Along the river Waal - Conté drawing

 

Over the years I have collected a lot of different drawing materials and I don't use these as often as I should. So this year I intend to experiment with these materials a bit more, using free hours during the week to make a quick drawing or sketch or...  Making a drawing or sketch does not take the preparations that have to be made for a watercolour painting, so I can decide I want to work on my drawing skills when I have an unexpected hour for myself.

This scene is along the river Waal (Netherlands) at the spot where we came for inspiration during the painting vacation last summer. As I have written before, I have made several sketches during the time we were there and I am using these sketches now, months later for watercolour paintings or experiments with my materials.

For this drawing I have selected a nice blue sheet of tinted cardboard and used a white, a grey and a black Conté Crayon as my drawing materials. The blue cardboard is not exactly the right colour so I had to add some grey and white for ta better depiction of the summer sky and I used all three colours for the river, as the waves have a darker shadow. The riverbanks are done with all three colours and I hope I have been able to show some of the shadows in the bushes and trees. I know I need more practice before these shadows are what I want them to be.

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

Church on the river

 

During my painting vacation we went to the river Waal for inspiration. We stayed a few hours to make sketches and pictures for future reference. Last painting vacation I did chose a theme for myself and I used the picture I made of a wild teasel for a drawing.

Of course there was more to see than only a wild teasel and I have made reference pictures and sketches inspired by the views of the river and a side stream with beautiful trees and bushes. On the other bank of the river I could see a small church - when I was in the right spot - and I made a sketch of that church as well. It was too far away for a picture, so I only have the sketch and my memories of the scene. I have tried to find the church on a map and I found that it is in fact very far from the riverside. To compose a landscape using the sketch as my guide I will have to use the church, the trees and bushes behind it and a bit of the dyke in front of the building and create an imaginary scene with these elements.

When I was there, it was still summer, with a blue sky and the trees and bushes were in shades of green, hardly distinguishable from each other. The paintings I want to make will have the colour scheme I feel like at that moment and I will be using the black-and-white sketch to determine the proportions of the church, the trees and the bushes I have been drawing.

Today I wanted to paint after that sketch and I have chosen to paint some reflections in the river as well, so the horizon is high in my composition and there is a lot of room for the water of the river.  I wanted some colour in my painting so I have made an imaginary autumn scene.

The results are what I hoped for - and even a bit better - so I will make more paintings using this sketch as my inspiration.

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.