Tree (trunk) - Conté drawing

 

A month ago Springtime was just beginning in The Netherlands and we made a nice signposted walk in the 'Rucphense Bossen' a natural reserve not too far from our home. We have walked there before and we have seen all the signposted walks at least one time and many of the walks twice or more. Returning in a different season really makes us look at the landscape with renewed attention.

This time I saw some tree trunks, starting to grow new branches and showing that cutting a tree does not have to mean that it dies. These were growing into bushes but as spring was just beginning, there were not many leaves yet.

Of course I made some reference pictures with the intention to make a Conté drawing, using only three crayons and the naturel paper I have since my last birthday. (thanks again to my brother and sister-in-law for that paper) 

The tree is still very alive so my choice of paper is 'naturel' and the crayons have shades of brown and white. Compared to this, dead trees are portrayed on grey paper using black, grey and white crayons. 

I am building a nice set of Conté drawings these past months and I really like working like this. Scrubbing my fingers afterwards is the only 'not so great' thing about this technique.

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

A walk in the woodlands near Rucphen (Netherlands)

 

Last week the weather was great for a walk in our beautiful nature so we went to the woodlands of Rucphen and made a signposted walk, passing by the woodlands, the moorland and some small fields with flowers and grasses. 

Of course we enjoyed our walk and made several (reference) pictures. The sunlit fields were looking great so I decided to make a watercolour painting using one of my reference pictures. We were standing under some large trees and the overhanging foliage is really important for the composition. I know that because that is what I painted last and I have seen the painting without that foliage. The small bush on the right and the one on the foreground are equally important to 'frame' the scene.

The colours of the grasses are a nice challenge and I think I got them right. The pale, almost white stems and the pinkish shade of the grains are not in my palette, so I had to mix something. The result looks like summer and that is what I wanted, so I am happy with it.

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.