New Leaves

 

The March challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about changes coming with the new season. Nature wakes up.

For my painting I made some reference pictures during a short walk in the park area close to our home. These references have been waiting about two weeks before I had time to paint, but here it is, my submission for the challenge.

On a coloured background I painted the branch with fresh leaves, not all green yet. Some trees and bushes have leaves that start with another colour and become green after they had some sunlight. Often the 'base colour' is a reddish brown, but these had a purple/mauve base.

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

Tulips - a pencil drawing

 

For the prompt 'Pink' in the Sketch A Day app I had to think a little, but looking at the tulips on my table I decided I just had to make them change colour a bit for my drawing. 

On black paper I made some simplified tulips using pink for the petals and green for the stems and leaves. The petals were treated with a bit of water and after that had dried a second layer of colour was added. 

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 Tumbr blog.

Beach Rockanje (Netherlands)

 

Last weekend the weather was not really very great, but we thought it would be nice to go to the beach for a walk. As expected there were not many people so we had a nice time.

The weather was - as said - not great, there was a light fog and the sky was coloured yellow by Sahara sand or dust that was blown high in the sky and now came over to us. In fact the view was limited and mostly grey, a very special atmosphere, not often related to a beach walk.

Of course I made some reference pictures of the light on the water - as it was low tide, the sea was far away - and wanted to paint that.

Painting in shades of grey means mixing colours and that did not go as I hoped mostly because the grey had to be really light, a bit blueish for the sky and a bit brownish for the wet sand. My mixture did not do what I wanted so I changed plan and made a painting with a bit more blue and brown than I first intended. 

As 'it all happens on the paper' the painting must be brought to a good result on that paper. And that is what I did.

The result still shows the yellow shades of the Sahara sand, the light spot in the clouds and the light on the water and because of the colours I ended up with it is more recognisable as a seascape.

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.

Plane tree, Westersingel Rotterdam - a pen drawing

 

Once again, the large plane tree we saw in Rotterdam last week. This large tree inspired me to do more than just painting, this is the second drawing I made using my own reference pictures.

For this work I used line markers/fine liners on a white paper, different nib sizes for the difference between the huge tree trunk and the smallest little branches.

These smallest branches and the fruits hanging from them are in the drawing this time, it was as if this drawing asked for them to be present.

This last week I wanted to find out how different techniques can influence the way I depict the same subject, in this case a tree of impressive proportions. Impressive for being in the city and for growing in such a wet environment, many trees can't handle that well.

There are differences between the watercolour, the pencil drawing and the ink drawing that are not only explained by the different papers I have used. To be honest, I have no preference between the three of them, all are works I am happy with.

In the future I will probably be doing this again, when a subject inspires me to find out how it can be depicted with different techniques.

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.

Plane tree, Westersingel Rotterdam - a pencil drawing

 

This is the same tree that I painted and wrote about in my previous post, this time on paper with a different size and with pencils. This very large tree deserves more than only one watercolour painting.

For this drawing I have used only pencils and I did not even need to use water and a second layer of pencil to make this 'portrait of a tree'. My reference pictures do not show much more of the height of this plane tree so I can only hope to be believed when I write that it is much higher than my drawing shows.

For this drawing I did not add the smaller branches and the fruits hanging from them. These are of course part of the tree, but as there are so many smaller branches and fruits they might 'take over' this drawing and that is not what I wanted to happen. Only the main structure of the tree is here and for me that is impressive enough. 

Maybe in a next drawing, when I am using other materials, I will add these smallest branches and fruits again.

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.

Plane tree, Westersingel Rotterdam

 

In the city of Rotterdam some very old trees are still standing. Yesterday we passed by this impressive plane tree on our way to an museum and I had to use the 'panorama' setting om my camera to make a picture of it.

In fact the tree is more than five times as high as I have painted here, with several huge branches growing from the trunk that has 'turned' while growing, but I wanted to show the width of it, using one of the lower branches as my main subject and leaving the rest to the imagination of the viewer.

The tree stands close to the water of the 'Westersingel' on a lawn that stretches along the water. Just at the roots of the trees no grass is growing, only dark earth is visible. On the opposite side of the water there is another piece of lawn with some smaller trees, a street and large houses. These houses and the trees on the opposite side of the water reflect in the water. This all is only suggested by using one diluted layer of colour.

The tree is my main subject and it is painted in several layers of dark brown colours and where needed a touch of green for the algae on the trunk and large branches. Also the lawn the tree is standing on and the fallen leaves on the opposite lawn are painted in more than one layer of paint.

By doing this I wanted to make a portrait of the tree, showing the width of the lowest branches and still placing it in the surroundings it has been growing in to this impressive size.

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.

Nest - a pencil drawing

 

Today's prompt in the Sketch A Day app is 'Nest' and I really liked the idea of drawing a nest.

The scene is imaginary, a bird's nest in a fork in a branch, surrounded by more branches and the beginning of foliage.

I enjoyed using my new pencil set on another shade of coloured 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 Tumblr blog.