Norddeich, dark clouds - for a contest

 

When the new Revival Collection watercolours were announced, I got a bit greedy and bought as soon as possible the four colours I liked best. There are eight colours, so I could have done 'worse'. The colours were waiting a few weeks for me to gather courage to try them and here is my first painting using them.

The reason I painted this work is mostly because I wanted to submit it to the 2025 European Watercolour Contest that is restricted to the use of these special colours (and a graphite pencil for the initial sketch).

Finding out how to work with four new colours proved to be  a challenge but the result is really nice. The grey and ash colours are much lighter than I thought so I had to add the purple and orange for darkness. While doing so I was changing the atmosphere of the painting from a very dark one to a much lighter one, a result that was unexpected but not unwelcome.

The reference picture for this one was made last winter in Norddeich and I had used it before in a charcoal drawing setting the horizon a bit higher to show more of the water.

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

Boomstronk - Conté tekening

 

This is not the first dead tree or tree trunk I have been drawing and it is not the last either. I like the idea of finding as much details in a dead tree trunk as possible and trying to draw them all. Of course I cannot draw all details on such a small sheet of paper - compared to the original tree trunk - but suggesting them in a credible way is good enough for me. Just for the fun of it and while doing this I am also improving my skills.

We (my husband and me) like to make a short walk in the weekend when the weather allows it - and of course only when we did not have the time to go for a longer walk in one of our beautiful Nature Reserves. During one of these walks I saw this dead tree trunk and made some reference pictures.

The drawing is made with Conté Sketching Crayons on grey paper, I often use these materials for dead trees or tree trunks.

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

De Moerputten (The Netherlands)

 

Last month we (my husband and me) went for a nice signposted walk in Natural Reserve 'De Moerputten'. During that walk we made several pictures, for the photo album and for reference. Some of these pictures have already been used for drawings and paintings and here is another one.

The view point is high, here we are on the abandoned railroad and from that dyke we could see over the marshes below. As these marshes were used for peat harvesting there are some straight canals in the landscape, once used to transport the (dried) peat by barge to a road or railroad for further transport to the customers.

This also explains the horizontal lines in the landscape, that are remains of smaller canals that were also used for transport over water.

At one point we had an inspiring view of one of these canals with a very clear reflection of the sky (and some of the reeds) so I stopped to make a reference picture. The canals are not used anymore, so the banks are overgrown and at some points vegetation has taken over parts of the canal, but that irregularity is what attracted me to the view.

Making this watercolour painting was a nice experience, finding my way to recreate the atmosphere of the moment we were there.

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

Boundary Stone (Netherlands - Germany)

 

Last week we (my husband and me) were for a very short stay in a vacation home near Winterswijk (Netherlands) and the first evening we went for a walk on the boardwalk through the 'Wooldse Veen', a beautiful Natural Reserve. This Natural Reserve does cross the border between The Netherlands and Germany and at one point we passed by this old weathered border stone.

My husband made a picture for me (he had the camera and stepping down from the boardwalk is not a good idea) so I could make this drawing.

I decided on charcoal for the drawing, that is still my favourite for this kind of subjects. 

The paper is tinted, but the picture does not do that justice - maybe that is because of the winter light which is relatively cool.

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

Venkantbrug, de Moerputten (The Netherlands)

 

Our walk in Natural Reserve 'De Moerputten' started (and ended) at this bridge, the 'Venkantbrug' or bridge at the side of the fen.

This bridge is part of the abandoned railroad and we had to climb up some stairs to get on the railway embankment (or dyke) for the first part of our walk. 

As we walked towards the bridge, the view of the landscape behind it was beautiful, the colours in the sky were nice, so I asked my husband (who had the camera) to make me a reference picture. At first I wanted to paint only the landscape, but later I decided otherwise.

The landscape is still there and I also indicated the nice pink colours in the sky, but the bridge is very present in my work. For the bridge I also used a line marker to emphasize the difference between the shapes of the landscape (the fen, the trees, the grasses) and the straight lines of the metal bridge.

