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.

Two dead trees - a monochromatic watercolour

 

In my previous post I have written about these two dead trees, that we saw them last winter in Voornes Duin, a beautiful Nature Reserve at our coastline and that I intended to make more than one work inspired by the sight of these trees.

Here is the watercolour, a monochromatic painting using only Sepia on a panorama sized paper to show more of the left tree than is possible on a 'normal' size paper.

This time I have only painted the dune valley the trees were in and the trees themselves. There is no background for the reason that I wanted to focus on the trees this time. The ground they are standing on and resting on is important to understand what I have been painting.

This is not the last work inspired by these two dead trees. I intend to experiment a bit with colours, just see my next post.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in  my original artworks - 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.

Between ebb and flow - Hoek van Holland

 

Now my painting vacation is over, the August challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' needs my attention.

The challenge is about the sea, 'between ebb and flow' and I just had the right reference picture for that challenge. My husband Peter made it a few years ago in the hour of sunset at the Pier of Hoek van Holland when some huge container ships were coming into the Port of Rotterdam.

Coming in or leaving the port is always between ebb and flow, ships must make sure they don't miss the tide and that is why I thought of this reference picture when I found out the theme of this month's challenge.

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

The ladder

 

During my painting vacation our teacher and coach Ad van Aart gave me the challenge to add something unexpected to my landscapes. That started a lot of thinking, some crazy ideas and of course it resulted in some paintings.

The idea of adding a ladder to a landscape was suggested to me and after I accepted the idea, we went through my reference pictures to find a 'matching' landscape. This very empty looking landscape with a single sunlit (winter) tree at the side of a path was perfect. The original landscape is in The Netherlands, close to the town of Deventer and because of the emptiness I never really used the picture as a reference before.

First I made some thumbnail sketches to find the right ladder in the right position for the best result and after that I started painting. The colour of the ladder was decided after the landscape was finished, it had to stand out but not too much.

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

Water tower at the 'Spoorwegmuseum' - Conté drawing

 

This week we went to visit the 'Spoorwegmuseum' in the town of Utrecht and we were in the company of the grandchildren, their parents (of course!) and two guest children from France. The museum has many locomotives, trains, wagons and other material that has once moved over the rails in The Netherlands. 

Besides these there are also lots of information and modern trains - as a model - a simulator, some old rails and a workplace from the steam age.

That workplace shows the building as it was - we cannot really enter it, but we can look - and part of that is this old rusty water tower that inspired me to make this drawing.

This time I have also used Conté pencils, both for the colours and for the lines.

Because I was relatively far away from my subject when I made my reference picture, the building is not as detailed as it might be but as the water tower is my subject that does not really matter to me. Now the building is clearly the structure that has the tower on its roof.

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

Sunset

 

A few months ago my daughter Riska sent me a picture of a sunset (I think it is a sunset and I think it is in The Netherlands) to enjoy and maybe for inspiration. Of course I wanted to paint it, but having been busy with other things it has been postponed until now.

As this is a cityscape it was a bit of a challenge. Usually I just like to suggest the architecture by the outlines and the main colours of the buildings. The horizon was mostly in backlight so only I had to suggest on that part, but the buildings on the right had some of the sunlight, there I had to do more details - but not too many as the buildings are not my subject.

The yellow shades of the sunlight are painted with some nice warm colours - not too warm because it is Autumn and the reflection in the water was really nice to work on.

Even though there were some challenges in this painting, the result is what I hoped for.

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.

Along the railroad (Mattemburgh, Netherlands)

 

A few months ago, at the end of Summer, we (my husband and me) made a walk starting at 'Landgoed Mattemburgh' which took us through the surrounding landscape with fields, mudflats, the view of Bergen op Zoom (a town in The Netherlands) and a railroad.

The walk was nice with all those differences and I made several reference pictures for later use. This one is along the railroad, very close to a point where we had to cross it again - very safe crossings of course - looking back to where we came from.

I thought this scene could be ideal to try the panorama-shaped paper I bought  last summer so I selected a nice part of the reference picture and started painting. In fact I did not find much difficulties painting this one, I only had to get used to the size of the paper.

The painting is what I hoped it would be and I really am looking forward to other paintings on this paper. The size of the paper does set some limits to the composition, but I really like these little challenges because they make me grow as a painter.

The information about the materials I 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 artworks, 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.

Spring fantasy, Herikerberg (Netherlands)

 

A few months ago, at the end of winter or the beginning of spring we were for a very short vacation near the Herikerberg, a beautiful area in the eastern part of The Netherlands. The reference pictures we made show that end of winter mood, grey and brown are the dominant colours. Of course there is beauty in that season, but I wanted to paint springtime.

So I selected one of my pictures and turned that into springtime - or what I hope it will look like in springtime. More green on the forest floor, light green on the branches and a nice blue sky with some clouds.

