Crop

 

Today the prompt in the 'Sketch A Day' app was 'Crop' so I first looked at the other entries to see how other people interpreted the prompt. I do that very often, there is a slight difference in translation possible. The prompts are in English, I am Dutch. Looking at the other entries also helps me find inspiration when that is needed.

Working with water soluble pencils helps me to define my subject by using water to 'awaken' the colours of the first layer and then adding a second layer of colour for depth. The three plants in the foreground are detailed, the others are only suggested.

At that point in my process I decided to add another meaning of 'crop' to my drawing by adding the lines I use when cropping a picture on the computer before I publish my work online.

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.

Grapevines in autumn

 

During one of the walks we made in the Moselle Valley we passed by some grapevines that had the greatest Autumn colours and some of the grapes were still hanging on the plants. Those grapes were almost black and smelled as if they had started to ferment already.

My husband and me liked the view and we both made some pictures of the leaves and those dark grapes. For this painting I combined two pictures.

After the background had dried I made a composition of leaves, stems and branches and added a nice bunch of grapes.

The leaves were painted in shades of yellow with some dark browns added and for the grapes I combined several dark colours until I got the right purple-brownish almost black colour that I remembered.

Making a picture of my work proved difficult, the November light is not great and a few of my background yellows seem to disappear in the picture. Unfortunately I cannot optimise that without losing the beauty of the grapes.

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.

Pumpkin - a pencil drawing

 

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I found the 'Sketch a day' app and made a small sketch every day. That time I was inspired to do a bit more than a quick sketch and today was the same. 

The prompt 'Pumpkin' inspired me to do a bit more than a black and white sketch, so I took a piece of grey paper and my watercolour pencils and made this drawing.

After the first pencil layer I used water to 'awaken' the colours and after that had dried I added more colours for more depth. This technique gives nice results and I have described it before.

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.

The entrance to the quarry - a charcoal drawing

 

During our short vacation in the Moselle Region we also visited 'Besucherbergwerk Fell' a place where visitors can learn about the old slate quarries and mines. There are some signposted walks that lead you to several quarries that are closed but can be seen from outside. There is an information centre and a part of the old mine is open for guided tours.

We did the short walk as the weather was not encouraging the longer ones and made several pictures of the quarries, the information given there and the old mine carts on display.

In this drawing I 'forgot' the fence in front of the entrance to the quarry. I used charcoal and some of my Tinted Charcoal pencils on a grey 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 be found in my Tumblr blog.

Lichens - a pencil drawing

 

As written in earlier posts, when I am on a short vacation I do take only drawing materials with me and make smaller works than usual. During these days I actively search for subjects that are great for these small drawings, full of details that need sharp pencils and nothing else to do that day. As far as my patience goes...

Very close to our vacation home was a bush that had some of the larger branches covered in lichens. The light colours of the lichens are great on a black background so I started drawing. The lichens have been treated with water, to 'awaken' the colours and after that had dried, I applied a second layer of colour. I did not do this to the branch, to make the subject stand out as much as possible.

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

Grape Leaves - a pencil drawing

 

For the reference picture I used for this drawing we had to walk a bit further from our vacation home in the Moselle Region. We enjoyed the autumn colours of both grape plants and trees this season.

During a walk we saw a lot of grape plants with only yellow leaves, but at one point we saw more colours. Of course I made a picture and used that for this drawing.

The scene is simplified to make the bright colours of the leaves stand out and I chose a black paper to draw on for the same reason.

The drawing is made with water soluble pencils and after the first layer I used water to 'awaken' the colours. After that had dried I applied a second layer of colour for more depth.

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.

Rose hips - a pencil drawing

 

For our short vacation in the Moselle Region I had only brought drawing materials like pencils and charcoal. Usually the light in a vacation home is not fit for painting, so I prefer to only make drawings.

The bush with the rose hips was two steps away from our vacation home and one of the first days I made a picture of the outer branches with some rose hips.

For the drawing I selected only a few branches and made my drawing using two kinds of water soluble pencils. I used water to 'awaken' the colours of these selected branches. After that had dried I sketched the shapes of some of the other branches very lightly to balance the composition.

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.

View over the Moselle valley - a charcoal drawing

 

After our vacation in April we wanted to see the Moselle valley in Autumn as well, so we returned for another short vacation to the same location.

The first evening we went for a short walk after being in the car for hours. Just before sunset we made some nice pictures of the views over the Moselle valley from a high point near our vacation home.

