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.

Two dead trees - a charcoal drawing

 

After having painted and drawn solitary dead trees for several years, this time I have two dead trees that looked like they belong together.

In reality they are standing there together a bit away from a signposted walk in Voornes Duin and it is hard to tell them apart. As we are not allowed to leave the path, I had to make a picture from a distance.

At first I made my drawing of only the left tree, but looking at the result I decided to add the other one for the balance in my composition.

The left tree is stretched out to the left side for at least twice the length that I have depicted in this drawing and I want to make another drawing or painting of the whole tree - or at least as good as I could make my picture. I might want to use my panorama-sized watercolour paper for that and make a painting of these two and the surrounding landscape.

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.

Beach Rockanje - a charcoal drawing

 

A few weeks ago we (my husband and me) went for a walk to the beach of Rockanje and we had foggy, grey weather. I have made a watercolour painting trying to depict that grey atmosphere but did not quite succeed. I wrote about that in this post.

This time I picked my charcoal to try to get that atmosphere. I have used my Willow charcoal and some Tinted Charcoal Pencils to get the atmosphere I wanted, using a different reference picture.

At the 'point' in the landscape some concrete bunkers were made in the dune edge during World War II and these bunkers are now in the sea. That shows how the sea takes from the land over the years.

These bunkers are now used by sea birds as a resting place and we walked as close as we could towards the waterline - it was ebb-tide and the remaining sands were very watery - and I made some reference pictures with my phone. The quality of these pictures is bad for a picture but usable as a reference.

The result is what I hoped for, a grey day at sea.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you ae 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.

'La vie en rose' - for a challenge

 

This month the challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is 'with the wind' and is inspired by the National Windmill days which is usually held in May.

The theme 'With the wind' or 'The wind behind' made me think of windmills of course but also 'La vie en rose' or life in pink (moods).

So I selected a nice pink sheet of tinted cardboard and made a drawing of a modern windmill that does have some wind to make it turn. To show that movement, charcoal is the easiest material and I added some Tinted Charcoal for the landscape.

That landscape is inspired by the memories of our last trip to the Moselle region, where windmills were everywhere on the hilltops.

I did not try to be accurate, the angle between the windmill wings is not exactly what it should be, but the general idea can be understood and that is all that matters.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this drawing and my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Boulder, Sonnenberg - a charcoal drawing

 

During our short vacation in Leiwen, Germany we saw a lot of slate as the hills are mostly made of that kind of stone - which gives great wines - but at some points, during our walks we passed by loose boulders that did stand out in the landscape, even if they were not really big like the one in this drawing.

Not only trees inspire me to paint and draw, boulders, old boundary stones and dolmens inspire me as well. In the past I have drawn and painted dolmens, not so long ago I made a drawing of a nice old carved boundary stone and this time I have made a drawing of a boulder.

Using a tinted paper as my base I had to add white for the highlights where the evening sun hit the boulder. On the light paper that is not really standing out very much, but it is just sufficient to show the lighter spots of the stone.

The result is what I hoped it would be and I am really happy that I took the time to make the reference picture for this drawing (the others were walking on, so I had to hurry to catch up with them)

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing, its availability and my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

'De Moerputten', tree - a drawing

 

During our walk in 'De Moerputten' (The Netherlands) we walked over an abandoned railroad for a while, but of course we also had to return to where we started (and where we parked the car) and that part of the walk went down the slope and over a boardwalk. Where we had to go down this group of trees stood. 

Of course the trees are much taller than on this drawing but the hollow parts, the shapes and colours of the trunks just above the ground interested me the most.

The drawing is made using my Tinted Charcoal pencils - of course I should be using them more often but I can say the same about much more of the drawing materials I have gathered over the years. The colours of these pencils are mostly a bit muted, moody and not fit for every nature scene but this time I decided to give them a try.

The result is what I hoped for because justice is done to the characteristics of these trees that attracted my attention and inspired me.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing, its availability and my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.