'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.

Dead tree in 'De Moerputten' (The Netherlands) the watercolour painting

 

After our walk in 'De Moerputten' I made a drawing of this dead tree and I wrote in my post about that tree that I would make a watercolour painting of the tree in the near future.

The tree is now in the landscape as we could see from the abandoned railroad looking towards Vlijmen.

The grasses are called 'blue' as they have a blueish shade of green and they are very important to some rare insects. This is only one of the reasons that this lowland peat area is a Natural Reserve. 

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 original artworks, please contact me.

Dead tree in 'De Moerputten' - a Conté drawing

 

Last weekend we (my husband Peter and me) went for a walk in Natural Reserve 'De Moerputten'. The walk was nice, partly over an old railroad that was made for industrial use, part over a boardwalk in the peat lands below the old railroad. We learned a lot about the history of the area and about the work that is done to preserve the nature.

At one point, on the side of the old railroad, stood a dead tree that just asked for a drawing, so I made a reference picture and a few days later I made this Conté drawing using the colour scheme I selected for dead trees.

Maybe I will make a watercolour painting of this dead tree as well, using the colours of the winter landscape that are in my reference picture.

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 original artwork, please contact me.

Roode Beek (The Netherlands) - Conté drawing

 

Last Autumn we (my husband and me) were in the Natural Reserve 'De Meinweg' in The Netherlands and the signposted walk we were on passed by the 'Roode Beek'. This small river is part of the border between The Netherlands and Germany where we were walking.

The reflection of the trees in the water was nice and after making some reference pictures I was sure I wanted to make a painting or drawing using these references.

For this Conté drawing I did buy a light blue pastel stick first, to add to the shades of grey, black, white and some earth colours I had used before. The blue is a nice one for landscapes, indicating the sky colour or the reflections in the water.

The sky was mostly grey that day but somewhere there must have been a patch of blue between the clouds as it is reflected in the water of the river. The trees, bushes and grasses are drawn in the earth colours that are my usual palette when I work with Conté.

The result of my work is what I had hoped for, the touch of blue helps defining the river.

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

Autumn in the 'Meinweg' (The Netherlands)

 

Last week we had 'autumn vacation', a week free from work and we usually go away for a  short vacation. This time it was a very short vacation due to work in our home (it is beautiful now).

We went to make a walk in National Parc the Meinweg as we have not been there before. The walk was a long one, so we divided it in two parts, one day the shorter part, the next day the long one. The area is beautiful and even though we were warned about the presence of wild boars, we could only find where they had been. We did see and hear more birds than mammals as we were late in the day - around noon or later - and it was suddenly cold weather.

During the walks we made several pictures, some for the album, some only as reference for my paintings.

At one point, we passed by a forest edge behind a meadow and we were looking at it from below some large trees. The Autumn colours in the forest edge were spectacular so I made several pictures for reference.

For this painting I decided on a portrait orientation, just to make a different kins of painting than I have done several times before. This is a way of challenging myself and not painting on routine only.

The painting is what I hoped for, a nice Autumn mood showing the beautiful nature of The Netherlands.

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. If you are interested in my original artwork, please contact me.

Aekingerzand (Netherlands) - dark clouds

 

During our short vacation in the province of Drenthe (The Netherlands) we made walks in our Natural Reserves close to our vacation home. One of those Natural Reserves is the Drents-Friese Wold where we made a nice long walk that passes woodlands, moorland areas and this drifting sand area, the Aekingerzand.

We could not enter the sand area, because it is a resting place for wildlife, protecting bird's nests and other animals. But the views were nice, so we made some pictures. 

Dark clouds were over us in the afternoon - it did not rain when we walked but that started soon after we finished our walk and that inspired me to make the reference pictures for this watercolour. Earlier I have made a charcoal drawing of the moorlands we crossed under these dark clouds and this time I wanted to make a watercolour painting.

The view is from a bench where we had our packed lunch under a nice large tree giving some shadow.

The painting is what I hoped it would be, showing the landscape and the weather of that day in May.

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

Mantingerveld (The Netherlands)

 

In the first weekend of May we (my husband and me) went for a short vacation to the Province of Drenthe (Netherlands) where we stayed in a vacation home and made several signposted walks in our Natural Reserves - there are several protected areas in Drenthe.

Before we arrived in the vacation home, we made a nice walk in the Mantingerveld, an area with lots of juniper trees. During our stay I made a drawing of the berries and when I posted that, I promised - not only to myself - that I would post more works with/about juniper trees.

In this part of the Mantingerveld most of the juniper trees are found, from small to really large, some are bent over and appear to be broken. These trees are alive but had to endure a storm at some moment in their life.

The day was grey, clouded and we had a little rain while we were walking but the moment I made the reference picture for this watercolour that rain seemed far away. The overcast sky means there were as good as no shadows. 