I decided to do a charcoal drawing of the view as the clouds were nice and dark and the hills were even darker. 

For this work I had to do two layers, which means I had to use fixative first before I could continue darkening the foreground. This is a method that I am not very much used to, but it really helps getting that nice dark foreground.

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.

Fireplace

 

Last year we (my husband and me) were eating in a restaurant during a short vacation and a fireplace was lit. This was a gas fueled fireplace behind glass, but the idea of the scene inspired me. We both made reference pictures and I have used the best one as my inspiration for this watercolour painting.

The best picture means that I could see the fireplace and its surroundings better than on the other picture.

I used it as my inspiration, the whole scene has changed. I suggested a wood fire - the gas fire has blue flames - and the decoration is suggesting Christmas time, not the autumn decoration in the references.

This painting is made to be my Christmas card for this year.

The scene is suggesting the right season without being too much decorated. It still has to be my painting. 

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.

Antlers - a Conté drawing

 

A week ago I discovered the 'Sketch a Day app' with every day a new prompt for a sketch. I have been drawing every day, very often a quick sketch that not very great but a nice practice.

Today's prompt was Antler and I had time and inspiration to do a bit more. So I looked for an inspiring reference in my collection of photos from magazines and calendars and I found a nice old photo that I could use with some adaptations.

For the drawing I used Conté first and then pencils for the green leaves. After I finished all I used my fixative, not only for the Conté, but also to 'awaken' the colours of the watercolour pencils.

The result is even better than I hoped I could do.

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.

Chestnut leaves - for a challenge

 

The October challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about patterns in nature, almost abstract. Of course I have been doing patterns with the tree bark peintings but for this challenge I wanted something else. 

Now it is Autumn, the leaves of my chestnut tree are falling and I picked up two leaves of different sizes. These I used to make a template out of paper as the leaves were dry andcrumbling.

The template was used for the drawing of my pattern. 

The leaves on top were drawn with ink. After that hed dried I started painting using only a few colours. The ink did bleed a bit but I really like the result.

While painting I adapted my first plan and this is the result I submitted for the challenge.

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.

For rent - for a challenge

 

This September the challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about bird migration. It took a while before I found the idea for my submission, but here it is. Of course there is a tree involved - no surprise here. 

When the birds go south for the winter, their nests and tree homes are left empty for months. So my painting for the challenge is about those empty homes and what might happen during Autumn and Winter.

The sign says - translated from Dutch - For rent during the Winter.

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.

Connection! - for a contest

 

This time I did not paint for a monthly challenge, but for a contest by 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken'. The contest is mostly for those that like or need to work more than a month (the time for the challenges) to complete a work and last year was the first one. I did not compete last year and did not plan to do so this year but after a conversation with one of the other members made this work.

The theme is 'connection' and I really thought that I would not find inspiration for that theme.

In a forest the trees are all connected by their root system and the fungal threads in the ground. So a forest and some mushrooms (the fruits of the fungi) are a good start. 

Then, something special had to be added. Thinking back to the kind of work I made during my painting vacation it had to be a bit alienating or at least strange.

An old fashioned telephone - a very antique model - would do the trick, with the cable leading into the ground to make the connection. The listening device is off the hook, so connection is made.

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.

Vordenstein - a charcoal drawing

 

A few weeks ago my husband and me went for a walk in Park Vordenstein, not far from Antwerp, Belgium. The walk was a nice one, the parc area has a lot of different landscape/garden types and there is also some information to be found along the route.

At one point we were close to the chapel that belonged to the castle and I made a picture to use as reference for a drawing and or painting.

This is the first work made using that picture, a charcoal drawing showing the landscape that attracted my attention.

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 Tumblr blog.

Pumpkin Field 2

 

That one reference picture I made of the pumpkin field (when I was on my painting vacation, during a short evening walk) has potential for more than one composition.

For this painting I selected an area with a lot of leaves and some (almost hidden) pumpkins and made a watercolour painting that is all about those large leaves. 

On the background I started drawing the leaves and pumpkins until I thought the composition was nice. Painting these leaves, their stems and the pumpkins was next. 

For all the shades of green I mixed different colours into a 'green from the tube' and the result really pleases me.

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.

Pumpkin Field

 

During my painting vacation there always was time to do other things than painting. After dinner we often went for a short walk, sometimes in small groups, sometimes alone. This year the weather was great for those walks, not too hot and no rain so we could walk the fields and forest paths easily.

