Study of tree trunks - watercolour, charcoal and ink

This year my painting vacation was in Milonga, in the Northern part of France.
Our teacher and coach was Ad van Aart who really did a great job.
The first day we started with an exercise in 'blind contour drawing', a difficult thing for me. We were finding our subjects in the beautiful garden of Milonga.
After a discussion about the results and a lunch we started painting, using one or more of the drawings we made that morning.

This is the first one I made, only watercolour. (the white edges are caused by the tape)
The background was made quickly, wet-in-wet and soft. The tree trunks were added after the background had dried. I have taken care to suggest (not show) all details of the cracks in the dried wood and the structures of the little mushrooms that were on the right trunk. The left trunk is the one in front, so I have chosen another, lighter mixture for the browns and greys of the wood.

On a background of bright colours I have been drawing the tree trunks with charcoal for my second study. This time I have added more details to the drawing, as charcoal has only one colour. This study does have a different atmosphere than a watercolour painting and I like the contrast between these two.

This is the third and final one for this week. I made it one day later than the previous two so there was a bit more time to think about my approach of this one.
Our teacher suggested a background in only one colour and I wanted to paint the tree trunks a little different, not exactly as in the first study. 
I placed the tree trunks a bit to the left on my paper and used a pen and calligraphy ink for the details of the cracks in the cut off edges where the branches used to be.

I really liked doing this and it was a good start for the rest of the week with more and more challenges, lessons and coaching to come. I will write about that in my next posts.

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

The Forest of Anlier - in a charcoal drawing

Last October my husband and me were in The Ardennes (Belgium) and I have already published some watercolour paintings I made during and after that short vacation. 
There have been other things to do since my last painting of the Forest of Anlier, like the Christmas Card painting, some decoration stuff that is not painted - I do crochet sometimes - and the Advent project.

So now it felt good to return to the inspiration I found in the Forest of Anlier and I started with a charcoal drawing. 
The scene is one I had already painted in watercolour during one of the evenings in our small vacation home and I wanted to know how it would be in a charcoal version.
This is the result of only half an hour or maybe three quarters of an hour work but I am certain I cannot add any more to my drawing without ruining it. In fact I am very happy with this result.
The scene has changed a bit compared to the watercolour version. That always happens when I paint or draw a scene for the second time. This time the forest in the background is much more open and in this version that's just what the painting asks for. (I do listen to my paintings most of the time, that improves the results)

More information about this charcoal drawing (materials used, availability, etc) and the other paintings I made inspired by The Ardennes can be found on my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com