The picture had a forest edge on the right side of the path, a field of moorland behind the trees on the left side of the path and a line of trees at the horizon. All of this is made more green and fresh than it was a few months ago, I even thought of some yellow flowers on the forest floor.

This was a nice painting to make, I started drawing the path and the trees and did not return to the reference picture after that. The colours of spring and even the shadows of the trees are my own imagination.

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 artworks, please contact me.

Near the 'Herikerberg' (The Netherlands)

 

This week my husband and me went for a short stay in the Eastern part of our country, close to the border with Germany. We made a nice walk over the 'Herikerberg' near Markelo (Netherlands) and made several (reference) pictures. For the reference picture of this watercolour I was seconds too late at every attempt, the sun just came through the clouds and disappeared again very quickly. So the light spot in the clouds is from my memory.

In fact I looked at the reference only briefly, mostly for the structure of the larch trees in the foreground. The placement of the branches and twigs  is different from any other tree. The larch trees lose their needles in autumn, so the branches were bare.

As it had rained the day before our walk, the trees were very dark and the fact that they were back-lit added to that dark brown colour. The rain had also left a lot of water, there was a light fog under the trees that would lift later that day.

The result of my painting is what I had hoped for, an atmospheric view of some woodlands in our country after a rainy day.

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

Winter in the polder

 

This week we had snow, temperatures below freezing point and great views! Driving was not too tricky so when I had to go to one of my children I drove through the polder of the Alblasserwaard (Netherlands) instead of taking the highway. In fact I prefer that route always, driving is more relaxed and it is a shortcut.

Of course I had to drive, but I could also enjoy the views of the snow on the fields and I decided I wanted to paint that. This painting is an imaginary landscape, I did not stop for a reference picture. The few parking places along that route do not have the nicest views.

A polder landscape always has some ditches, pollard willows - most of them are smaller than I am except for the branches - a line of trees and bushes on the horizon. When you look in the right direction there is a chance of a village with a church and don't forget the reeds beside the ditches.

So I arranged all these elements under a blue sky with some clouds looking for balance in the composition and I painted the landscape using the colours I remembered, dark brown for the trees, white and a nice grey for the clouds, blue sky and a brownish yellow for the reeds.

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 artworks, please contact me.

Near Vaals (Netherlands) - Winter fantasy

 

A few months ago we were on a short vacation in Vaals, where we made some nice signposted walks. 

The landscape with the highest hills in The Netherlands is picturesque for us (living in a very flat 'polder' landscape) so we made (reference) pictures of those hills and nice views. One of these pictures, made in a lush and green landscape, is now used for this winter fantasy.

Of course I only used the view over the hills and transformed the green of the grass to a white snowy landscape. The trees nearby and the bushes are for another kind of painting.

For this painting I selected a rough structured paper which makes the soft colour transitions you see in the painting very easy as it stays moist a little longer without being really soaking wet. Details are a bit more tricky, not only because of the water holding capacities of the paper but also because of the structure. But as I did not want details, but a nice Winter mood, this was not a problem at all.

The results are even better than I hoped for, maybe because I stopped early so I could not overwork this one.

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

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

Hills - landscape

 

During our short vacation in Vaals (The Netherlands) we made a few signposted walks, enjoying the weather, the hills, the views and the woodland areas we were walking through. Several pictures were made of the nice landscape and I intend to use some of them as reference for watercolour paintings. 

This is the first scene I painted and though the landscape was green under a blue sky, I adapted it to another colour scheme. Sometimes I just don't want to paint another blue and green landscape.

My limited palette has a yellow, two browns and a blue for making the grey-ish shades by mixing it with the brown ones.

This is one of those paintings that are started with a reference picture that is really good, but before all the trees or other elements are added, the painting already looks great, so  I decide to stop. 

I really don't think this painting would improve with foreground trees, it's all about atmosphere. 

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 artworks, please contact me.

Broadleaf Cattail (Typha latifolia) - pencil drawing

 

Our usual walk to the small park area close to our home and back passes by several ditches and small canals because we live in a very wet part of the country. This time of the year the reed plants are much higher than we are and we can also see these 'cigars' in between the greens. We always thought these were reed 'fruits' but when I looked for the English name I found out that these are not reeds at all, but something very different, the broadleaf cattail. Never too old to learn...

When we passed by these plants, I wanted to make a drawing, so some reference pictures were made, I thought about composition, materials and the best time to make the drawing for some time and I made the drawing.

I wanted to use the paper my daughter gave me for my last birthday as the shade of the paper is almost that of the reeds that were also in that patch of water-plants. Using my Graphitint pencils I started drawing and made up the best composition while working. The 'cigars' were the most important parts of the drawing, the leaves thar were the closest to them were also drawn in almost as they are in the reference picture and the other leaves are added where the drawing needed them.

