The valley of the Sûre and the Forest of Anlier - my first impressions

We have been on a short trip to The Ardennes, Belguim, to be more precise, to the Forest of Anlier and the Valley of the river Sûre. The weather was great, maybe a bit too warm for autumn but we have been walking in the forest, walking in the valley and I have been taking pictures and most of the evenings were dedicated to painting.

These are small paintings, only A4 size. The circumstances in our 'gîte' were not as good as  in my studio. Most of the times the lights were not very helpful, but I managed to get used to this set-up and made some nice watercolours.

This is the first one I made, and as we had just arrived in the 'gîte' this is the view from one of the windows. The background is the slope of one side of the valley of the river Sûre which is covered with trees, the other one is right behind our 'gîte'. The river is in fact between the fields and the background. 
I was struggling with the lights, the height of the table, the moisture of the air (close to the river) so this painting may be not the best I have ever made, but for a 'warming-up' it is a nice one.

The Forest of Anlier is a piece of land that has been described by Julius Caesar and has remained a forest since these days. We had chosen a walk of 12 km and we have just seen the northern part of the forest. I have been making some nice reference pictures and for the 'first impression' I chose to do a scene with lots of autumn colours and some fallen trees. The sun was shining and the forest seemed to be on fire with all those yellow, orange and red colours!

The next day we started out from the 'gîte' to walk in the valley of the river Sûre. The first part of that walk was following an abandoned railway track and was easy. I made some pictures showing the track and the green valley beside it. This day we returned early, we had some problems with shoes, muscle aches and so on. In the afternoon I stayed in the 'gîte' to paint as my husband decided to discover a bit more of the surrounding landscape - on better shoes. 
This time I painted in daylight and the air seemed less moist than it is in the evenings, so the process of painting was more relaxed than the other days. 

The last day of our vacation we were in tourist mode. We went to visit the town of Schengen, in Luxembourg and as we returned we drove once again through the Forest of Anlier. I asked my husband to stop in a safe place so I could make some pictures. Imagine a road of 10 km or more surrounded by these trees - I just had to have those pics! The scene was still sunny, with lots of shadows from the trees. A lot of leaves have already fallen and the foliage is not as dense as it was a few days ago, so the colours of the trees are lighter. In a few days this autumn splendor will be gone, all leaves on the ground and the trees will be as good as bare. 

Of course I will paint more, using larger sizes of paper and some other reference pictures. These will be done at home, in my studio where I can take all the time I need to complete a painting.

More information about these watercolour paintings (paper and paints used, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Ardennes, this time some good photographs

The last week I have been posting the paintings I have made during my week of vacation in the Ardennes. The photographs were not as good as usual and for a reason. I did not have the opportunity to give the published pictures my usual watermark which is meant to prevent abuse of my artwork.

Today I have made some good photographs at home and I have given them the watermark.

So they are ready for proper publication now.

For the story of each of my paintings I refer to the blog posts I have written last week.

Some additional information may be necessary.

These painting vacation are group activities with two teachers, both ladies are qualified. Each teacher accompanies half of the students each day and they change groups every other day. Unfortunately they have decided to stop giving these classes and focus on one-day-workshops instead.

The paintings I have made this week are very much my own idea, I have had some guidance, but not much. With one exception, the bottle in expressionistic style could not have been completed as it is without help from my teacher. I am not ashamed to say so, expressionism is really not my style. The lamp was easy using the hints I needed to finish the bottle.

More information about these paintings (paper, paints, other materials used, size, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Ardennes, day 6

The last day is always about playing with paint and ends with an exposition of the results of the week.
This time the playing part was monoprint and I had to 'borrow' some acrylic paint for that. I tried to include some dried flowers and grasses in my prints but that did not have the results I hoped for.
So I continued with the results I got and added red ink in one of my prints and crayons in the other.

After lunch I will be 'composing' my exhibition.