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

'De Moerputten', tree - a drawing

 

During our walk in 'De Moerputten' (The Netherlands) we walked over an abandoned railroad for a while, but of course we also had to return to where we started (and where we parked the car) and that part of the walk went down the slope and over a boardwalk. Where we had to go down this group of trees stood. 

Of course the trees are much taller than on this drawing but the hollow parts, the shapes and colours of the trunks just above the ground interested me the most.

The drawing is made using my Tinted Charcoal pencils - of course I should be using them more often but I can say the same about much more of the drawing materials I have gathered over the years. The colours of these pencils are mostly a bit muted, moody and not fit for every nature scene but this time I decided to give them a try.

The result is what I hoped for because justice is done to the characteristics of these trees that attracted my attention and inspired me.

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

Dead tree in 'De Moerputten' (The Netherlands) the watercolour painting

 

After our walk in 'De Moerputten' I made a drawing of this dead tree and I wrote in my post about that tree that I would make a watercolour painting of the tree in the near future.

The tree is now in the landscape as we could see from the abandoned railroad looking towards Vlijmen.

The grasses are called 'blue' as they have a blueish shade of green and they are very important to some rare insects. This is only one of the reasons that this lowland peat area is a Natural Reserve. 

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

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

Dead tree in 'De Moerputten' - a Conté drawing

 

Last weekend we (my husband Peter and me) went for a walk in Natural Reserve 'De Moerputten'. The walk was nice, partly over an old railroad that was made for industrial use, part over a boardwalk in the peat lands below the old railroad. We learned a lot about the history of the area and about the work that is done to preserve the nature.

At one point, on the side of the old railroad, stood a dead tree that just asked for a drawing, so I made a reference picture and a few days later I made this Conté drawing using the colour scheme I selected for dead trees.

Maybe I will make a watercolour painting of this dead tree as well, using the colours of the winter landscape that are in my reference picture.

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

If you are interested in my original artwork, please contact me.

Wadden Sea, Norddeich

 

In the last week of December we were for a short vacation in Norden and Norddeich. We did have fog the first days, but our last day had clear weather. Lots of clouds and a very cold wind, but we could see much more of the town and the sea so we went for a walk twice that day.

In the morning we had high tide and the water was covering most of the sandbanks that can be used to cross the Wadden Sea at low tide. Of course you still need a guide when you wish to walk on the sand banks, but it should be possible.

During the morning we walked along the dyke from the 'dog beach' towards the harbour of Norddeich and back and during thar walk I made some pictures of the clouds and the sea.

The reference picture for this painting also shows the sand close to the dyke that was not submerged by the high tide - I made the reference picture just because of that. The dyke is so very straight and man-made that it was a nice change to see these sand banks with their irregular shapes.

The painting does not show all the people walking and enjoying the fresh air, but only the sea, the sands and part of the dyke with the 'dog beach'. We were standing on a higher dyke when I made the reference picture without many other walkers near and that feeling of being almost alone looking at the beauty of nature is what I wanted to paint. I think I succeeded and I am happy with the result.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. If you are interested in my original artwork, please contact me.

Dark clouds, beach Norddeich - a charcoal drawing

 

During our short stay in Norden we went to walk on the beach of Norddeich on the only day that we had no fog. In the morning we had high tide, the water covered the beach completely and came to the dyke. Later in the afternoon, when we returned for one last walk we saw the beach as the tide was low, or at least lower.

The sand was still very wet and the wind was even stronger than in the morning so we stayed on the dyke for our walk. Now the tide was lower some structures close to the coast - for breaking the force of the waves - were visible now and I made some extra reference pictures.

The clouds were still dark and interesting and the reflection of the light that shines on the water between the breakwaters in the foreground inspired me to make this drawing.

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

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

View on Norderney

 

During our short stay in Norden, we had some foggy days, but one day had clearer skies. Still very cloudy, but we could see the sea, the dyke and the islands across the 'Waddenzee'.

This is the view on Norderney with the guiding poles for the ferry in the foreground.

Making the reference picture was not easy with all that wind - I had to keep the phone camera still but that was really hard. So I managed to make a not so very sharp picture. That picture is combined with my memory for this watercolour painting.

Again I used my panorama shaped paper to make this painting, the subject is ideal for that paper size.