During these walks I made pictures of the forest and one of the pumpkin field we passed one evening. That picture was used as reference for a charcoal study and a watercolour painting.

I started with the charcoal and pencil study to find the right composition

and I already had decided I would make the pumpkins stand out by giving them their natural colours with watercolour pencils. 

The drawing is - compared to the reference picture - 'wrong' in the meaning of how I used the black of the charcoal. In reality the leaves are the darkest greens, the stems of the plants are a lighter shade of green. In the drawing the stems are dark and black, the leaves are grey. But this works really well, so I decided to make my watercolour painting just like I had made the charcoal study.

For the composition I left out some of the pumpkins and the sheet of watercolour paper is filled completely with the image I wanted to paint. In fact the watercolour paper is just a bit smaller than the paper I used for the charcoal study so I did not have to make my drawing smaller or larger for the painting.

After I had decided on the colour I wanted to use for the background, the leaves and the stems of the pumpkin plants I could start painting.

The result is what I hoped it would be.

The information about the materials I have used for both works, their sizes and availabilities and - if you are interested in my original artworks - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Between ebb and flow - Hoek van Holland

 

Now my painting vacation is over, the August challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' needs my attention.

The challenge is about the sea, 'between ebb and flow' and I just had the right reference picture for that challenge. My husband Peter made it a few years ago in the hour of sunset at the Pier of Hoek van Holland when some huge container ships were coming into the Port of Rotterdam.

Coming in or leaving the port is always between ebb and flow, ships must make sure they don't miss the tide and that is why I thought of this reference picture when I found out the theme of this month's challenge.

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

Forest Bath

 

The last day of my painting vacation had arrived and I wanted to make one more painting with an unexpected addition to the landscape. A forest scene was what I wanted to paint and then there was that 'What if...' moment again. What if I place a bath tub in the forest? Our teacher and coach Ad van Aart loved the idea and references for both the forest and a bath tub were found.

This time I had a vision of what I wanted to paint so I did not make any thumbnail sketches. The composition was sketched on the paper with the plan to paint the bath tub last, adding this unusual item to my forest scene.

Painting a birch forest in watercolour is a bit more challenging than any other forest - we have to keep the trees white and cannot paint them dark over a nice background - so that took some time and attention. I enjoyed every moment!

For the bath tub I selected a special set of colours so it would stand out between the natural colours of the forest. 

The result is what I hoped for. Not my usual kind of landscape, but I had a lot of fun painting this one.

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.

The ladder

 

During my painting vacation our teacher and coach Ad van Aart gave me the challenge to add something unexpected to my landscapes. That started a lot of thinking, some crazy ideas and of course it resulted in some paintings.

The idea of adding a ladder to a landscape was suggested to me and after I accepted the idea, we went through my reference pictures to find a 'matching' landscape. This very empty looking landscape with a single sunlit (winter) tree at the side of a path was perfect. The original landscape is in The Netherlands, close to the town of Deventer and because of the emptiness I never really used the picture as a reference before.

First I made some thumbnail sketches to find the right ladder in the right position for the best result and after that I started painting. The colour of the ladder was decided after the landscape was finished, it had to stand out but not too much.

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.

In the wind

 

While the painting vacation was continuing, I had to think of more landscapes with a surprising element to paint. One thing that came up was a real memory of an Autumn leaf blown in front of the lens while we were making a picture of a group of buildings.

When I told our teacher and coach Ad van Aart that memory he suggested to make some thumbnail sketches first to find the best composition for this work. In these sketches I varied with the size and place of the city/village skyline, the size and place of the leaf and the filling of the shape of the leaf. We both thought that a big leaf, only outlined with the landscape still visible was the best composition.

I tested this in a larger drawing

using water soluble graphite in a very limited palette. 

I went looking for a real leaf as big as I could find and that is the one I outlined in both the drawing and the painting. If a bigger leaf would have been found, I probably would have made the watercolour painting larger, now I adjusted the size of the paper to the size of the leaf - which is a maple leaf.

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

Traces (in the sand)

 

During my painting vacation our teacher and coach Ad van Aart gave me the personal challenge to add something unexpected to my works. Or to paint something unexpected.

This work is about traces in the sand. The reference picture was made (by me) on the beach and that showed the lines the water had made in the wet sand and some traces of birds and human footsteps.

We made a selection of all that information for the painting. The human footsteps are unusual for me to add to a work, so they had to be in the painting. The lines the water made were to be there as well.

