The first time I was visiting the estate of Castle 'Keukenhof' was at the occasion of a Christmas Fair. That was a nice experience, the estate is a perfect setting for such an event. The tents were - as far as I can remember - the same as we saw during Castle Fest, so the scene I sketched could also have happened in winter.
So I decided to make a winter scene after my sketch, using my Twilight Colours and adding some warm lights to shine from the tents, as an invitation to come and see what is inside.
That is where my title comes from.
This had to be a real winter scene, so there is no foliage on the bushes, snow is falling and the trees are also bare. The path before the tents is trampled already - maybe by the merchants selling their wares inside the tents?
There are no visitors in this painting, not even their shadows.
It is an invitation, so the visitors are yet to come!
More information about this watercolour painting (size, paper and colours used, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
In one of the beautiful lanes on the estate surrounding Castle 'Keukenhof" I stopped to make a quick sketch with the idea to use that scene for a painting. Not all my sketches will become paintings but this one had all I needed to work from.
Of course I changed the colour scheme, in stead of all the green of summer I changed the mood to autumn with the nice golden brown shades a beech tree will have in that time of the year.
Castle Fest is all about Fantasy, Elves, Dragons but also Steampunk, Star Trek and almost everything else you can imagine.
The tents with the merchandise are still there - as if they were never taken down after the festival.
The imaginary side of the festival is what I wanted to show here, that is why the people walking around and looking at the merchandise are only shadows - some of them wearing elaborate costumes, some of them more simply dressed - as if they too never left the estate.
This painting was great to work on. First of all I had to make a plan about how I was going to use my sketch and after that I had to paint of course. I really love this colour scheme for the warm atmosphere it gives and the colours are easy to work with.
More information about this watercolour painting (size, colours used etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
The castle 'Keukenhof' was built in 1642 and was restored several times. The last restoration ended only four years ago and now the building can be visited.
The name 'Keukenhof' means 'kitchen garden' and the surrounding estate was meant to produce the vegetables, fruits, game, eggs and all other things needed to feed the inhabitants of the castle.
The estate is now used for festivals, such as Castle Fest in August and a Christmas Fair in December. The park around the castle building is a nice place to walk and find surprising views.
During Castle Fest there are lots of people on the grounds and it is hard to get a nice picture of the lanes, the fields and the flowers. But I managed to get a spot to draw the castle! Of course this is only part of the building, there were some large trees blocking the view but I don't really mind drawing the castle like this.
More information about this charcoal drawing can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
My daughter and I went to 'Kasteel Keukenhof' to visit Castle Fest. My daughter brought her camera and made several beautiful pictures.
Castle Fest is an event in Fantasy style and many people dress up in wonderful costumes. We did not wear great costumes, as Riska wanted to move freely with her camera and I wanted to make some charcoal drawings.
The event is really nice to visit, not only to look at the people, but also look at everything that is for sale in the fantasy market!
Two or three times we laid down a blanket and i stayed behind to draw and look after all our stuff while Riska went about with her camera.
The first stop was in the walled garden. There were still fruit trees at the walls and they were not totally crowded with photographers and their subjects so I decided to draw these - to get in the mood of the estate.
There really were lots of people and other things to see, so I only made two drawings that day - the second one will be posted also.
More information about this charcoal drawing can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
