Pine branch

 

For this year's Christmas card I wanted to paint the end of a branch from a pine tree. During our last walks I made pictures of pine tree branches until I had a reference I really did like.

Today I made the painting also because it did fit to the prompt in the Sketch A Day app.

On a fully dried background I first made a light sketch of the branch and started painting. The branch itself needed most of the colours I used, the needles are only one green colour in more layers with two brush sizes for the texture.

The result is really what I hoped for and my husband - who also has to sign the cards - was equally happy, so the cards are ordered, very in time for the occasion.

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 be found in my Flickr account.

Dolmen, evening mood

 

The prompt in the Sketch A Day app was 'evening' so I planned to make a nice watercolour as it was weekend, so I would have time for a painting.

Of course it had to be a landscape and looking through my reference pictures for a scene that could be changed to an evening mood painting I saw the pictures I made of the Dolmens in North Germany. I decided to use one of these.

Using only the dolmen and the horizon line to begin with I made a nice evening sky and when that had dried I painted the ground and let that dry naturally like I did with the sky.

Then the stones, leaving a small area unpainted for the evening light on the top stones. That small line was filled later with the oranges I have also used for the sky.

The 'to begin with' was in fact enough, the result really pleased me and I decided not to add any other landscape elements like trees or a path.

So this is the result: Dolmen, evening mood.

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.

The Gold-Ass - pencil drawing

 

The September challenge of "Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken" is about 'resounding coins' as it can be translated from Dutch. And that was not inspiring for me at all. After a conversation with my husband about the theme he came up with something good, but again not really something I would love to paint or draw.

And there it was, the little Gold-Ass popping up as a real possibility. The story is about golden coins, dropping down. That makes a sound so it fits the theme - more or less - and this is what I wanted to draw.

Looking for a picture of a donkey I found a nice one that I could adapt to the 'stretching' of the donkey before delivering the coins. The coins are there as well, I used metallic pencils for them.

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 Flickr account.

Pebbles

 

Today the prompt in the Sketch A Day app was Pebble and I had to think of all the instructional videos I have seen about how to paint pebbles using cling film for the shapes.

The technique is simple. Apply colours and lay some cling film over the wet paint. Make shapes in the film and the wet paint will follow the shapes more or less. Let dry completely, remove the cling film and...

Find the stones is the next instruction and that is what I tried to do. Define the shapes of the stones using shadow colours and touches of white.

Because this was the very first time and it had to be ready and uploaded in the app today I used a postcard size watercolour paper.

This was fun! While working I learned about the pigments in the colours I have used and if there will be a next time, I will choose different colours to work with.

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.

Rowan - a watercolour painting

 

After the Conté drawing I had made of the rowan bush I wanted more. 

So I prepared a sheet of watercolour paper with a gold-yellow background and started drawing the composition of my Conté drawing using a brush and paint. For a plant like this, no pencil drawing is really needed (for me) and I loved the small changes this method gave me.

The leaves were painted in the same colour scheme as the Conté drawing: with a dark brown and a red earth colour. 

After cleaning my paint water and returning to my work I decided the berries were not needed here, the branch looks like the birds have already eaten them. The Autumn colours of my palette make that very probable.

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.

Rowan - a Conté drawing

 

Last week my husband and me went for a not so very long walk (because it would be a very hot day) in a forest we never visited before, 'De Krochten' in the province of Noord-Brabant (Netherlands). 

We enjoyed the walk, surrounded by buzzing insects but not in danger of stings and lots of shadow under the trees. Along the path were many rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) bushes and I looked for a nice branch to make a reference picture. I have always liked to draw or paint branches with berries on them.

Today I made a drawing using my Conté Crayons and tinted paper. Of course these are not the natural colours of the plant, but I liked to try a different set of colours. Of course I do not have green Conté Crayons (yet), which urges me to be more creative in finding other colour schemes. After the branch and leaves were drawn I decided on the colour for the berries.

There are more layers in the front leaves and berries, the background leaves have one layer of Conté and the shapes are only indicated.

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.

Kelp forest - for a challenge

 

This month the challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about the world under water. This month I have been on a painting vacation, in my own country, far from the coast and in a time when the rivers are almost too dry for ships to pass. So I had to imagine something.

A kelp forest was my idea but I had to look for (free) references to make my painting. The kelp forest is imaginary - from memories of documentaries - but for the shark I needed a reference.

In this work I also used metallic watercolour paint, for the shark and the top of the leaves where the light strikes them. 

The information about all 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.