With these restrictions I started making studies for the composition and we decided on the one that looked the best.

While painting, the work evolved to the result you can see above.

The footsteps are very present in my work and the other traces are 'only' lines now, given some structure by adding shadows and highlights. 

This composition works well and the result is even better than I expected.

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.

Studies with a very black charcoal type

 

The second day of my painting vacation started with a workshop. We all got a piece of Chunky Charcoal and were challenged to test it first, followed by making drawings after some reference pictures provided by our teacher and coach Ad van Aart.

That was fun - until we had to clean our fingers but a bit of perseverance with water, soap and a brush had the desired result.

I started with this one:

testing the marks I could make and how to continue after the marks were made.

The work on top is my second one, I selected a landscape with salt marshes and a grey sky. The sky darkened as I was working because it is really hard to soften the marks that are made using this type of charcoal. Only using more charcoal - darkening the paper - can hide the initial marks.

Having said that, I am really happy with the dark result I got here. To help the composition I also darkened the landscape and I managed to suggest some rain falling from the clouds.

My third work was another challenge, also using a reference picture from the large supply our teacher brought with him:

This is a waterfall and the reference picture was really soft, taken with a long exposure time. Doing something like that with a really chunky stick of charcoal is not possible - at least not at a first try. The result does show a waterfall and I have learned more while working on this one than I learned working on the other two landscapes.

The information about the materials I have used, the sizes of these drawings and their availabilities and - if you are interested in my original artworks - my contact information can be found in my Tumblr blog.

Dark clouds, light and a sunset

 

Last week I was on Painting Vacation again! Every year a very happy week with a lot of fun, a lot of painting and a lot of learning. This week our coach and teacher Ad van Aart had a special 'challenge' for me: do something unexpected to your work.

The first works I have made are more about an omission (compared to the reference picture) and letting the light become the subject.

The picture above is the last one I made, I will show the steps leading to that one first:

It all starts with a study, in this case a charcoal drawing to get the 'feel' of the darkness of the clouds, the light and the landscape below.

Next is a watercolour painting in the colours of the reference picture

and to challenge myself I painted on a larger sheet of paper than usual.

Both works are about the white line of light between the dark clouds and the landscape which is also a bit gloomy under that dark sky.

Then I thought 'What if....' and the idea of the sunset was born.

For that painting I had to use the same shapes in the clouds and the landscape, leave the same line of light between them but I had to find the right colour scheme, starting with the orange-red colour of the sky. The colours of the clouds and the landscape are all based ton that choice and the result is at the top of this post.

This was a nice start of this week and I am happy with the results of this day's work.

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

Water tower at the 'Spoorwegmuseum' - Conté drawing

 

This week we went to visit the 'Spoorwegmuseum' in the town of Utrecht and we were in the company of the grandchildren, their parents (of course!) and two guest children from France. The museum has many locomotives, trains, wagons and other material that has once moved over the rails in The Netherlands. 

Besides these there are also lots of information and modern trains - as a model - a simulator, some old rails and a workplace from the steam age.

That workplace shows the building as it was - we cannot really enter it, but we can look - and part of that is this old rusty water tower that inspired me to make this drawing.

This time I have also used Conté pencils, both for the colours and for the lines.

Because I was relatively far away from my subject when I made my reference picture, the building is not as detailed as it might be but as the water tower is my subject that does not really matter to me. Now the building is clearly the structure that has the tower on its roof.

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

Leiwener Kapellchen

 

During our short vacation in Leiwen last May we made some nice walks. The first walk, in the evening after we arrived, passed by some landmarks between the parc where we were staying and the Moselle river. One of these is this little chapel, the 'Leiwener Kapellchen'. We looked at it from a high spot on the hillside and we made some reference pictures.

One of these references is used for this watercolour painting. Of course I changed the composition a bit to make the chapel stand on a 'good' spot following the rule of thirds.

From our point of view there was no sky in the reference picture, only rolling hills that may be hiding the river. As it was spring, the vineyards were mostly bare, the leaves had yet to grow on the vines.

This makes the structures of the vineyards visible, parallel lines with plants and a lot of bare soil. Not all fields are planted in the same direction which gives the much needed variation for my painting.

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

Little animals in the grass - a pencil drawing

 

After my first experiment with black paper, grass and little animals I wanted to do more in this theme. 