More information about me and my paintings can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com

Ardennes, day 5

Today was about abstracting.
We were invited  to make sketches on a beautiful location and to create an abstracted painting after that sketch.
I found a very nice spot for my sketch and decided it was too beautiful to make only an abstracted painting. So I started a watercolour painting using the realistic colours and while that one had to dry I started a small one which had to be more abstracted. Halfway we moved back to the house because it started to rain. After these two were finished, I decided to do a white-on-black painting in the afternoon, using the same sketch for inspiration.
The results are in the picture.

More information about me and my paintings can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com

Ardennes, day 4

Today the weather forced us to stay in the house. We were invited to paint in an expressionistic style and I found inspiration in some small corners in the central room in the house.
Because expressionism is not my usual style I was very happy with all the suggestions our teachers gave me.
Today's results are colourful and experimental and I enjoyed painting like this for a day.

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

Ardennes, day 3

Today we have been away from the house, on the shore of the lake. First we had an introdution to Impressionism and then we were invited to paint.
The shoreline is curved, so we could all choose a different view.
I decided to include some of the pine trees and bushes to suggest the distance between my spot and the opposite shoreline.
Once again the creation of all those shades of green with blues and yellows was challenging, but the results are much more to my liking than the results I got when using greens from the factory.
In the water I added some touches of Iridescent Medium, just for fun. The results are nice! So thanks to my daughter who gave me the Iridescent Medium for my birthday.

More information about me and my paintings can be found at my website  www.jannekesatelier.webs.com

Ardennes, day 2

This day is 'warming up day', so we start finding our inspiration in the view from the house. There also is a nice garden and many of us started painting flowers.
Of course I found my inspiration in a lot of trees and some buildings on the other side of the lake.
After I had started the green painting one of the teachers said "Why don't you paint two paintings at the same time?" and I gathered paper and other stuff to start a second version of my subject. As one was drying, I painted the other one and so on. Each watercolour painting has three or four layers of paint, so I have been switching a few times.
It was really nice painting  this way!

For more information about my watercolour paintings, please visit my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com

Ardennes, day 1

This week I will be painting in The Ardennes again. The view from the location is great, even in the evening. Today was mostly spent in the car, we arrived in time for afternoon coffee with cake. Tomorrow we will start painting and I will post the results of each day.

For more information about my previous painting vacations, please visit my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Ardennes - The bridge near Wirtzfeld

This vacation was used for experiments. Most people on a painting trip do that and I am no exception to that rule - at least this year I wasn't!
The team from Buitenatelier took us to a small bridge crossing a stream that will eventually flow into the reservoir of Bütgenbach. We were asked to work black and white here, with ink or charcoal.
That was to give us a change from all those fields, bushes and trees in all those shades of green. After two days we all could use that change!

Because I already had painted monochromatic yesterday, I decided to try an experiment today. When working at home, I had experimented with a watercolour under-painting for a charcoal drawing and I was not too happy with the result. Now I decided to try this on watercolour paper which is much more made to absorb water and colour than the paper I use for my charcoal drawings.
So first I have been pouring diluted watercolour paint on my paper and waited for that to dry completely before I started to draw my scene.
At this point it started to rain and the group decided to pack and return to the vacation home we were living for this week. There we all finished our work using pictures or sketches and our memories of course.

The poured watercolour had left some blank spaces, just as I wanted it to be and the drawing process was easy. The watercolour paper is much better for this mixed technique and as it is medium rough drawing on it with charcoal gives some nice surprises too.
I really like this result and will try this technique more often.

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

Painting week in the Ardennes - Path in Sepia

The second painting day (painting week in the Ardennes with Buitenatelier - see my previous post for details) we drove to a field not far from our vacation home. 
There was a lot to see and paint here, fields, hills, cows, a flower field, bushes...

I found a small path into the forest and decided to paint the lines of the trees, as a contrast to the round shapes of the bushes and the curves of the path.
The theme for this week was Contrast, so I decided on a contrast in shapes for today.

In order to make that very visible, I decided to make a monochromatic watercolour using Sepia. That is a colour I am not so familiar with so I worked carefully, adding colour and shapes only after the paint I already applied was dried completely. With the sun and wind I never had to wait long though.

