Sunday, 31 May 2026

Church Door - charcoal drawing

 


During our short stay in the Val-Joly region we also passed through the small town of Eppe-Sauvage

At that moment there was not much to do but we did want to see the 16th century Church. Unfortunately the church was closed and we walked around it. The main door in the front did attract my attention and I made a picture of it, to make a drawing later.

Later is today and I decided to use the Chunky Charcoal I was introduced to during my latest painting week.

With such a big chunky stick it is not the easiest task to get all lines in the correct place and I did not get an exact copy of the reference picture, but the result is better than I thought it could be.

While making the outlines of the doors I had wiped the charcoal down to suggest the plank doors and I planned to work on that a bit more. 

The door frame and the lower part of the wall that were made of a light natural stone became darker and darker as I had to correct the lines I had drawn initially. The upper part of the wall was made of red bricks and the darkest part of the composition. After some work on walls and steps I was happy how I suggested the different materials.

Before I got to this point I decided that the doors did not need extra work at all. The way I wiped down the charcoal from the top of the door post had a nice mysterious result that I like much better than the original plan.

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.


Wednesday, 27 May 2026

Roadside flowers, a white on red drawing

 


This is my last work for the May challenge of Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken about the colour red. On a watercolour paper I made a background using two shades of red, let that dry and made a drawing on it inspired by the roadside flowers I can see when I am driving home from work.

This time I used Drawing Pencils, so the work is sprayed with fixative.

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.

Saturday, 23 May 2026

Ladybug - a pencil drawing

 


In the Sketch a Day app the prompt for today was 'Beetle' and I decided to draw a Ladybug on a postcard-size paper.

For the beetle I first put down a layer of colour and I 'awakened' it with water. The grass has only one layer of pencil colour for the contrast between my subject and its surroundings.

After the water dried I added more colour, using more pencils than in the first layer to get the depth that can be achieved with watercolour pencils.

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.

Tuesday, 19 May 2026

Wren - a pencil drawing

 


Today's prompt in the Sketch A Day app is 'Melody' and I thought of birdsong. There are many well-known songbirds and many of them were already featured in the submissions of the day so I wanted something different.

A little wren can also sing a nice song and they are such charming birds that I should draw them more often.

Using a Watercolour postcard as my paper I made a drawing first, added water to the bird shape and added more colour for depth and for the correction of my initial - not so perfect - shape. The branches and leaves are one pencil layer only for the contrast between my subject and its surroundings/background.

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.

Saturday, 16 May 2026

Trees along a sunken road

 


Some weeks ago we were for a short vacation in the Val Joly region and made a walk in the Parc de L'Abbaye de Liessies where we were walking in a sunken or hollow road during that walk. 

The road was so much sunken that we could just see the top of the sides and many tree roots were visible. My husband (who had the camera) made some nice pictures of these tree roots.  During our short vacation I made a drawing after one of these pictures and this time I wanted to make a watercolour painting. 

My reference picture for this watercolour painting is made from a different angle and shows the tree from the drawing and a second one, both with a lot of their roots exposed. The high side of the road is also visible.

The second tree, on the right side of the painting was the biggest challenge with its roots so intertwined that I really needed the 'help' of my reference picture. Usually I paint the sketch I made on my watercolour paper and from memory but in this case that did not work well for the many details.

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.



Thursday, 14 May 2026

Kasteelpark van Brasschaat - a Conté drawing

 


The May challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about the colour red. After I had painted poppies for my first submission I wanted to do something with red paper as my background.

From three shades of red (all in a set with a lot of colours) I picked the darkest one and made a Conté drawing of a landscape. Because of the red background I limited the palette for my drawing.

In fact this is in a parc area where my husband and me went for a walk, the Kasteelpark Brasschaat which is a public place now and a great place for a walk. 

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

Saturday, 9 May 2026

Poppies in the roadside

 


The May challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about the colour red. We are challenged to work with red. That may be a composition in shades of red or just a single detail in red and all that is between these extremes.

Driving to my work in the morning and back home in the afternoon I can see the roadsides full of poppies and other flowers so that was my inspiration for this work.

First I made a background in two shades of green and took away some patches of colour using a bit of tissue paper.

After that had dried I painted the poppy flowers using three shades of red. Using the greens from the background I painted stems and leaves for the poppies and the whit patches that represent some white flowers. The brightest white flowers have yellow hearts.

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.