This time I experimented a bit more with my materials, I used graphite pencils for the grass. On black paper that gives a silvery grey result, much different from the results om white paper. The stems with seeds and the two insects (a butterfly and a grasshopper) are done with my watercolour pencils. This time no water was added to 'wake up' the colours.

This still tastes like more, so when I have an hour or less free, I can do more with this theme. I can look at other little animals like spiders or snails, bees and much more.

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

Twins

 

A few weeks ago we went for a nice signposted walk in the 'Mastenbos' (Belgium) where I made several reference pictures of trees, dead or alive. These birch trees are very alive and I really wanted to paint these.

The July challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about a favourite place in summertime. My favourite places in any season are the forest (for a walk) and behind my panting table or easel to paint. I thought this work combines both as it is a painting I made after I had a nice walk in a forest.

These twin birch trees were really very close together and I made more than one reference picture to select the nicest one for a painting.

I enjoyed painting these trees and the result is what I hoped it would be.

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

Grass - a pencil drawing

 

This is a 'just for the fun of it' drawing that I still like to share. I have been feeling a little restless, wanting to create something but it is too hot to do much. 

So I took my pencils and a small size black paper and started to draw the grasses. Dark in the background, lighter in the front. I had made a reference picture of a nice tuft of grass so I could check if my drawing was a bit like reality. That is why the light brown stems with the seeds are added - they were in the reference picture and in fact they were a nice addition to the composition as well.

Now the fun part: I have been adding random insects in contrasting colours - so there is no black beetle in sight. Adding these to the composition was fun and a bit of an experiment.

The result is nice and more than that counts the fact that I enjoyed the process of creating this drawing. And that is why I wanted to share this one.

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

 

Tree roots - for a contest

 

After seeing the new colours launched in the Revival Collection I wanted to have at least three or four of them so I bought them.

A few months later the contest was announced and I wanted to join as soon as I saw the criteria. This is my second entry.

For this painting I have used only two colours and a reference picture I made over a year ago - but was not used yet.

Two years ago I used the time of my painting vacation to gain confidence and a bit of experience in painting these tree roots that show up above the sand paths in our nature and I have used the same method I used then.

So first a charcoal study - in this case two studies - to get the composition right.

I was not happy with the first study so I made a second one that looked better. This charcoal drawing was close by when I made the watercolour painting as my reference for the composition, the contrasts and the smaller shapes between the tree roots.

Of course the final painting is not an exact copy of the study but I never expected that to happen. Charcoal is not the finest material for drawing (no sharp points for more than one stroke) and I do have some nice small brushes for the finer paintwork - which I used of course.

The painting is submitted for the contest.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of the painting and both studies, their availability and my contact information in case you are interested in my original artworks can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Tree stump, Mastenbos

 

A few weeks ago my husband and me went for a nice signposted walk in the 'Mastenbos' in Belgium. We passed by lots of large old trees, some remains from World War I and several dead trees and tree stumps. I did not make (reference) pictures of all of them, but this one I could not resist.

The colour of the dead wood that is still visible inside the remains of the tree bark is so bright orange-brown (like Burnt Sienna) that it stands out on the forest floor.

The surrounding landscape is only suggested, the tree stump is my subject here. That does not mean I did not make an effort while painting that suggested landscape, I have really thought about how much detail I had to paint and where I had to start suggesting shapes of trees.

The tree stump itself also was full of detail and a bit of a challenge, but I really like the result of my work.

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

Night Moth - a pencil drawing

 

The June challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is 'small pearls' or 'little gems', those little bits of beauty that can suddenly inspire us. When I saw the theme, I immediately had to think about the night moth that was resting on the wall of our vacation home while I was painting a watercolour painting outside to have some shadow and a cool spot to work.

My husband made the reference picture for me after I had pointed out the little animal and that reference was used for this drawing.

I have used a small size black paper and my watercolour pencils without adding water this time. The little animal is done as detailed as possible (zooming in on the reference picture blurred the details a bit) and the corner of the wall it was resting on is only suggested.

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

Mushroom - a pencil drawing

 

The reference picture for this drawing was made last Autumn by my husband Peter who had the camera. I wanted to make a drawing or painting using this reference but never really found the right inspirational moment.

Now I have made this drawing, using my Graphitint pencils for the mushroom and some Graphic pencils for the surrounding grass.

Making this was nice and relaxing, not a very difficult subject and ready in a short time.

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.

Tree Bark - Platanus

 

The structure of the bark of the plane tree (Platanus) is beautifully coloured and has a nice texture so I had to use that tree in my series about tree bark and other things as well.