Again I made a cadre with tape on my watercolour paper and filled that completely with paint.
Once again this way of working was not my usual way of painting, but I had a lot of fun working like this and I am happy with the result.

More information about this painting can be found at www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Ardennes - day 6

The last painting day is always out of the ordinary. This time we were encouraged to make stencils with (our) names and use those in a painting.
That is a nice idea, so I made a small stencil using my first name. I stenciled with a black oil pastel, that does not mix with water. Then I poured two colours of diluted watercolour paint and after drying I made a simple version of a landscape. Just trees and swarms of starlings.
We had starlings swarming over the lake every evening and I felt I had to paint them sometimes - and they were perfect for today's project.
Later today we will all make an exhibition of our works and tomorrow we'll drive home.

Ardennes - day 5

For our fifth day most people in our group drove to a field with lots of views on all sides. We came through a narrow lane with lots of curves and nice spots to paint. Today we were 'allowed' to use our colours again and we  had to think about composition.
I decided to stay uphill and paint a part the trees, the shadows underneath them and a bit of the fields to the right. My composition  is bases on the dark on the left with light on the right side of my paper.
As usual, the trees were not easy. Maybe this time because I still could see them and the light kept changing. We had clouds at first, and a lot of sunshine later.
Once again I am  happy with today's result.

Ardennes -day 3

Today was supposed to be overcast,  but we had lots of sunshine. The painting location was a field nearby, with trees, bushes, flower fields and even cows on one side.
I chose to paint trees - no surprise there - and the contrast is made by painting monochromatic. I have done that before and now I decided to work with sepia, a colour I am not so familiar with.
Again we were invited to 'frame' our paintings with tape and fill that space with our subject.
This was a nice experience and I am happy with today's result!

I will post better pictures of the paintings I made and will make later this week after I returned home.

Ardennes- Day 2

The first day is always used for getting acquainted with the location and the theme of the week.
The theme is Contrast so we have a lot to think about these days!
My contrast today was between the round shapes of the trees and bushes and the rectangular shapes of the buildings.
I was challenged to make a smaller 'frame' on my paper and fit my painting in there.
The result is a nice surprise!

Ardennes -Day 1

The first day of my painting trip in used for driving and settling in our room.
The picture shows the view outside the room: a lake,  hills, trees and clouds!  Just what I like to paint for the next week.
It will be dinner time soon now,  so I will write again tomorrow,  when I have a painting to show. 

Day by day -Ardennes day three

Today we had rain, lots of rain! So the lessons had to be indoors or so close to the building that running towads shelter was possible. We were asked to work with charcoal and explore the possibilities of that material.
It was my first time using that charcoal and the general introduction was more than welcome. To find an easy subject  was quite a challenge but I found my inspiration in the tree in front of the house. The branches have grown in twisted shapes and provide a nice variety in form, structure, shadows and shapes.
After making a small sketch I started in charcoal. I made a second drawing in charcoal with a different approach for the background. After lunch we have free time and that time I spent drawing the very same subject with watercolour pencils. The rain had not stopped so I decided to stay indoors. The pencil drawing is not finished yet, but it's already worth showing.

Day by day - Ardennes, day two

Today had a very sunny beginning, so we decided to paint outdoors. The theme of this week is Reflections and Playing so next to a river there is a lot of inspiration be found. We did not go far, just crossed the bridge and walked by the river untill we came to a piece of grassland where we all could set up our things  and start painting
The small one is my first work of today, painted almost on the spot after a quick sketch. The first painting of a week like this is always a try-out. Testing the environment, the weather, the teachers....
Having time left before lunch, I made a second sketch and painted the large one after lunch. I am much more pleased with that one and I will make a more detailed blog post about it when I am back home.

Day by day -Ardennes

This week I will try to write every day. I am on a painting vacation in the Ardennes, a region in Belgium. This day is the day of arrival, so I had a ride of over 260 km, mostly in rainy weather.
The photo gives an impression of the location, a large house next to a bridge over the river Ourthe.
Since there was a lot of rain today, I did not venture far on my first walk here.
There will be more reports!