The old echo well - a pencil drawing

 

Today's prompt in the Sketch A Day app is 'Echo' and I had to think of an echo well at once. Now how to make a nice drawing about an old echo well....

Of course I wanted to add trees, so the well is (now) situated in a forest. There has to be green moss on the stones and on the trees and some larger grasses on the forest floor.

As I do more often these days I made a drawing with watercolour pencils, used water and added more layers of pencil for depth in my colours. The background is only pencil to suggest distance.

I really enjoyed making this small drawing and exploring the possibilities of both my pencils and the chosen paper.

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.

Emperor Penguin - pencil drawing

 

A few days ago the prompt in the Sketch A Day app was 'South' and that made me look into my 'archive' of reference pictures taken from magazines. I wanted a penguin as these animals live in the southern part of our planet.

The picture of an Emperor penguin was selected and I made this drawing with different types of pencils.

I really like the result, so I decided to show it here.

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.

Church door 2 - charcoal drawing

 

After I had made the drawing of the 16th century Church door in Eppe-Sauvage I wanted to draw our own church door as well. The reason I wanted to draw it is not so great, our church will most likely be withdrawn from worship next year. So this is not only a drawing 'because I can do it' but also making a memory.

Our church is 20th century (a few years younger than I am) so it is a modern building. The church looks like a square block of stones, but it has some beautiful details. There is a line of windows between the solid walls and the roof so light can come into the building from every angle. The church front is mostly glass with stone walls at the sides and some vertical structures to carry the weight of the roof. The horizontal white line is the floor of the choir balcony being part of the front of the building. The entrance is made with slate or another natural stone and behind the first set of doors is always another set of doors as a protection against the weather. When the first doors open, a rain storm does not 'enter' the building directly.

The glass parts of the church front are all black, reflecting nothing. As I did with the first church door I drew I wanted to draw the church front first and then decide on the doors. 

These are left 'open' as I did with the church of Eppe-Sauvage, I really like the mystery that comes into my drawing this way.

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.

Dark weather - charcoal drawing

 

For the title of this work I also thought about 'Poor sheep' because I have tried to draw - or better not to draw - the white sheep in the high grasses.

With 'not to draw' I mean that the sheep are almost white and using charcoal I have to take care that I do not make the paper black or grey or even grey-ish where the sheep are.

When I went out to make my reference picture, the grass had been mowed so I just had to rely on my memory from a week earlier. 

The pollard willows are also part from memory part from reference. The reference picture was made in the Parc area close to our home where several lines of pollard willows are to be found with various lengths of branches.

The weather is also from memory, we usually don't go for a nice short walk when the clouds look like this.

I wanted to make a drawing with dark clouds, rain, pollard willows and sheep and I am really happy with the 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 Tumblr blog.

Sparrowhawk - a pencil drawing

 

Today's prompt in the Sketch a Day app was 'hawk' and as I went looking for a nice reference picture in my 'archive' of nature pictures I found this Sparrowhawk.

I decided to make a drawing on tinted paper using my Drawing Pencils. 

Working with these pencils is nice but it can be difficult to get a sharp point because they are softer than my other pencils. The result is not very detailed but that usually is just how I like it to be.

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.

Dead branch - a pencil drawing

 

The June challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about minimalism and Less is More.

During our walk yesterday I saw a dead tree branch with lots of colours in it but the little orange mushrooms were attracting most of my attention. Of course I made some reference pictures and as we walked on I realised that this was perfect for the challenge.

Drawing the dead wood in only black, white and grey using graphite pencils and giving the mushrooms their own colour would be as minimalistic as I can get.

While I was working on this one I decided that I would not use water on the branch because it did not really need more layers than this first one.

The mushrooms were drawn with a layer of pencil, a droplet of water and more pencil to make them stand out as much 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 artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Muiderslot

 

Today the prompt in the Sketch A Day app is 'slot' and in Dutch that word means lock or castle. I decided to go for a castle.

Several years ago we visited the Muiderslot and I made a picture from an unusual angle, the castle is almost hiding behind vegetation. That picture is still waiting to be painted, but now I have used it for this drawing.

Again I made the drawing with watercolour pencils and used water on the building to awaken the colours. More pencil for depth and some lines with a fine liner for the definition of the towers and to indicate the small windows.

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.

Glade

 

When the prompt in the Sketch a Day app was 'Glade' I first had to look up the meaning of the word. Of course I am never too old to learn and now I really know what a glade is.

So I made a drawing of an imaginary glade, using my watercolour pencils. The grasses and bushes were given a bit of water to awaken the colours and after that more layers of pencil colour for depth.

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.