Wadden Sea, Norddeich

 

In the last week of December we were for a short vacation in Norden and Norddeich. We did have fog the first days, but our last day had clear weather. Lots of clouds and a very cold wind, but we could see much more of the town and the sea so we went for a walk twice that day.

In the morning we had high tide and the water was covering most of the sandbanks that can be used to cross the Wadden Sea at low tide. Of course you still need a guide when you wish to walk on the sand banks, but it should be possible.

During the morning we walked along the dyke from the 'dog beach' towards the harbour of Norddeich and back and during thar walk I made some pictures of the clouds and the sea.

The reference picture for this painting also shows the sand close to the dyke that was not submerged by the high tide - I made the reference picture just because of that. The dyke is so very straight and man-made that it was a nice change to see these sand banks with their irregular shapes.

The painting does not show all the people walking and enjoying the fresh air, but only the sea, the sands and part of the dyke with the 'dog beach'. We were standing on a higher dyke when I made the reference picture without many other walkers near and that feeling of being almost alone looking at the beauty of nature is what I wanted to paint. I think I succeeded and I am happy with the result.

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.

The Wadden Sea - winter on Texel

One of the drawings I have made during our short stay at Texel was not showing the 'drama' I wanted to show, maybe because the pencils I used were not the right ones for that effect. Besides, I was not really happy with the dyke in the picture. Of course it was there and I used it in the drawing, but it looked too unnatural for the scene.

I decided to make a watercolour painting, using the same reference but now changing the dyke for the dunes that were on the other side (when making this picture I had my back to the dunes). 
The ice had covered much of the sands of the 'Wadden Sea' here, but in many places the sands could be seen above the ice. On the horizon the North Sea is visible, just a small line.
The dark shapes are pieces of wood, possibly remains of poles standing in the sandbanks.
This is what made me take a reference picture.

Using watercolour I was able to make the wooden shapes as dark as they were, a nice contrast against the lighter colours of the ice.
This is what I wanted, so I am happy with this painting.

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

Texel in winter: the beach of the Wadden Sea near the lighthouse - charcoal

Because of the very cold weather we have spent a lot more time inside the hotel than we usually do during our short vacation on Texel. The third day we were on the island we tried a walk in the eastern part, but returned to the car because of the cold wind.
In a restaurant we had some coffee and lunch and I asked the waitress where we could see the dry 'wadden' along the coastline. It was low tide so the time had to be right for that view.
We were directed to the lighthouse, in the northern parts of the island so there we went. 
Hopping in and out of the car to make pictures and getting warm again was the only way to get some views and reference pictures for future artwork. 
At some points we were able to cross the dunes or the dyke and go down to the beach. This is one of those places, very close to the ferry to Vlieland, the next Wadden Island.

The wooden structures inspired me to make a charcoal drawing. 
What the purpose of the structures is, we do not know, but they make a great subject for a drawing.
The sandy beach on the foreground probably is always accessible, further away are layers of ice on the Wadden Sea and maybe some of the sandbanks that fall dry during low tide. The background is open sea.

We have made several pictures during our short stay on Texel, so I do have references to make more drawings and watercolour paintings. I am looking forward to that!

More information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Impressions of "Winter on Texel"

Last week we had booked a nice hotel on our largest Wadden Island, Texel for a few days vacation. Because hotel rooms are not meant to be transformed into a painting studio, I only packed my drawing materials.
The weather turned out to be very very cold, so we did not walk outdoors as much as we usually do when on vacation.
This scene is very close to the hotel, we only had to walk over the dunes to find the North Sea coast. Sunset was to be in an hour but it was too cold, the wind was too strong to wait for it. I made some reference pictures and later in the evening I tried a graphite pencil drawing. I am not unhappy with the result - for a first try.

The second day of our vacation was still very cold with a very strong wind from the East. As we were at the western coast of the island, walking in the dunes, it was possible to make a walk of about 7 km. We did not stop long to make pictures and did not stop at all to eat our lunch (we ate that in the car, after the walk) and returned to the hotel early in the afternoon. 
This is from memory, as it was too cold to take off my gloves to hold the camera at this point. The dunes of "De Muy" - a bird protection area - were looking very unforgiving, possibly because of the winter season. I used my Tinted Charcoal pencils here on watercolour paper, as an experiment. 

The third day of our vacation we went looking for the dry sandbanks of the Wadden Sea. The most northern part of Texel is where we had to be to have a chance to see what I wanted to see. We were warned not to go walking on the dry sand because at that point it is quicksand and very dangerous. The "wad" was covered with a layer of ice,but we did see some sandbanks. Sheltered by the dunes and dykes I made some reference pictures at different places close by the lighthouse of Texel, where we had access to the shoreline.
We returned to the warmth of the hotel early in the afternoon again and I made a second graphite drawing.

These three drawings were meant to become accustomed to my pencils and to explore the possibilities they give me. 

More information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com