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.

The path - a charcoal drawing

 

In the Sketch A Day app we can see the prompt and some inspirational images connected to the prompt for the next day, maybe to get inspiration overnight or to work in advance to post as early as possible. Most of the times I just try to find inspiration for an original approach  but this time I started my drawing in advance.

I have drawn an uneven, ragged wooden path over a marshy area in the landscape. The poles that keep the path high and dry can also be seen in the distance where the path curves to the right.

Where this path is bringing the walker is meant to be a mystery.

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.

Church Door - charcoal drawing

 

During our short stay in the Val-Joly region we also passed through the small town of Eppe-Sauvage. 

At that moment there was not much to do but we did want to see the 16th century Church. Unfortunately the church was closed and we walked around it. The main door in the front did attract my attention and I made a picture of it, to make a drawing later.

Later is today and I decided to use the Chunky Charcoal I was introduced to during my latest painting week.

With such a big chunky stick it is not the easiest task to get all lines in the correct place and I did not get an exact copy of the reference picture, but the result is better than I thought it could be.

While making the outlines of the doors I had wiped the charcoal down to suggest the plank doors and I planned to work on that a bit more. 

The door frame and the lower part of the wall that were made of a light natural stone became darker and darker as I had to correct the lines I had drawn initially. The upper part of the wall was made of red bricks and the darkest part of the composition. After some work on walls and steps I was happy how I suggested the different materials.

Before I got to this point I decided that the doors did not need extra work at all. The way I wiped down the charcoal from the top of the door post had a nice mysterious result that I like much better than the original plan.

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.

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.