Of course I enjoyed working on this one safe inside in my little studio at home (no wind, no cold, no rain, just nice and cosy)

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

Dark clouds (Norddeich)

 

After Christmas we went for a short stay in Norden, the North of Germany. The coast at Norddeich is very close so we have been there, walking by the sea. There were some dark clouds and we had a strong wind, but I could make some reference pictures.

As we were there for a short stay, I had only packed my drawing materials so this is an experiment with graphite and water soluble graphite pencils.

I made the drawing of the landscape and the clouds with graphite first, added the water soluble graphite in the clouds and sky and washed that with a water brush.

The result is a nice surprise and I really like to make such study - drawings in the future while on vacation.

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

Snow fantasy

 

The special offers for discounts when ordering cards are coming in, so I had to make my Christmas card!

This year it will be a landscape and the reference is a sketch I made many years ago and changed to a winter scene, adding some hills and forgetting the path while painting.

The colour scheme is simple, only dark, moody colours for a nice winter's night in the hills - all very imaginary but really fun to paint.

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

Kalmthoutse Heide - moorland

 

A few months ago we (my husband and me) went for a walk on the Kalmthoutse Heide, a Natural Reserve we like to visit as often as possible. This time I made reference pictures of the small peat bog opposite the 'Putse Moer', a large moorland pool and very easy to find on the maps of the area.

As usual I needed some time to gather courage for a painting, because this is not an easy subject for me. All those tall grasses - do I have to paint them all or just a few - and which ones need to be in the painting? 

Also as usual I just had to start painting and these questions answered themselves and I just have to do what looks right when most of the paint is on the paper. The tall grasses I added in the foreground and in the middle ground are not really painted, I used water soluble pencils.

Before all that I also decided on the cropping of the reference picture, what to do with the horizon (the trees on the horizon are 'replanted' for the painting) and my point of interest. These choices were not the ones that I need to gather courage for, so I made them after I chose the reference picture I wanted to use for this work.

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

Plane tree, winter

 

Not far from my home - I can see it from the garden - is a large plane tree and I wanted to paint or draw it for a long time. Last winter I made some reference pictures of the tree and now I have found the time to draw it.

Of course it also took so long because I wanted to use the Naturel PaintOn paper as my background and I only got that paper recently. After I had the paper I also needed time to think about 'how do I want to draw the tree' and time to draw it. 

The thinking about 'how' resulted in three colours of Conté Crayons that do not at all resemble the true colours of the tree, but are a good combination of values; a dark, a middle and a light value with the colour of the paper between the middle and the light values.

The reference pictures were made in winter, so the tree is still bare, with only showing the seed balls that are still on the branches. By now most of them have fallen off. The many different colours of the bark are only suggested as I do not want to show all of the details. The same applies to the smallest branches, seen in back light.

This drawing is what I hoped it would be and I think I have now found the best way to draw a living tree with my Conté crayons.

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

If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

Pollard Willows - a Conté drawing

 

After having made several drawings of dead trees and tree stumps I wanted to draw a living tree for a change. A living tree needs a different colour scheme compared to a dead one, to make the difference visible, especially in winter.

The dead trees are drawn on grey paper using only black, grey and white crayons.

The paper I have used for these living winter trees is a naturel coloured one and I have selected brown and brownish crayons to draw the trees. These are combined with black and white for the deep shadows and the highlights. 

The reference picture was made from a distance and not very good, so a lot of details were lost. The trees stand beside a small pond in a residential area and are relatively young, so the trunks are straight. Older pollard willows in a field usually have damaged trunks where birds like to hide.

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

Dead Tree (another one) - a Conté drawing

 

This week we were in the North of Belgium again, for a nice walk on the Kalmthoutse Heide. That Natural Reserve is always worth the time for a walk, every season is different. We have made these signposted walks several times, sometimes clockwise, sometimes anti-clockwise and now I try to make reference pictures of the details of the landscape. The wide views don't change that much over the years.

This time we passed by several dead trees, many of them not really good for a picture, but in a bend in the path we found this one. Very dead for a long time and filled with small holes made by birds or insects. The bark was mostly gone and only some beginnings of branches could be seen. The rest of the branches were sawn off, probably for the safety of the walkers.