All the juniper trees and juniper bushes and the heath plants were dark, the light green trees and bushes are mostly oak trees or birches in various sizes and ages. The sand path crossed a field with mosses at this point, the walk passed fields like this, forest areas and some fens.

The result of my work is what I hoped for (the picture is not really showing the colours as they are) and 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 original artwork, please contact me.

Aekingerzand

 

Last weekend, during our (very) short trip to the Northern parts of our country, we walked in Natural Reserve 'Het Drents-Friese wold'. We passed by the 'Aekingerzand' and made several pictures. Of course we made a lot of pictures during that walk, but this charcoal drawing is made after a picture made at the moorland bordering the Aekingerzand.

The clouds were getting darker and the moorland is still brown in springtime - not many green leaves yet and the flowers will not be there before August. The horizon had some bushes and a lonely tree. This reference picture just asked for a charcoal drawing, adding a bit more darkness to the landscape to add to the atmosphere.

The drawing was made in our vacation home not long after the reference picture was made and I am really happy with the result.

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

Slope - Kalmthoutse Heide

 

The Natural Reserve 'Kalmthoutse Heide' is not really far from where we (my husband and me) live, it is also a very favourite place to go for a nice walk in nature. The Reserve is situated on the border between The Netherlands and Belgium and most of the times we walk in the Belgian area, but this time we went for a signposted walk in the vicinity of Ossendrecht, The Netherlands. We did this walk before, but that was several years ago and 'wandelpad Haas' did have some surprises. 

The moorland area was closed with electrical fence and in that area were sheep, keeping the moorland as it should be; no grassland or woodland but with lots of heather plants. The walk went around that area, so we could see the sheep at work without disturbing them. There are reference pictures with these sheep, I will use them later for a painting or drawing.

About halfway the signposted walk we were in a relatively high place and we could look down a small slope just towards the next high spot. As the sunlight hit the ground beneath the trees, I made a reference picture - we did have lots of clouds during that walk even some very light rain.

The reference picture was used for this watercolour and of course I simplified the foreground - there were a lot of smaller bushes, some heather and grasses, but I did not want to paint all those details. The background did get some more details, some of the tree trunks on the opposite slope are much lighter in colour than the shadows behind them and I wanted to paint that properly.

The trees were given some extra attention as well, I still want to improve my tree - painting skills. The result is what I hoped it would be.

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.

Forest walk - Kalmthoutse Heide

 

Last weekend we visited the Natural Reserve 'Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide' again and followed the signposted walk 'Bos' (forest), a walk we have not done for years. 

Things have changed along that walk, it is much more interesting now after the forest area has had some maintenance. Trees have been cut - several of these are still on the forest floor providing food and shelter for smaller animals - and more light and bushes are growing now. We enjoyed our walk very much, not only because the trees give shelter from the sunshine and it is always cool in a forest area.

Of course I made several reference pictures, the dead tree trunk has been posted earlier, this time I made a watercolour painting of that nice forest area, with lots of trees and a forest floor with lots of different plants and bushes. A bit of sunlight was also visible in the reference picture and I hope it can also be seen in the painting.

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

In the 'Soester Duinen' - Netherlands

 

A few weeks ago my husband and me went for a very short vacation (one night in a hotel and some nice signposted walks in our great nature) and our first walk was in the Soester Duinen. This landscape was shaped during the last two Ice Ages and has some nice areas of shifting sand - there are not many of these places left in The Netherlands. The word 'duinen' means 'dunes' so the sand is no surprise. The signposted walk was mainly around the large area of sand, we walked in the forest edge looking at the sands, happy that the path under our feet was not shifting.

As we were in the forest edge, we were mainly in the shadow - even though we had a grey day - so the sand was light and the trees before us were back lit by what sunlight did shine that day. Some spots had a nice view with some of the pine trees, the forest ground under these trees and the sand dunes behind that. There always were some more trees visible behind the sand, the 'dunes' are in an oval shape and the opposite forest edge was never far away. 

The area is a popular place among the local people, many dogs were walked, children were playing (it was a school vacation) and we even did see some people with big cameras as there are many forest birds to be heard - and often seen.

Of course some of the pictures I made will be used for a nice landscape painting - and this is the first scene I decided to paint. I have been experimenting with my colour palette and the result is even better than I hoped. This experiment did teach me a lot about the colours I have in my palette, especially about the ones I do not use very often.

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.

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

Peat Moor, Molbergen (Germany)

 

Not far from our vacation home lies the Peat Moor of Molbergen. This used to be exploited, but now it is turned into a Natural Reserve with an educational twist. There is a 'learning path' with information signposted in the first, dry area of the Moor. We walked that path, learned some things we did not know yet and made several (reference) pictures. The area is beautiful and as there were some darker clouds that day, the reflections in the water were inspiring me to paint and draw.

