Beach Rockanje (Netherlands)

 

Last weekend the weather was not really very great, but we thought it would be nice to go to the beach for a walk. As expected there were not many people so we had a nice time.

The weather was - as said - not great, there was a light fog and the sky was coloured yellow by Sahara sand or dust that was blown high in the sky and now came over to us. In fact the view was limited and mostly grey, a very special atmosphere, not often related to a beach walk.

Of course I made some reference pictures of the light on the water - as it was low tide, the sea was far away - and wanted to paint that.

Painting in shades of grey means mixing colours and that did not go as I hoped mostly because the grey had to be really light, a bit blueish for the sky and a bit brownish for the wet sand. My mixture did not do what I wanted so I changed plan and made a painting with a bit more blue and brown than I first intended. 

As 'it all happens on the paper' the painting must be brought to a good result on that paper. And that is what I did.

The result still shows the yellow shades of the Sahara sand, the light spot in the clouds and the light on the water and because of the colours I ended up with it is more recognisable as a seascape.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Winter's light

These last few days we had a little bit of snow, grey skies and some days that are a bit brighter. There still is that lightly foggy atmosphere and everything seems to be back-lit. Most of the colours seem to have disappeared from the landscape, only the white and grey of the sky and the snow and dark colours for the trees, buildings and what is more to be seen in a landscape.
One of the brighter mornings I drove in my little car and noticed (the traffic of course, but also the views) the colours of the light in the sky, the reflections on the river and I was inspired to paint this. Of course I did not stop to do so at that very moment, but I can easily remember the atmosphere of such a  morning for a few days.

In my 'archives' I found a sketch I had made last summer and never used for a painting and  I started working from that view, making a new composition with the elements I had sketched.
The cranes, the houses, the pontoon are familiar sights at the river banks of the rivers Noord and Merwede that meet not far from the spot where I have made the first sketch.
And of course I found a spot with a view of trees to make my sketch.
All these were set in a winter's light as I had seen it a few days ago.

More information about this watercolour painting (size, materials used, contact information, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com