Mushroom - a pencil drawing

 

The reference picture for this drawing was made last Autumn by my husband Peter who had the camera. I wanted to make a drawing or painting using this reference but never really found the right inspirational moment.

Now I have made this drawing, using my Graphitint pencils for the mushroom and some Graphic pencils for the surrounding grass.

Making this was nice and relaxing, not a very difficult subject and ready in a short time.

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

My left hand - a charcoal sketch

 

For the third year now there is a contest on television called 'Project Rembrandt' to find the best amateur painters in The Netherlands. This year I want to try to work on the side contest for those that are not in the program but like to paint at home, the Project Rembrandt Thuisopdracht. Not all home contests are suitable for me, I do not paint with oils or acrylics, so I will only try those that need pencils, charcoal or other media that I can use.

This week the subject was 'hands' and we are instructed to sketch our own hand using pencils or charcoal. As I am right-handed, I sketched my left hand.

In the television program the contestants had to sketch a model in fifteen minutes, concentrating on proportions. Looking at the proportions was also part of the instruction for the painters at home. We were encouraged to lay one hand on the paper and draw around it for a start and then add shadows and lines where these are visible.

That is what I did, using a charcoal pencil. I made an outline of my hand and then started to add the lines of the joints and some shadows. The lines in the open hand are added as well and on the left I added the blood vessels and tendons that are visible on the back of my hand. Both sketches took about fifteen minutes.

This drawing is also submitted for the contest, but as I am one of many contestants  participating is the most important thing in this contest.

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

'Allerheiligen' waterfalls - a second attempt

Last autumn we were in the Black Forest - in Germany - for a short vacation. During that trip we visited the ruins and waterfalls of Allerheiligen. 

The ruins have been painted (and will be painted again) and during the vacation I already painted the waterfalls once and I promised myself that I would paint them again.
Waterfalls are not an easy subject for me, because I have to go on vacation to visit them. In our flat country there are no waterfalls to be found. At least nothing over a meter.

As I have written in my first post about these falls, the Allerheiligen waterfalls are a series of falls cascading down around the mountain. To visit them safely there are stairways and platforms beside the falling water.
At that time my knees were giving me messages about 'age' and 'not in shape for this terrain' so I stood sketching some of the falls as my husband went down a bit further to make lots of photographs. This painting is made after one of my sketches.

For this painting I chose to do a small size using only two colours. This enables me to focus on the falls; how to paint them in a way that they can still be recognized as waterfalls. On top of the scene is a small waterfall, which is mostly in the shadows of the rocks and trees surrounding the falls and the path beside them. 

As it was my goal to make a recognizable waterfall, I think I have succeeded with this painting. Of course I will have to paint much more waterfalls to improve my skills on this subject.

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

Birthday 'results' - and a bit about how I work

Yesterday was my .....th birthday and I really had a great day. Last week the sun was shining almost all the time, so we could see blue skies again. That really helped getting in a festive mood!
Most people my age - and younger - don't know what to wish for, but having a painting passion gives inspiration for my wish list as well.
I am really happy with my new watercolour paper, some extra tubes of those beautiful Twilight Colours (by Winsor&Newton Artists'), paper for charcoal drawing and paper for my sketches.

I also use good quality paper for making the sketches I work from. As I mostly work after reference pictures, making a sketch is important. While making the sketch, I get acquainted with my subject and I make my first choices: what I want to show and what I think is less important. The sketch is full of details and notes.
The drawing on my watercolour paper is less detailed for I don't want to have to erase much of my pencil marks. Erasing is not always easy for sometimes it damages the painted surface - depending on the colours I used. So I have the sketch nearby when I am painting, looking at my notes and the details I put in. 
I do not use my reference picture anymore at this point, all I need to know to make the painting I want to make is in my sketch and in my head....

Working like this, I can also go back to a sketch I made a long time ago and use it for another painting - sometimes to try a different colour scheme, sometimes to try to do it better and even sometimes to do a charcoal drawing.