As I did only bring drawing materials and some watercolours for an under painting, I started with a dark greyish blue and made my drawing with charcoal. Pencil was added in the foregrounds where some light coloured grasses were important for the friendly atmosphere of the drawing and in the reeds on the other side of the small peat lake.

The reintroduction of high water levels did cause some trees to die and the remains of those dead trees are reflected in the water which had not even the smallest hint of a ripple that morning.

Even though I have used heavier paper for this drawing, the watercolour under painting is not as nicely graduated as I hoped it would be. As I have used a very dark shade of blue, I could not hide the imperfections of the under painting with the charcoal  - a lesson learned for the next time.

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

Sallandse Heuvelrug

 

At the end of one of our recent walks on the Natural Reserve 'Sallandse Heuvelrug' we saw a path that looked like it was constructed that very same day. Most of the times the paths in our nature have damaged sides, some bits seem to have been 'nibbled off' or bits of soil are on the path. Not to mention the uneven parts where tree roots have lifted the path up a bit.

This path was totally undamaged as far as we could see and that unusual sight was photographed by my husband. Looking at his picture, I decided to use part of it as a reference for a nice autumnal watercolour painting.

The light between the trees in the background was hazy, maybe because there had been rains in the morning and at the moment we walked there we had warm sunshine, so the moist from the morning was evaporating.

I have limited the colour scheme a bit, to match the leaves on the trees with the colours of the forest floor, some nice warm orange-browns and a bit of warm yellow.

The bench was there in the picture and I decided to paint it as well, the composition could do with some horizontal lines. Now the painting is finished I think the bench in that spot adds a touch of mystery. Who or what will come out of the misty forest to look at the resting wanderer?

The information about the paper and paints I have used, the size of this painting and its availability can all be found in the link at the 'Galerie' page of my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Holterberg (Netherlands) - a charcoal drawing

 

When we were making walks the walks during our short stay on the 'Sallandse Heuvelrug' - one of our beautiful Natural Reserves - we did not only make pictures of the mushrooms we found, there were also some landscape pictures, because the landscape really is gorgeous.

One of the walks passed by the Holterberg, not really a mountain, but a hill, like the other hills of this area it was left behind in the landscape after the last Ice Age. In this area the moorland is reconstructed, so trees have been felled, the soil that had become too nutrient-rich is scraped off in order to give the heather plants a chance to grow and prosper again.

The reconstruction was not recent at this particular spot, so there are some trees left and a lot of heather is growing already, but in autumn, after the flowers have gone, these plants are very brown. Next spring there will be fresh green leaves and in the end of summer beautiful purple flowers, but now the plants are not so exciting. 

The structure of the landscape, with hillsides, a road and the trees still did inspire me, so I took a reference picture and the next day I made this drawing.  I was really happy to find out that the people who made the walk with me (my husband, my daughter and her friend) recognised the spot when they saw the drawing.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this charcoal drawing can be found in the link at the 'Galerie' page of my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com

De Biesbosch, winter sun

During our last walk in Natural Reserve 'De Biesbosch' we had a lot of morning fog, but for a few moments the winter sun was strong enough to break through the fog and the clouds. At one of these moments we were close to one of the creeks and of course the sunlight and the clouds were reflected in the water. 

As there was not much colour in the whole scene (except many shades of grey and some green in the fields) I decided to make a charcoal drawing, like I did with the other reference pictures that we made during that walk.

This is one of the first times I tried to make a reflection while working with charcoal and having to think about black and white only makes it easier to place the reflections, but using colours (like in a watercolour painting) helps making the locations of the sun, clouds and their reflections in the scene a bit more obvious. 
I will have to work on that - and I am looking forward to it.

The details about size, paper used, availability etc can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

De Biesbosch, morning mist

The last day of 2019 was a very foggy day. We started in the morning without a view from the windows but that got better in a few hours.
We (my husband and me) decided to go for a short walk in 'De Biesbosch', a Natural Reserve very close to where we live. This is a very wet area, formed during a flood in the year 1421 and the tides can still be experienced here.

We had a lot of mist and a bit of sunshine during our walk and at one point we could see the reeds and the creek close by, but the woodlands behind the reeds were almost the same shade of grey as the foggy sky. 
There was no wind, so the water in the creek was completely still and everything was reflected as clearly as possible on such a foggy day. 
Of course some reference pictures were made!

I decided to make a charcoal drawing of this scene, the shades of grey were inviting me to choose that technique. 
There was another reason for charcoal, making a charcoal drawing is faster than watercolour, and I did not have the time to prepare a sheet of paper and paint a watercolour painting. That is for the weekend, as my days off from work are over.

