First of all: the reference picture for this watercolour was made (for me) by Yvonne Koningen and I am really happy that she allowed me to use it.
In our country it's Autumn and the Von Gimborn Arboretum (Tree Museum) is beautiful now. I have seen some of the pictures that were made there last week and I envy those that go there often.
Most of the red leaves of this tree - I think a maple tree - are still on the branches so it looks like there are large red clouds in the reference picture with some leaf ends pointing out.
I was inspired by the colour of the leaves, almost a fiery red against a grayish background and the dark colour of the branches.
I have tried to paint these 'red clouds' and to create a point of interest with some more detailed leaves. This was a bit of a struggle, because the colour values of the red 'clouds' and the blue background were very close. The groups of leaves really were almost clouds so I had to do something. The solution was easy, the darkness of the branches was strengthened a bit to create the darkest colour of the painting and to create a sense of movement from the bottom left to the top corner right.
It has been a long time since I have painted on a half sheet (most of my paintings since summer were on 1/4 sheet or smaller) and maybe that explains a part of my struggle. The fact that I do not show most details of the leaves now - as I have done in almost every painting I made since last summer - was a change as well.
I write this short after I have finished my watercolour painting and I am still not completely happy with it, it's different from what I had in mind. But I am sure tomorrow it will look better, after I have been away from it for a while.
The details about paper and paint used, availability and contact information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
It is almost a month ago that we were in the 'Von Gimborn Arboretum' for a nice afternoon walking, talking and making photographs.
One of the trees that inspired me to use the camera and make some reference pictures was this one, the Acer palmatum 'Hessei' (I did make a picture of its name tag) with its beautiful red leaves about to unfold. Only one of the pictures was good enough to use for reference and I had to think a lot about my approach of this one.
I have decided to experiment a bit and combine my art materials in a way that is not so familiar for me.
The last few paintings I have used masking fluid and painted in the background without having to hold back for the reservation of my whites - for the flowers of the magnolia of course.
This time I did not use masking fluid, because the removal of the fluid also means the removal of the pencil lines of my drawing. So this time I have painted my background, trying to reserve the areas of the fresh leaves and painted in the leaves after that. there was a second stage for the background around the leaves to fill up any 'gaps' that were inevitable in the first stage.
The background is made to suggest bushes and branches because this tree does not stand on its own in the Tree Museum.
The leaves are not exactly painted as I used watercolour pencils for them. I have been mixing up to five colours for the leaves before adding a shadow colour where that was necessary. The 'final touch' for the leaves was a fine brush point with clear water, to make the colours of the pencils stronger in some areas.
The results of this experiment with my materials is what I hoped it would be and I will certainly use this combination of techniques again in the future.
More information about this watercolour painting (materials used, colour scheme, size, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
There were a lot of trees with flower buds that were not yet opened when we were in the 'Von Gimborn Arboretum' or Tree Museum. One of these was the Prunus serrulata 'Pink Perfection', a tree that has a Dutch name which translates as 'Japanese cherry'.
Of course I have made some reference pictures, only to find that the camera had made all the branches sharp and most of the flower buds a bit blurry.
So I have tried to make the best of it with this watercolour painting.
The background was a tangle of branches with some light spots, some green and some pink spots where more flower buds were. I have tried to paint the branches - not all of them of course - by suggesting most of them and painting some of the ones that were most dominant in my reference pictures.
In fact it was not really possible to see where all the branches were beginning and ending, even if I compared all my references. So I gave up the idea of an exact reproduction of the scene and opted for suggestion.
More information about this watercolour painting (materials used, size, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
During our visit to the 'Von Gimborn Arboretum' I have - as I wrote before - made enough reference pictures of flowers, trees and new leaves to give me a few months worth of painting material.
This time I have painted the fresh green (a bit blueish green) leaves of the Pyrus salicifolia 'Orientalis' , a small tree and its name translates as 'willow- leaved pear tree'.