On a watercolour under painting - not very strongly pigmented this time - I used my Graphitint pencils for the tree bark and used some water to 'awaken' some areas of the drawing.

Over that drawing I outlined the leaves - found on the ground after a windy day - and added the three major veins of the leaves. These lines were 'awoken' with water as well. 

I decided to stop here because adding more colour or structure would make this drawing a chaotic one and I really wanted the structure and colours of the tree bark to be visible.

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.

Pond shore - Mastenbos, Belgium

 

These days are a very short vacation for my husband and me as the schools are closed, so we don't have to go to work. We made use of that by going for a signposted walk in Kapellen, Belgium. 

We explored the 'Mastenbos', a nice forest area that is very accessible for walks - no adventurous paths, just nice for a walk - and has a long history. The forest has many trenches and bunkers remaining from World War I and there is a lot of information about that history at the start of the walk.

We were happy to find more forest related information on the sides of the path and learned some things on the way.

There is a large pond in the forest that cuts through an old beech avenue. The pond has been maintained recently so the sunlight can reach the surface again. Looking over the pond - that has much of a canal as it is very straight - I could see the structures of the other shore and I made a picture of that.

The scene is great for my new panorama paper and I made this painting as soon as possible.

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.

Quarry with tree roots

 

On our first evening in Sonnenberg (Leiwen, Germany) we made a walk as we had been in the car for hours and wanted some fresh air. 

That walk was very close to our vacation home and we passed by some nice views over the Moselle valley. We also had nice spots on the other side of the path and this is one of them.

On several places there are little quarries that have been washed out a bit further by the rains so the tree roots are visible. This was an inspiring one, the shadows create interesting shapes here so I made a reference piture.

Looking at the picture again I decided to make a drawing using my Tinted Charcoal Pencils on a tinted paper.

The bit of forest ground above the quarry is important to show where the tree roots come from and is is mostly in shadows so the contrast with the sunlit parts of the wall of the quarry gives more structure to the landscape. Without that part, the drawing would have been much more 'abstract' and that is not what I wanted.

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

Tree bark - Poplar

 

Close to our home are lots of poplar trees and the older ones have beautiful bark structures close to the ground - where I can see it best and make pictures as my reference.

One of these trees also has mosses growing in the structure of the bark and that one was my model for this work.

On a watercolour background I worked with my Graphitint pencils, using one wash of water between layers of pencil. 

After a strong wind I found a fallen leaf that was used for the second pattern in this work. I traces the outline of the leaf using a white pencil, colouring the negative space between two leaf shapes. I kept on working like that until I had 'covered' my sheet of paper with overlapping leaf shapes.

The white was not standing out as much as I hoped so I added white gouache paint in several layers to the white lines and the negative shapes that were coloured white.

Once again I experimented with structures and materials and I really like doing that. The result does not matter that much, even though I like the finished piece to be balanced.

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

Dead Tree, Sonnenberg - a watercolour painting

 

During our short vacation in Leiwen we made some nice walks in forest areas. During one of these walks I made pictures of a dead tree which I already have used for a Conté drawing. In my post about the Conté drawing I wrote that I would like to make a watercolour painting of that tree trunk as well. The details about the walk are also in my post about the drawing, so I will not repeat them here.

Here is the painting, made with a limited palette to make the dead tree stand out as much as possible. 

The dead tree did get some sunlight at the moment I made my picture and the pale colour of the dead wood contrasted beautifully with the darker colours of the forest behind it.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this painting and (if you are interested in my original artwork) my contact information can be found in my Tumblr blog.

A stack of trunks - a Conté drawing

 

During our walk in the Arboretum Trompenburg we passed by a stack of trees (in fact there were more of these stacks) surrounded by plants and I decided to make a reference picture for a drawing.

The drawing in only black, grey and white was a challenge because I also wanted to suggest the surrounding plants and bushes because these partially covered the stack of trunks. This background has mostly the same value as that stack of trunks, so my subject (the trunks) did not stand out any more.

That is why I evened the background, using the Conté that was already on the paper and added white to that later to take away a bit of all that black.

Now only the stack of trunks is detailed with a background in a gradient of grey. The darkest black is for the shadows and the really dark spots on the tree trunks and I have tried to make these stand out against the background as well.

Using fixative does change the intensity of the white a bit, so in between layers of fixative I added more white.

The result is not what I planned, but while I was working on this one I had to change my plans. In fact, I think I like this more.

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