Winter in the polder

 

This week we had snow, temperatures below freezing point and great views! Driving was not too tricky so when I had to go to one of my children I drove through the polder of the Alblasserwaard (Netherlands) instead of taking the highway. In fact I prefer that route always, driving is more relaxed and it is a shortcut.

Of course I had to drive, but I could also enjoy the views of the snow on the fields and I decided I wanted to paint that. This painting is an imaginary landscape, I did not stop for a reference picture. The few parking places along that route do not have the nicest views.

A polder landscape always has some ditches, pollard willows - most of them are smaller than I am except for the branches - a line of trees and bushes on the horizon. When you look in the right direction there is a chance of a village with a church and don't forget the reeds beside the ditches.

So I arranged all these elements under a blue sky with some clouds looking for balance in the composition and I painted the landscape using the colours I remembered, dark brown for the trees, white and a nice grey for the clouds, blue sky and a brownish yellow for the reeds.

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.

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

A Winter's friendship - for a challenge

 

On the last day of the challenge of one of the Facebook groups I am in I found inspiration and time to make something for the challenge. We had to make a work in winter mood, including a snowman. 

So here is my contribution: a winter's friendship between a snowman and a scarecrow. 

They are in a field that has only some stubbles left after the harvest. A line of low bushes gives them some protection against the wind, but not as much as they would like. Even the crows are gone, so the scarecrow is happy with the company of his new friend - though the friendship will end after the arrival of spring.

For this work I have started to make the drawing of both friends, then I painted the background with watercolours. For the snowman and scarecrow I used my pencils. 

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

Village church - Sauerland

 

The reference for this watercolour painting is a sketch I made over nine years ago during a vacation in the Sauerland, Germany. I needed a Facebook challenge about painting churches or chapels to find this sketch again and make a painting.

For this painting I changed the season to a snowy scene in winter - at least I hope this is what a snowy day in winter looks like in the Sauerland. I live in a very flat country and do not really know how high hills (or low mountains) look like in winter. 

The sketch I made all those years ago was very limited, it only showed the church, one other building and lots of bushes and the lines of the hills in the background. Such a limited sketch allows for a lot of 'artistic licence' when making the final painting.

Using a limited palette and a lot of the mentioned artistic licence I made the painting I wanted to make.

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.

Church on the river - winter mood

 

The little church on the river Waal did inspire me to paint it in more than one composition, as I wrote in my previous post. In that post I also wrote about the church itself and why I decided to paint it more than once.

This time the reflections in the river are not important for my composition, instead I painted the church in a winter mood using the colours of the sky to get that particular atmosphere. Of course I could have painted a very dramatic skyscape, but our winters often have very calm days with only a few clouds in the sky that disappear within a few hours after sunrise. 

That was the calm winter mood I wanted to paint and I chose my colours carefully. The trees are bare now so there is a tangle of branches in different shades of brown. The bushes, both beside the church as well as in the foreground are more dense and I chose different shades for them. The riverside still has the dyke but most of its vegetation is resting in winter, only some bushes and shadows are visible. There is a reflection in the river, but that is not the most important part of this composition, so it is only suggested with a minimal amount of colour.

It is a winter morning and the lights in the church are on - maybe it's a Sunday, maybe the volunteers are cleaning up or decorating for a festivity, everything is possible.

Painting a winter scene from imagination while it's end of summer (all the trees I can see from my window are still green and the sky is mostly grey) is challenging but I am really happy with the result.

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.

Reeds in winter - a charcoal drawing

This is the second drawing I made after the reference picture my husband made during our short walk in 'De Biesbosch'.
The first is in my previous post and after I had finished that drawing I asked my husband whether he would like me to try how this scene looks in charcoal - and the answer was a positive one.

So this is the second version, in charcoal. I have used the picture for my reference again and started drawing the reed plumes after I had made a light grey background. 
The plumes were standing out too much against the background so I have added the suggestion of much more reeds. If I had not done this, the reeds would be standing alone in an unnatural way.
This was not so strong in the first version, possibly because of the softer colours of the watercolour pencils that were used for the reeds. 

This charcoal version has a very different 'feel' to it compared to the pencil version and in fact I like both results. 

The details about size, paper used and availability can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com  

Holly branch

Near my street is a row of holly bushes, kept low and in a nice shape by the gardeners of our community and I pass by it very often and admire the red berries, green leaves and nice shapes.

Of course I wanted to paint these and last summer I have learned how to do that.
I made a sketch of a branch with leaves and berries using several pictures as my reference, making up an imaginary branch of holly that i would like to paint. This branch would have to get a background with a 'window' that is reserved with tape while the outline is darkened with several layers of watercolour paint.

For my colour scheme I decided on a grey background with touches of the red I wanted to use for the berries. The green of the leaves is mixed with the blue-grey that also is in the background and the brown colour of the branch is also used in the background. 
This limited palette gives a bit of tranquillity to the painting.


After my background was painted, dried and the masking tape removed I made a drawing of the branch, using my sketch as example. I had to adapt the final branch a little as some of the colour of the outline had bled into the bright part. Most of that is covered by a large leaf now.
While doing this I decided to experiment with my Iridescent Medium, this was used in the parts of the leaves that have the dark background. The medium was mixed directly with the paint (one of the suggestions of the manufacturer of both the paints and the medium) and I really like the result that is achieved in this way.
After all it will be Christmas in a few days and I am more than a bit 'in the mood'.

The details about size, paper and paints used, availability etc can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com  

Vallée du Rhône, November

Last November my husband had a congress in the South of France and in the high speed train on the way there he made a lot of pictures for me of the early snowfall in that weekend. I have already made some watercolour paintings using these pictures as my reference, and this time I have chosen a scene that was almost only in shades of white and black with some grey for the sky.

The fallen trees in the corner that is down right were not to be seen without enlarging the reference picture on my screen.
Using watercolours these trees might become too detailed  and that was not what I wanted. The small sticks of charcoal that I have used for this drawing are perfect for this scene and I am really happy with the result.

The details about paper used, size and availability can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com