Snowdrops - a drawing

 

In my front garden are snowdrops, in fact two different types of them. These are the first to have flowers and I made a reference picture for this drawing.

Last time I went to my favourite Art Supply store I bought a set of 'try out' papers with different colours and different textures in a small size.

On one of those postcard size sheets I made this drawing, testing the colours on the tinted background.

The Graphitint pencils show 'different' colours when treated with water so I also tested that. After I had applied water and let it dry I added a second layer of the white pencil to deepen the colour a bit.

This was a nice experience, having these small size sheets of paper make it easy to test materials, colours etc with a simple subject - like these snowdrops.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing, its availability and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Calla - in my garden

 

A few years ago I bought a Calla plant for my mother, for inside her home. Unfortunately I had forgotten that this plant is not healthy for her cat, so it moved to my home and after the flower died, it moved to my garden.  Every year the leaves emerged and died again in winter but it took all these years for the plant to bloom again. Of course we made several pictures and one of the pictures my husband made is the reference for this watercolour painting.

For this painting I selected a small sheet of paper, only one flower that is my subject, so that does not need a big sheet of paper. Especially not in this moist summer heat, when the paper does not dry as quickly as I would like it to. A large size painting would have been more of a struggle than a nice, calming afternoon in my studio.

The result is what I hoped it would be and the information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Tulips - watersoluble graphite drawing

 

After my birthday (about a month ago) I have got some new art materials. New paper and new 'toys'. The Portuguese water soluble graphite in the shape of a tailor's chalk works - like a tailor's chalk, and I already am used to working with those. Because it is water soluble it's also easy to wash off my hands - just water and soap, no scrubbing needed.

Some of the tulips from my own garden were used as my references and I used the 'chalks' first dry on dry paper, later I added some water and was surprised by the bright colours that appeared. The surprise was positive and I really am happy that I have these 'chalks'.

This surface can be used again for new layers of the graphite as easily as it was to draw the first layer. I have been building the layers using the dry 'chalk' and adding water where I wanted it until I was happy with the results. 

The composition is a bit intuitive, I started with one flower and added more flowers, buds, stems and in the end leaves to make a nice looking drawing. The green of the stems and leaves is added using a Graphitint pencil, I have got only two 'chalks' to start with, but I am planning to get some more. As both the pencils and the chalks are water soluble graphite, I have used both for this drawing. Both products have a limited colour chart, so I used them to complement each other.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

In the middle of the winter night - white on black

 

The December challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' our regional Amateur Art association has the title of a Christmas song: In the middle of the winter night.

This does not mean we have to create a Christmas painting, lots of things happen in winter nights so we are free to find our inspiration where we like it. My husband Peter has made some nice snow pictures several years ago in our own garden. In the night and the snow does really suggest winter.

So using these pictures as my references I decided to make a 'white on black' painting, using white Gouache and some watercolour paints to create the image. 

As I have described before, the black cardboard is really heavy compared to my usual watercolour paper and of course it does react differently to paint and water. The challenge of that is a nice one as I have experienced it many times before. Lots of layers of white paint are needed to get the snow covering the bird feeder and the snow on the ground, but the change is fun and welcome.

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

If you are interested in my work, please do contact me.