Tree collage - for a challenge

 

This month the challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is called 'Papier hier!' translated to 'paper here!', the words that come from the large trash collectors in the famous theme parc 'De Efteling'. A fairy tale figure - always hungry - cries for the paper (and other trash) and answers with a 'thank you' if he is given something.

For the challenge we were asked to do something creative with paper - not an ordinary material, but in fact really versatile.

This was a bit of a challenge for me, I'm not much of a crafter anymore - especially since I started painting. So I had to think about what would be best to hand in.

For this work I tore up old printed matter (with a collection of watercolours of mine) and pasted it on a sheet of A3 paper. On the back I very roughly drew an indication of the annual rings of a tree stump and cut the rings out.

I traced the structure of wood - but as planks - on a sheet of watercolour paper and coloured it with watercolour markers.

I glued the cut-out collage on top and the rings that I did not use immediately were applied upside down at the top right. Because this turned out va bit too white I glued narrow edges of collage on top.

So I did some crafting, some drawing and I used trees as my inspiration again.

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

Hibernation - for a challenge

 

The December Challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about hibernation. What if we also could go into hibernation - instead of facing the cold Winter weather - what would that be like?

So I imagined a nice warm bed with extra duvets, slippers on the bed mat and a snowman outside the window. Nighttime and a moon are also included. What would I dream about? And what would the snowman dream about? Because in a world where humans can hibernate it must be possible that snowmen can dream.

These questions are answered in the drawing/illustration so I will not write much about those dreams.

For this one I decided to use my markers on a small sheet of paper.

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

If you are interested in my original artworks please contact me.

Shoes - for a challenge

 

The February challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is about Shoe happiness. Are we happy with our shoes or do we buy new ones in pursuit of that elusive happiness? That is what the challenge is about and we (many of us are women) have to make it visible.

Personally I love beautiful shoes, like the red one, but sometimes you just need something a bit more robust like the blue ones. Of course there is a superlative degree, even in shoes but I do not go hiking in mountains, so I do not have an example for my drawing.

For this mixed media work I first made the watercolour under painting and after that had dried I drew the outline of the red shoe, the drawing is life-size. Using watercolour markers, pencils and a fine liner I tried to show the different materials used for the red shoe. After that the blue shoe was added - again life size and the same materials were used to draw it. The results are not doing justice to the originals, but this was the best I could do with the materials I decided to use.

Who cares? If I do not show the reference shoes, this is a nice mixed media drawing of two very different shoes that can make the wearer very happy on different occasions. 

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

High Tea (mixed media with collage)

 

The July challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is 'Aan Tafel' or At the table. There are many ways to find inspiration with this theme, beginning with the call for lunch or dinner when we were young. Those who have seen a swarm of starlings coming to a feeding table can understand what my first thoughts were.

But a nice ending of a day out was what made me try this one: a collage with (parts of) tea bag packages, the sweet treats and the glasses with tea of a High Tea that was enjoyed after a nice walk in our beautiful nature (paintings of that will be made later).

Using my watercolour markers - and a brush with water - I made the illustrations of the sweet treats and the tea, drawing parts of the lines with a fine liner. Parts of the packages of the tea bags are cut out and  glued to the paper, completing my composition.

The result is not only a contribution to the challenge, but also a nice memory of a special day.

The information about the materials I have used and the size of this work can be found in my Tumblr blog.

Springtime in the garden

The new month means a new challenge by 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' and this month the theme is 'Stranger'. As I do not paint people, I had to think of another stranger and a look into my own garden gave me the inspiration I needed.

A lot of our flower bulbs are left in the ground in summer and this has resulted in some mixing of the species. It can occur that a daffodil comes up between the tulips and this way I found the stranger I wanted for my contribution to this challenge.

This time I have used my watercolour markers - and water to make the colours flow and mix with a fine liner. I have explored this combination of art materials before and I liked the result so this was the moment to use these markers again.

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

 

Memories of Honfleur

 

This week the theme of the challenge is about 'Travel' and we are asked to paint, draw or sketch our favourite destinations for a vacation. Of course there are many favourites but I thought it wise to choose a destination that can be recognised by an international jury.

