be expected in a landscape.

There was more to be tried with this scene so I reduced the supporting stones to the absolute minimum of two - as suggested by Ad - changed the direction of the paper from 'landscape' to 'portrait' and used colours from the 'Twilight series' of my palette.

The results are what I hoped for. As mentioned in my previous post, this week I intended to paint the spiritual feeling that a dolmen is holy ground and my watercolours really reflect that feeling.

The information about the materials I have used, the sizes and availabilities of these works and - if you are interested in my original artworks - my contact information can all be found in my Flickr account.

Capstone - three works

 

This painting vacation I wanted to explore the spiritual aspect of some ancient sites. Dolmens are burial grounds and can thus be considered holy ground. Sometimes I can feel that, especially when there are no other people around.

The first reference I have used is a picture of the unbroken capstone of the Ahlhorner Kellersteine II that I made about four years ago. I have not used that reference before.

Our teacher and coach Ad van Aart advised me to start with a pencil drawing to 'explore' the structure of the stone, its shadows and light spots. That pencil drawing is the third picture from above.

I continued with dark charcoal, now exploring that spiritual energy of the site and ended with a light within the stone. Another light is above the stone in the clouded sky, as if the sun shines through very dark clouds.

The third work is a watercolour where I was challenged to let the light radiate from the stone. 

The stone was simplified more and more in each step.

The information about the materials I used for each work, their sizes and availabilities and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Flickr account.

Snowy owl - a graphite drawing

 

In the 'Dierenpark Amersfoort' are also several birds and this Snowy owl was posing for pictures. 

So I made a picture and tried to draw the bird today, the first drawing on my new Terracotta tinted paper. The water soluble graphite is not the best medium for this dark paper but I gave it my very best.

This was the first time I made a drawing of an snowy owl and it is not the easiest bird. The bird in the cage was behind bars so I had to guess the shape a bit.

The water soluble graphite is not as opaque as is needed for this dark tinted paper, so if I want do make a 'perfect' drawing of a mostly white owl I will have to use other drawing materials.

All these things made that I also added 'experiment' in the tags, knowing this is not my best drawing, but I do share my whole art journey here and that means also the not so very great works.

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.

Siberian Tiger - a Conté drawing

 

Last weekend we visited the 'Dierenpark Amersfoort' and had a great time. 

At some point in the main route we saw this Siberian tiger, that walked towards the large window where  lots of children and adults were watching. Close to the large window the tiger laid down as if it was posing for pictures. My husband had the camera and made pictures for me.

Today I found time to make a drawing, using my Conté Crayons because these have the best colours for the tiger. To get the best result for the orange-ish fur I had to mix some colours but that is the fun of working with a limited set of colours.

This time I added more white after a first spray with fixative, to make it stand out even more. Of course I used my fixative again after that. This technique is something I have seen in a tutorial and I use it when I think I need it.

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.

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.