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 

Where three rivers meet - at sunset

A few weeks ago we had visitors and as the weather was great, we went for a walk by the riverside. Whe live near the point where three rivers meet: Merwede, Noord and Oude Maas. On the left you have a view on Dordrecht, on the right hand side lies Zwijndrecht, behind the trees of the riverside park.
In the weekends the river is quiet, not so many boats as during weekdays.
The upcoming sunset was colouring the sky in a marvelous way so we stopped for pictures. My husband Peter made the reference picture I used for this watercolour painting.

Painting a sky without clouds is a thing I do not often get the chance to do, so this was a bit of a challenge.
The colours of the sky were reflected in the water, but as there was a lot of wind the water was not  calm. As this is a point where rivers meet and the tides are still of influence the water is never completely calm here.

I enjoyed painting a view that actually is very close to my home. To us this is a beautiful spot to visit all around the year. There is so much to be seen - even when traffic is low - and the light changes every minute.
In fact this was a favorite spot for some of our Old Masters as well and I can easily understand why!

The information about size, colours used etc can be found on my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com