So I thought of a sketch I made over ten years ago, sitting behind a cup of coffee in Honfleur. This little church is between two large buildings and on the side of the harbour. The water here usually is very low, so only the tips of the masts are visible.

Honfleur is a small town without much colour, there is a lot of grey stone used to build it. 

I added some colour to the buildings next to the church, which is really mostly grey with some touches of colour.

I have used my markers again - a line marker and my watercolour markers, combined with a wet brush for the washed effects. This is a technique I want to use more often, after my first experiment I really enjoy working with these materials.

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

Home is....

 

For the weekly Lockdown Drawing Challenge (Artists & Illustrators Magazine) we had to draw (or paint) 'Home' - either our home or what makes us feel at home in a place.

They also explained that a drawing or a sketch are also accepted, not only completed paintings.

So this time I have been thinking about "what makes a place a 'home' for me?" and about how to put that on paper.

My home is where my kitchen is so I made a reference picture of a small part of my kitchen. I made a line drawing on a sheet of paper and added colour with my watercolour markers. This was washed out with a bit of water and the result could be called a line and wash drawing. 

To explain why I have made this drawing I added the banner with the text.

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

Step by step

The March challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is 'Step by step' and I did not want to do the obvious thing.
So I started thinking - what goes step by step? The making of a painting of course and how a child learns to walk, but also the elderly people behind their walkers go step by step, not certain of their balance anymore.
I wanted to make a painting with several walkers parked outside a building where people were having fun with.... something I had to find yet.

For the walkers I made some reference pictures and then I had to find a theme.
Dancing lessons are also step by step, why not combining the walkers with the dancing lessons?  The idea was born, now I had to make a sketch and ask what dance would be the most unexpected to be taught to people that need walkers. The choice was Salsa or Samba and I chose the latter, maybe because salsa is also a name of a sauce ( in cooking).

I have not tried to make a true masterpiece but the scene speaks for itself - I hope.

The details about the materials I used, availability and contact information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

(How to) Read a book.

The list of suggestions for September 2018 gives 'Read a Book Day' for this day. As you no doubt have already noticed, I do not paint or sketch using every prompt in the list supplied by Doodlewash. I need to be inspired to paint (or draw) before I even start thinking about what I will make for the occasion.
Reading books is one of my passions (besides watercolour painting and cooking) so I wanted to do something with this day. 
Open books with things (gentle or not) coming out of them are a very common theme so I had to do something else. When reading a book I sometimes 'disappear' in the story I am reading so that was to be the theme. And now something that fits my skills....
The idea of diving came up, the diving that is done in a swimming pool and there is no water splashing in all directions but words, or fragments of words.
As I have not been in public swimming pools for years, I had to imagine a structure for the tower that holds the diving board. Photo references on the Internet show many possibilities, so I invented my own. This one is for diving into a good book so there should be no limits.

This time I have used my Watercolour Markers - and a brush with some water - for most of the image and I have added Line markers where I thought they would be needed. 
I am still exploring the possibilities and limitations of these markers and I am not disappointed with the result of this experiment.

The letters are parts of the words 'read a book' in English, Dutch and French.

More information about this line and wash drawing can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Workshop 'Metamorphosis'

My painting vacation was filled with lessons and workshops by our teacher and coach, Ad van Aart. The second morning was dedicated to 'Metamorphosis', starting from a very basic painting or drawing we had to add something new in the second painting, again in the third and fourth and.... as far as we could go. Every addition had to be reproduced in the next version before adding something new.

My beginning was one of the blind contour drawings of the morning before. I am sure no one will recognise the bunch of flowers standing near the gate of the garden but it makes a great starting point for 'unlimited creativity'. 
I added the lantern that is there in reality for the second version, number three had light and shadows and for number four I had to think a bit longer.
A surprising element was needed here, so I splashed some violet paint over my paper and started connecting the dots. A spider's web emerged and although it did not really change the initial base into something completely new, I do like the result. As I could not reproduce this stage it had to be the last one.

I have used light study paper here because that dries faster than the heavier watercolour paper I use normally. There are five colours in the initial drawing and two of these colours were used as Watercolour Markers for version two and three. For version four I only added violet paint.

This was a bit challenging, but really fun to do.

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