The details about the paper I used, the size, availability and contact information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Through the Archway

There are lots and lots of challenges for paintings and drawings each month and to most of them I do not respond. Some just don't inspire me at all and I simply do not have enough painting time to respond to all the challenges that might be good to try because I will be learning something new while painting.
This painting is a response to the May challenge of one of the Watercolour groups I have joined on Facebook; 'Through the Archway'.
The pictures that are given for inspiration are mostly architecture and one beautiful forest scene. I have waited to paint this, because I did not have much time until now.

The reference picture was made by me or my husband during a short vacation a few years ago and I still had kept it for later use. This is a perfect 'through the archway' with all the tall trees and the branches hanging over the path.
As this is an autumn scene, the trees have lost most of their leaves and the colours that are left are shades of yellow and orange. The forest floor was remarkably green with grasses, I remember there was a lot of wind at times to blow away the fallen leaves.

Painting this scene was not difficult for me, I only had to remember to paint the trees behind some of the bushes. That means not painting the trees first, but adding the dark browns of the tree trunks after I had given the bushes their green, yellow and orange colours.

More information about this painting (paper and paint used, size, availability, contact information, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

On the banks of the lake - Oisterwijk

A few weeks ago, during a nice warm sunny day, my husband Peter and me went for some signposted walks in our beautiful nature. 
The first stop we made was in Oisterwijk, at the Information Centre of the Natural Reserve which is the beginning point of several nice signposted walks.

This time we chose a walk of 3,5 kilometres passing by three fens or forest lakes. The biggest of these three is called 'Kolkven' and on the banks of that fen we made some pictures.
The sun was shining brightly and some of the pictures were very back lit, some other had the 'flare' that often appears on pictures when the sun is reflected in the water.

The sun is just left of the camera on the reference picture for this painting, but I had to 'correct' for the flares and reflections of the sun. In other words, I used my artistic licence here to paint the sky and its reflection in the water of the 'Kolkven'.

The seed fluff of the reeds did stand out nicely against the background of the distant trees and their reflection in the water, the reeds themselves were partly back lit but the light colours were showing at the edges of the plants.
The few reeds growing higher than the rest of the plant and appearing above the background trees completed the composition.

As this is the end of winter, there are mostly dark colours in the vegetation, with the exception of the yellows of the reeds and the light colours of the seed fluff.

More information about this watercolour (size, materials used, availability, contact information, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Tree trunk on the estate 'Huis ter Heide' - charcoal drawing

Last week we had a few days of really nice, warm weather and my husband and me also had some days free from work. So we enjoyed a wonderful day outdoors, walking in our beautiful nature. We revisited the Estate 'Huis ter Heide' and made another signposted walk. The landscape varied from fields to woodland and a bit of moorland, all during a walk of 6 kilometres.
Now it is the end of winter and after those warm days there is a little beginning of spring, but almost all the trees were still bare and there were as good as no flowers. We did see an early butterfly and heard lots of birds singing.

Amongst the reference pictures we made that day are a few of this dead tree trunk, beautifully lighted by the sun. Of course this one inspired me and I have made a charcoal drawing as soon as possible.

These last weeks we have been at work in our home, so I have been painting walls, doors and the sides of the stairs, they all needed some attention after all those years we are living in this house. 
That is the reason why I have not been doing much watercolours or drawings and after all those weeks I really wanted to go back to my studio for some artwork.

In a previous post I have written about the policy of our Nature Preserve association to let dead trees stand where they are, so I will not explain that again in this post.

This tree looked almost white with some dark shadows and crevices so I had something nice to draw. As it stands in the middle of some undergrowth I had some trouble to make my reference pictures and of course I had to include that in my drawing.

This drawing is what I thought it would be so I am really happy with the result.

More information (size, availability, contact information, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

After the storm

A walk in Natural Reserve 'De Biesbosch', close to my home is always nice. This time we  saw this broken tree trunk, a left-over after a storm.
I used the pictures we made for a watercolour painting, concentrating on atmosphere, following the advice that was given to me during my painting vacation.

I have painted most of this painting in the wet-in-wet technique, layering paint to make the shadows deeper. The trees in the background are only suggested now and the field has only a few shadows to suggest different grasses.
The broken tree is the last thing I have painted, taking care to suggest (not to show) most of the details.

All of this looks easier than it is, layering dark colours is something that needs to be done with great care; a bit too much water in the brush and all previous layers will disappear.
The structures in the trees and bushes were shaped by paint and water, a result that cannot be reproduced. 
It really is an exciting experience when this happens the 'right' way. 

The next weeks, months, years I will practise this technique as much as possible, mostly because I do love the paintings I get in this way.

More information about this watercolour painting (materials used, size, availability, contact information, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com