Blossom, crab apple (Malus 'Royalty')

 

A lot of relatively small trees are standing in our neighbourhood, in the streets between the buildings a lot of beauty can be found in Spring and Autumn. 

This time I was inspired by a small tree with the blossoms mostly in buds and leaves that were just a little more brown than those flower buds. I made a reference picture for a watercolour painting and today I found the time to paint.

After I had spent a lot of time thinking 'how to do this?' (this is done in the days before I start painting so I already have a plan when I am stretching my paper) I decided on a background with the colours of the tree and the sky behind it. After that had dried, I started drawing leaves and flower buds until I had a nice composition. Changes were still possible and I let that depend on how the painting looked after the leaves and blossoms were painted.

Using a few shades of red, a brown and a blue the initial drawing was filled with colour and after that had been done, I added the suggestion of more foliage in the top part of the painting.

Then I had to find out what kind of tree inspired me to add that to the name of the painting. With help from my husband and Google I found it was a 'Malus 'Royalty'' or a crab apple tree.

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.

This tree is almost in bloom!

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 

Chapel - another springtime fantasy

In the streets close to the one I live in are trees planted next to the footpaths. These small trees blossom in springtime with beautiful flowers that disappear within a week.
Some of the trees have creamy coloured flowers and and one of them has pink flowers.
I have made some reference pictures and combined them for this painting.

The little chapel that attracted my attention last autumn in Germany is my chosen background for this spring scene.

I have created another imaginary landscape with the chapel in it, usually I try to create a landscape that is a good background for the subject of the painting, this time the branch with the blossoms. The subjects are chosen to fit the season, dark clouds and mist for autumn, snowy scenes in winter and flowers or blossoms in springtime. I have to think about summer yet, but no doubt inspiration will come together with the season.

More information about this watercolour painting ant the other 'Chapel' paintings I referred to can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

I have to add a note here: I have found the name of the tree I have painted here during our visit to the Tree Museum. It's a Magnolia Kobus (Latin name).