Variations on an acorn - a pencil drawing

 

The last half of the last afternoon of my painting vacation was dedicated to something easy as in not a very serious subject compared to what I have done the rest of the week. Of course I made the most of my subject, an acorn found under one of the big oak trees near our residence.

When I did show my plan to our teacher and coach Ad van Aart he said something about going extreme with the subject and that is what I tried to do.

I had brought my whole box of watercolour pencils and I wanted to use them. The green acorn was the first on the paper, using the colours of the subject for my drawing. I also added some water and applied more pencil layers after that had dried for depth in my colours. The shadow is only one pencil layer.

After that I started the bigger drawings, using colours that are also in the first drawing, but not 'as the original is'. Looking at my drawing now, it may show the autumn colours of that acorn if it would have been on the tree for so long.

I am happy to say that I did surprise Ad with my final work, he did not expect me to do something like this. It was fun, making a surprising composition out of a subject that does not look great as first sight.

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. 

Ruins 'Kloster Allerheiligen' - three works

 

Almost ten years ago we visited the 'Kloster Allerheiligen' in Germany and I made some pictures for painting. The works I made were never doing justice to the ruins so I decided to focus on other subjects.

This painting vacation I wanted to revisit these pictures and try to make something better. Of course our teacher and coach Ad van Aart helped me.

At first I made a drawing using pencils and a fine liner (the third work from above) to get the composition right. 

The second work (in the middle) is done with Chunky Charcoal, suggesting the day or the spiritual presence that can be felt in such ruins. I really liked the fact that straight lines are not really possible with this material and I got the feeling/atmosphere I was looking for.

Then came the suggestion to do a night version of this scene. The buildings are to be grey and the sky is to be black. Here I had to find out where the light comes from and create a credible drawing. With this very black charcoal that was a bit of a challenge, a mark made is a mark on the paper that can only be 'erased' with more black around it. 

The results are what I hoped for and maybe I will never do a watercolour painting of ruins like this, because the straight lines that are to be found in architecture - even in ruins - usually make me very unhappy.

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

Stone circle - five works

 

During my painting vacation I was looking for a way to paint/depict the spiritual feeling I can get at certain sites. Our teacher and coach Ad van Aart helped me find my 'voice' in this.

After the cap stone and the dolmen I needed a new subject and I made up a stone circle.  The work at the bottom is a first try on composition. It is not quite finished but the other participants of the painting vacation called this stage interesting so I just left it this way. For the composition I did not need to go further.

The second version is made with willow charcoal to explore the spiritual feeling. Following this version I made one with Chunky Charcoal which is much darker than Willow charcoal.

The watercolour versions are made on panorama size paper, the stones on the left and the light coming from them shining to the right. First only Indigo and a second painting with an earth colour on request of Ad.

The charcoal drawings and the watercolour paintings do show the spiritual feeling I wanted to show in these works. All four are different, but the idea is there. I am really happy with these results.

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

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.

Moselle Valley, walking - a charcoal drawing

 

Last Autumn we revisited the Moselle Valley and made some nice walks. This scene is from the 'Zitronenkrämerkreuz' walk starting in Ensch.

At some point we had to cross a small stream using a bridge that had seen better times. All was safe but we were extra careful.

I made pictures of the stairway/path back up the other bank of the stream to use as references for a drawing or painting.

Today I made that drawing, using Willow Charcoal end some of my Tinted charcoal pencils on a tinted paper.

The result is what I hoped for. Maybe I will use this reference picture another time, but for now I am happy with this 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 Flickr account.

Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) - a pencil drawing

 

These days the bindweed (Calystegia sepium) shows its white flowers everywhere in our neighbourhood and I made some reference pictures for a drawing.

Using my Drawing Pencils I had to find a way to show that the white of the flower is not so very white at all. Using light colours I shaped the flower and added the darker background later.

The colours of the flower are created by the shadows in the petals and the light on them. Not to forget the reflected colours of the grasses around it.

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.

Woodpecker - a pencil drawing

 

Today the prompt in the Sketch a Day app is 'peck' and after looking for some translations of the word I decided to draw a woodpecker. The translations were not inspiring and I am not the only one using a prompt like this.

I have gathered an 'archive' of magazine pages full of nature pictures, so after a search I found a picture of a juvenile great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and used that one for my drawing.

At first I planned to use water soluble pencils, use water on the bird and add more layers of pencil, but changed my plan while working. This is only pencil, no water added. All pencils are water soluble but give enough colour to make a nice woodpecker on this tinted 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 Flickr account.