I chose to make a white-on-black painting this time because this gives me a nice dark background for the bright green of the fresh new leaves. The advantage of this choice is that this background does not ask much attention to be made and cannot be ruined.
I have been able to give all my attention to the leaves, especially because painting on this paper is a bit different from my usual watercolour technique.
Unfortunately I cannot get the picture I have made of my painting to have the right colours, maybe tilting the screen a little can do the trick.
More information (size, colours used, contact information, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
In my previous post I had already promised that I would paint another Star Magnolia after the reference picture I had made in the 'Von Gimborn Arboretum' during our last visit.
One of the flowers in the picture had not opened completely and did really look stunning in front of the dark green background.
I have simplified the background again, in reality there are lots of trees and bushes making this a very crowded scene while I just want to show the beauty of the flower.
In the vicinity of the magnolia trees we had the illusion of snow falling, all the petals of the flowers that had faded were falling around us. I have used some salt in the wet paint of the background to try to recreate that illusion.
In the past I have always said that I am not a flower painter, and I still think so but by now I am learning to paint flowers 'my way' and I really like the results of the last few paintings I have made.
As I have written before, there were a lot of reference pictures made during our visit in the Tree Museum, so there is more to be painted. But I have painted enough Magnolias for now.
More information about this watercolour painting (materials used, size, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
Our visit to the 'Von Gimborn Arboretum' gave me the opportunity to make a lot of reference pictures and I have also made pictures of the name tags of the trees that inspired me.
This is a Magnolia x loebneri 'Raspberry Fun' and we call it a Star magnolia.
At first I have made the picture for the tree's name, as I had painted a magnolia from the area where I live without knowing which tree it was. Looking at the picture I decided to paint the beautiful flowers.
There is only one flower in this painting, so here is my promise: there is another painting planned, but not painted yet.
For this watercolour painting I have really tried to challenge myself by including some of the branches and placing them before a dark background.
The suggestion of a dark bush in the background is usually easy to paint in watercolours, now I had to keep the branches and most of all the flower white. I have used some masking fluid for the flower, but not on all parts, so I really had to be careful here.
Painting a white flower is also not just leaving the paper white, I had to place the shadows very carefully to be able to show the structure of the flower.
I think I have succeeded with this one.
More information about this watercolour painting (materials used, size, contact information, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
Last weekend we visited the 'Von Gimborn Arboretum' or Tree Museum again. We were there four years ago and loved the place very much. my brother invited us for a walk through the tree museum again and we were very happy to go.
As it is springtime now, there are lots and lots of magnolia trees full with flowers, new foliage is growing on the other trees and there are even some blossoms beginning to show.
I have made lots of reference pictures, taking care to make a picture of the 'name tag' of each tree so I can give the name of the tree (most of the times in Latin) when I make a drawing or painting after my reference pictures.
Unfortunately the name of this tree could not be found, but I still wanted a reference for a charcoal drawing.
The tree is very back-lit so there are not much details visible, just some highlights that are green with moss.
For this drawing I have also used some tinted charcoal pencils, to make a difference between the dead tree trunks I often draw and this one, which is still very alive.
The tinted charcoal is only in the highlighted details, so it's hard to see in this small picture.
Unfortunately I did not get the colours right, the paper really is white.
Of course the tree is much taller than this drawing shows, but I liked this composition much better than a whole length portrait.
More information about this drawing (size, colours used, contact information, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
The Von Gimborn Arboretum is located in the middle of The Netherlands and it is really worth visiting, even if you do not intend to paint it.
A collection of trees is always interesting, in springtime it's mostly green.
Lots of shades of green!
And yet there is still space for sunlight coming through the branches, so the ground is already covered with greens in all possible varieties.
Here we found a nice corner, inviting me to paint it. My daughter made me a few reference pictures and here is the result!
More information about this watercolour (size, colours used etc.) can be found at www.jannekesatelier.co.nr
