This started as an experiment to find out whether I would like to paint like this or not at all. And of course I wanted to find out if this would work at all or end in a disaster.
Both questions can be answered in a positive way: yes, I like this and yes, it worked good enough.
The reference is a picture we made almost twelve years ago at Stonehenge. We were too late to enter so the pictures were made from behind the fence, showing the whole site in one image. I have used a part of one of those pictures to make my composition.
The plan was to make a sky, paint the stones and let the colours of the stones bleed down, thus forming the 'roots' of the stones. To be sure I did have enough space to let it happen I have chosen to paint on a half sheet of watercolour paper.
The edges of the stones that could get some sunlight were painted red, the rest of the stones were painted in all of my Twilight Colours and I let these colours mix and run to make some new shades.
I have used clear water to let the colours of the stones drip down - and my working surface was tilted as much as possible to let gravity help the process.
This technique is very much dependent on the circumstances of the moment and planning is not really possible. I did not interfere in the dripping, knowing that I would ruin my painting in doing so.
I really enjoyed painting this one, allowing the colours to mix on my paper and hoping for a result that can be published. The title came to my mind after I had finished the painting and was looking at it to see if I should add something (what was not necessary).
The details about the paper and paints used, availability and contact information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
The last day of 2019 was a very foggy day. We started in the morning without a view from the windows but that got better in a few hours.
We (my husband and me) decided to go for a short walk in 'De Biesbosch', a Natural Reserve very close to where we live. This is a very wet area, formed during a flood in the year 1421 and the tides can still be experienced here.
We had a lot of mist and a bit of sunshine during our walk and at one point we could see the reeds and the creek close by, but the woodlands behind the reeds were almost the same shade of grey as the foggy sky.
There was no wind, so the water in the creek was completely still and everything was reflected as clearly as possible on such a foggy day.
Of course some reference pictures were made!
I decided to make a charcoal drawing of this scene, the shades of grey were inviting me to choose that technique.
There was another reason for charcoal, making a charcoal drawing is faster than watercolour, and I did not have the time to prepare a sheet of paper and paint a watercolour painting. That is for the weekend, as my days off from work are over.
The details about the paper I used, the size, availability and contact information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
Last October we had one bright day in Port-en-Bessin (Normandy,France) and we enjoyed it from the first until the last moment. During our stay there I have already painted the sunrise, this is the sunset of that day.
We did not see the sun set in the sea, there were the cliffs on the horizon that were hiding the view we hoped for, but the colours of the sky were great.
My husband made a few pictures and today I have painted that scene.
I have chosen to do a 'portrait' format so I could paint a lot of sky. The cliffs are really far away and not much detail was visible in this light and the sea was looking calm so I decided to let these elements be of lesser importance. The clouds behind the cliffs on the horizon are only suggested here, I remember they were very hazy.
The details about paper and paints used, size and availability can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
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
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
The December challenge of "Goed Gezien- Goed Bekeken" (our regional amateur art association) is 'Peace on earth'. We just had a challenge about peaceful snowy landscapes so I was still 'in the mood' for that theme.
Peace on earth is also one of the Christmas wishes, so the painting had to have a bit of the Christmas mood as well.
And the words (and melody) of "A Gaelic Blessing" kept going through my mind so I decided to incorporate that in my painting as well.
Of course all that did not come to my mind in an instant, I was talking to my daughter about this challenge and my inspirations and she gave me some great ideas to work with. She also gave me the text is a way that I could easily copy it in the painting.
I have used a (sharp) watercolour pencil for that.
Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace of Christ the light of the world to you
Deep peace of Christ to you
The snow scene was adapted so I would have space to write the text and I have used the shadows of the hills as lines for the writing.
The details about paper, paints and pencil used, size and availability can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
Two weeks ago my husband went to a congress in the South of France and he travelled there by high speed train. Along the route he saw lots of snow and made a lot of pictures from the train, for himself and for my paintings.
The pictures are of an unexpected good quality considered that the train travelled at a speed of 300 kilometres per hour.
The first snow scene, in my previous post, was completed before he was home again. Now I have seen all the pictures he made and I asked for some to be transferred to my laptop computer so I could use them as reference pictures. (very often my husband needs the desktop computer, both for his work and the charity work he does)
This snowy scene is a bit different, the trees are much closer to the railroad and the snow really needs all the shadows I painted to achieve the depth that was needed in this scene.
These scenes are a nice challenge to paint, snow is not completely white, certainly not when the landscape is uneven.
I enjoyed painting this one and the details about paper and paint used, size etc, can be found on my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com
