Autumn in the foreground

 

For this month's challenge I had to paint for the theme "My little sister can do that too" so there was a bit of thinking before I could even find any inspiration. The theme is the same as this year's School Art Project of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' and we have to try to paint like little children. Not an easy task...

Looking back to my painting vacation I decided to make an abstract background with poured watercolour, using two shades of blue. It took some time to dry, this time I made my background indoors and with lower temperatures. I have also chosen to use a different quality of paper, adding another uncertain factor to the experiment.

During a short walk I picked up two autumn leaves in different sizes and I drew their outlines with pencil on the dried background. Using some autumn colours I painted the leaves, letting the colours mix on the paper. The blues of the background also mixed with the colours of the leaves. On this paper that happened easier than on the cotton paper I used last summer. 

After this had dried (with a little help from my hair dryer) I added another layer of leaves, outlining them with a pencil and filling the shapes with two shades of Graphitint pencils.

If I had a little sister, she probably could do this too, but I am not certain if I have painted like a child. I did have fun though, maybe that counts as well.

The painting was not really planned in advance, I started with the blue poured paints and the leaf shapes, placing the leaves on the surface and creating the final composition happened while working. The pencil layer was added to cover the white of the paper without adding more colour that would have been 'too much' and ruining the nice composition of the painted leaves.

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

Trees in the foreground - 2

 

After the first abstract background with trees in the foreground I wanted to make a second abstract background with something in the foreground. So I selected another set of colours, preparing and pouring them in the same way as I did with my first painting in this technique.

Again it took several hours to dry and in this case I had to wait until the next morning before I could continue with the foreground. I had not decided yet, after a short conversation with our teacher Ad van Aart it was decided that I would paint trees again, but with a different contrasting colour and different shapes. The amount of trees has changed as well.

With this painting I have also suggested some depth in the tree line. The trees that are really in front of everything have at least three layers of paint, so the background colours are almost covered. The chosen contrasting colour for the trees is a little opaque and I have used this quality as good as possible. 

The result is different from the first painting, but that was intended and I am happy with both experiments. I have learned a lot from these paintings and I will surely use the lessons learned in the future.

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

Trees in the foreground - 1

 

During my painting vacation I wanted to improve my skills and confidence in working on an abstract background. Our teacher Ad van Aart  showed me some abstract art made by various artists for inspiration and guidance.

For this background I mixed watercolour paint from the tube with a very small amount of water and poured that on my stretched (and dried) paper. I moved the paper a little bit, but the white in between the coloured spots had to stay. After my first layer had dried, I added another colour and let that dry completely. 

This takes time and patience. 

We had a nice day and I used the warmth of the sun to dry my paper, but it took several hours. I decided to continue after some hours and have a very relaxed morning.

Before starting to paint, I gave the edges of the paper a little bit of the last colour I poured on using my usual watercolour technique. This dried quickly.

Inspired by a line of trees close by I painted the trees in the foreground with a contrasting colour. There is some depth in the tree line but these trees are to be as abstract as I could get them without losing the characteristics of the trees.

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