Some weeks ago we were walking in our beautiful nature and I saw these catkins almost hanging over the path. Of course some reference pictures were made and I started thinking about the painting I wanted to make.
For this painting I have used some Masking Fluid to preserve the white colour of the catkins and again I needed the help of my husband to open the bottle. The bottle cap is not only child proof....
The trees and bushes in the background are only suggested with spots and stripes of brown applied wet in wet - and I let gravity do a lot of work again. There is not much green in the trees and bushes when catkins can be seen, so the background is mostly brown, with some small patches of green.
After all that had dried I remover the masking fluid and painted the branches with the buds and the catkins.
Writing this goes faster than the painting process, to make a branch seem round is a technique that takes a little time.
I am really happy with the result of the thinking and planning that was needed before I could start painting.
The details about paper and paint used, size, availability and contact information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
These days are a bit strange, it looks like spring but the temperatures are below 0ºC most of the day. Last weekend the sunshine was inviting us to a little walk so we went outside, warm coats, shawls and stuff and on the way I made some pictures of the hazel trees (Corylus avellana) that are in full bloom right now. The little catkins were standing out against the blue sky and I really wanted to use that image.
As I have written before, for me springtime is about what happens in the trees. The catkins, the flowers, the light greens of the new leaves are all signs of spring.
This is a very 'small' subject, I cannot fill a large sheet of watercolour paper with it.
I decided to make a drawing using my watercolour pencils and giving accents with water to the branch that has the leading role in my composition. In that branch I have used several colours and the catkins are more detailed. The other branches and catkins are treated with less attention.
For this little drawing I have used the Canson Montval paper, examining how the paper works for pencils and a little bit of water. The structure of the paper did help with this subject.
I have gathered a selection of Derwent Watercolour pencils in the past years and I have used some of them in this study.
This was a nice experiment for me, I am getting more and more comfident to make more detailed drawings compared to the sketches I am using for my watercolour paintings.
More information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