The 'cigars' were given some extra emphasis with a little drop of water to 'wake' the colours of the pencils. 

Making a good picture of the finished drawing was the biggest challenge of all. Either I could see the light on top of the drawing or I lost the colour of the paper completely. Finally I went outside in the shadows and made this picture, not great, but the best I could do. I do refuse to install a professional photo studio in my home (where do I get the money to buy the stuff in the first place) to make pictures of my paintings and drawings when making the paintings and drawings is where my heart is.

The drawing is what I hoped it would be, so the result makes me want to draw more - and more.

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

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

Delft - Market place

 

Due to the Vermeer exhibition in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam there is another Vermeer-themed exhibition in Delft. This one is very interesting as it gives the background information about Delft in Vermeer's time. 

After we had visited the museum, we walked through Delft and had a drink (tea and coffee) on the Market place with a view on the 'Nieuwe Kerk', another church (Maria van Jesse kerk) and some of the restaurants that are there. And trees!

The trees were just getting their foliage, so the colours were between a reddish brown, yellow and green and I really like the time of the year when trees are not only green. Making reference pictures was done quickly (the tea was still hot) but then...

Painting a lot of architecture makes me unhappy, I never can get all those straight lines as they ought to be in a painting - which is not as straight as they are in the reference picture.

So I made a pencil drawing of the buildings, added sky, foreground and trees with watercolour and used two line markers to re-draw the buildings, going over the pencil lines in many places and adding some shadows where the painting needed it. Using line markers on watercolour paper does not result in very straight lines, so this is what I wanted to do.

The result is even better than I hoped for, so I hope that now I have found 'my way' of dealing with architecture in a watercolour painting.

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

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

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.

Portrait of a wave

 

Yesterday, New Year's Day, my husband and me went to the beach, for a good portion of sea air after having been indoors for several days (for various reasons, like celebrating birthdays and other nice things) and of course I made pictures of the waves rolling in.

As the North Sea is not a deep sea, the waves are not very big, but for us a wave is a wave. The colour of the water also shows that the sea is not deep, there is always an amount of sand or sediment in the water. This time we had a very grey day, not even the illusion of clouds in the sky so the sea was dark and grey as well.

Painting waves is a challenge for me, I still feel the need to improve my skills. For this painting I made a light pencil drawing and did not use any masking fluid, so the whites of the foam are areas I painted around. This time I did not lose many whites, so I think (hope) I am getting better at this. Just after I finished it did feel a little artificial to me, but after having done something else, that also started to look better. Nor perfect yet, but a credible  wave in the North Sea.

As it was a dark and grey day, my colour palette is very limited, I only added a second blue for the green shade of the wave in the middle.

The result is what I hoped for, and I know I will have to practise this again and again... (not a bad thing to look forward to)

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.

Sunset in Hoek van Holland (Netherlands)

 

Summer is the time to go to the beach and when the weather is good, it is nice to stay until sunset (or later) and drive back home in times of 'not much traffic on the road'. My husband took our two young guests to the beach of Hoek van Holland and made me some reference pictures of the sunset while the young ones were enjoying themselves with beach things.

The reference picture only had shades of yellow, gold, orange and brown so I wanted to make a painting using only those colours. The result is a nice sunset scene with colours that are not often seen in The Netherlands - usually there is some grey or blue visible in the sky and sea.

As this was in Hoek van Holland, the Pier and the radar post at the end of the Pier are also included and far away there is a large ship, barely visible.

Painting a realistic seascape using this limited palette was new for me, but I am really pleased with the result.

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.

Small mushroom in summer - a pencil drawing

 

During our latest walk in the forests near Rucphen (Netherlands) we noticed a small brown mushroom and of course I made some reference pictures. The little brown mushroom was standing on the dry forest floor, between pine needles, broken branches and old mosses. Some fallen leaves were there as well, they did give some colour to the forest floor at that spot.

The single mushroom was a bit too small for a watercolour painting, so I took my pencils and made a drawing on a small size sheet of paper.

For my birthday I was given a full box (a beautiful wooden box) with all 72 colours of the watercolour pencils I usually use for my drawings and I enjoyed the new colours I could use now. 

Again I have not used any water to bring out the watercolour qualities of my pencils because I love the way my paper still shows in the areas where I have not applied many layers of pencil. The hood and stem of the mushroom are saturated with colour, mixing my colours on the paper to get the result I am after.

Buying another set of pencils just for dry drawing seems to me a waste of money and materials, I know exactly what I can do with these pencils and I like the results I get. As an extra I can also use them wet if the drawing I am working on needs it.

The type of mushroom is unknown to me and determination is difficult (I tried and failed), so it's just a small mushroom this 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.