Again I chose my new grey paper and some Conté Sketching Crayons for the drawing, the last time I used these together I was really happy while working on the drawing and the result was better than I hoped for. So I wanted to draw a second dead tree using the same materials and I was not disappointed. Again the result is better than I hoped for so more dead trees, tree trunks or stumps will follow and I hope to get better with every drawing I make.

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

Amaryllis - a pencil drawing

 

Each winter we buy an Amaryllis bulb so we can have (with some luck) a beautiful flower at Christmas. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later and sometimes not at all, when there are no flowers growing from the bulb. This winter we were lucky, the bulb had some beautiful flowers in white with some pink lines and I made some reference pictures.

Now, two months later, I made this drawing, using one of the reference pictures. As the flower was white, I selected a sheet of tinted cardboard in a beautiful colour and started drawing, using the white pencil for the outlines ant the first details. 

Where the petals overlap, I used less white, allowing the colour of the cardboard to shine through for the shadow colour. The green in the heart of the flower was added, the shades of pink were drawn in and I started to create the right shades of white, pink, green and the shadows to create the flower. Of course the stamens and pistil were added as well.

The second flower was drawn after that, but I did not add all details to make it less important than the first. The stem and some leaves also had to be there to prevent the flowers from 'floating'. These are also not as detailed as the flower facing the viewer.

To protect it all a light spray of fixative was used.

Making a picture of the drawing was a challenge this time. The dark background reflects all light sources so I had to find a place in my home without a dominant light source (not close to a window that meant for me). This picture of my drawing is the best I could get today.

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

If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

In the 'Soester Duinen' - 2 (Netherlands)

 

The first week of January my husband and me were free from work, so we had a very short vacation dedicated to walking in our beautiful nature. The first walk we made was in the 'Soester Duinen' and I have posted some works inspired by that walk in the past few weeks. This is another beautiful view we had during the signposted walk around the area of shifting sand. This area is a Geological Monument because of that shifting sand.

During our walk, the weather changed a bit and instead of the clear blue sky we started with our walk ended under clouds. This view is towards the East, away from the sun so the trees are not back lit. They still are dark, as winter trees often are. The sand was almost grey and  a bit more brownish under the birch trees, where the remains of fallen leaves and small branches were still visible. 

This view inspired me to make a picture to be used as reference for a painting. This time the colour of the sand was the biggest challenge, but I managed to get it right very soon - mixing a brown and a blue did the trick here. The sand is not an evenly spread surface, there really are small dunes or differences in height and that was one of the things that inspired me. Painting this was nice, keeping the sand light where no shadow was found and suggesting the smaller dunes.

The result is what I hoped it would be.

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.

Please do contact me if you are interested in my work.

Tree stump - Conté drawing

 

During our very short vacation a few weeks ago we walked a lot in our beautiful nature. We had chosen the area of the 'Utrechtse Heuvelrug' for our hotel stay and went for walks in that Natural Reserve which has many beautiful signposted walks for everyone who loves to be in a forest area. The 'Soester Duinen' (see my previous post) is also a part of that Natural Reserve.

During one of these walks I made a reference picture of a tree stump that had been a stump for a long time and was partially uncovered. There were dark and light spots on the stump, caused by moist and some patches were green with mosses or algae. I wanted to draw this tree stump as soon as I saw it, but it took some weeks before I had the time to do so.

The paper I chose is new for me, I did buy it not long ago and I used the 'back' side because that side seems to have more tooth than the other side. And a bit of tooth is needed when I use my Conté Crayons (or charcoal). The grey crayon is lighter than the paper and I added black to make my drawing. Finally some highlights with white and my drawing was finished. Only some final shaking off (of the dust) was needed and some layers of fixative.

To make a good picture for this blog - and other places on the internet - was a bigger challenge than getting my fingers clean after using the Conté  crayons. I have tried various places, but either the incoming light was too visible or the paper reflected the colour of the ground. Finally I placed it on a greyish ground and made my picture(s). Another lesson learned as this is not so obvious when making pictures of a watercolour painting.

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

If you are interested in my work, please contact me for information.