Rose - drawing

 

Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown (in The Netherlands) many events are themed 'Open up' and so is the June challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' and 'IkToon'.

This year both organisations work together again - as happened before - and both have the same challenge in the month of June.

Most of the times I try to find my inspiration for a challenge in nature or my own garden and this time the opening buds of our rose were just what I was looking for.

I have made some reference pictures at the right moment and decided to make a drawing for the challenge.

I have chosen to draw some of the rosebuds that were just beginning to open and one flower that was halfway opening up because that referred perfectly to the theme of the challenge.

For this drawing I have used my water-soluble pencils and a mixed media paper with a very fine grain to get the results I like best.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of the drawing, the price and its availability can all be found in my Tumble blog.

Peony - mixed media

In my garden is a large group of peonies. I have been drawing the leaves in autumn, the closed flower buds in springtime and now I made a mixed media of a flower that was not open yet. 
My husband made the picture late in the afternoon and the next day the flower opened.

For this mixed media I have used paper with only a very little bit of texture, made a watercolour underpainting in pink and started drawing the flower bud. In fact I should write flower buds, because there is a closed one behind the one that is dominating the scene. The stem and some leaves were also added using my watercolour pencils.
The dark background was also painted, as I had planned from the beginning.
Because the paper I used is not ideal for many layers of watercolour painting I have added some leaf shapes in the shadows under the flower using my darkest green pencil again.

This was to be an experiment with my materials, but the process did not really have any surprises for me. Of course I am still learning but I already know what to expect from this combination of materials and I can challenge myself more with the subject I am painting or drawing.

The information about the paper, paints and pencils I have used, the size and availability are in the link at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com  

My peonies, the flower buds

My garden has a lot of beautiful plants and I really love to see them grow bigger and bigger each year. One of my favourites is the bunch of peonies that grows each spring - and fades away with wonderful autumn colours.
Of course the flowers are great, but somehow I enjoy the flower buds even more. 
They are very colourful and invite me to make a painting or drawing each year.
This spring I have accepted that invitation and made some reference pictures of the most inspiring flower buds and combined these into one drawing.

The sun was shining when I made the pictures, but the colours were still visible.
When the flowers are 'out' they will be various shades of pink, but the buds have a lot of carmine.

Somehow I prefer drawing when it is about flowers, the budding leaves of my chestnut tree and other slightly botanical subjects. Maybe because of the control that pencils give me, and my wish to be a bit more accurate with these subjects than I am when painting a landscape.

I have used a lot of different colours on a study quality watercolour paper and I am really happy with the results. Unfortunately I still cannot make great pictures of my art, the paper I used is white and I have trouble to remove the blue haze . I have chosen for the best colours for my drawing as possible and accepted the blue haze on the paper.

More information (colours used, size, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

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 

Our chestnut tree in springtime 2 - a watercolour pencil drawing

This spring I have given myself the challenge to make pictures of the budding of the leaves and flowers of our chestnut tree. The pictures have been made and occasionally I am making drawings or paintings.
This time I have made a drawing using water soluble pencils. I have not used water to make some of the colours stand out because I like the result as it is now.

The moment I made the reference picture for this drawing the leaves were not unfolded completely. The flower buds are a bit larger compared to the previous drawing.
Making pictures is not as easy as it seems, The Netherlands is a country where the wind is always blowing and I am always trying to make a nice close-up showing the leaves and flowers. Of course I get a lot of background in my reference picture, so I have to concentrate on the subject which in this case is a leaf and some of the flower buds.

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