Wet tree

 

In my previous post I wrote about the drawing workshop session I attended in the garden of the Dordrechts Museum where I got inspired by the water patterns on a tree trunk.

During that workshop session I made a reference picture, a sketch and an ink painting.

This time I used my sketch as a reference for a watercolour painting and maybe I will also be working from the picture. In the post about the ink painting I wrote about the weather, that there was limited time to complete my sketch, but that the composition in the sketch was interesting (lots of empty paper). The ink painting did not have these bits of empty paper - which does not make it a bad painting but it did not turn out as planned.

So today another try, using the sketch as my reference. Using watercolour and small brushes the fine lines of the water running down the tree trunk are easy to paint. 

The more horizontal lines - also wet with water and showing a lot of the structure of the tree bark - are again a challenge. When to stop? The reference sketch is good, but much more grey on white, this watercolour is much darker, giving much more contrast in the values of the painting. So I ended up adding more lines and some extra colour in the tree trunk to make the painting more balanced.

Again I had difficulties making a 'good' painting from a good (balanced) sketch and this will not be the last time this happens to me. Over the past years this happened more than once and I expect I will also have these 'problems' in the future. Well, this kind of trial and error are the best learning moments so they are good for me - a bit frustrating but good.

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

Wet tree - made during a workshop session

 

During the workshop session organised by Pictura I also had the opportunity to work with inks. This work is made with one colour only, I love to work monochromatic.

During a short period of dry weather (and not much dripping from the trees) the other students in the workshop session and me went into the garden of the Dordrechts Museum for inspiration. The trees there are very old and majestic. 

One of the trees was wet from the rain that had fallen earlier, but not all of the tree trunk was wet. The patterns the water made inspired me. First I made a reference picture, after that I started sketching. When it started raining again, I stopped working on the sketch and went inside to make the ink drawing.

Using only the sketch for reference, I made a drawing/painting using ink and a brush - so it's more a painting than a drawing I guess.

Working with the ink and water was new for me, but is very similar to working with watercolour paint, so I felt confident.

The final result is different from the initial sketch, but I worked partially from memory as I had to stop sketching early. For the work I made with the ink I also worked on the composition.

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

Branches - made during a workshop session

 

The drawing society 'Pictura' is 250 years now and that means there are many events this year. Of course I am not a member of such a society (I never visited an Art Academy) but there are workshop lessons for amateurs this summer. During those lessons we can learn to work with materials that are new or work on subjects that are unfamiliar.

The first day was all about drawing the old trees in the garden of the 'Dordrechts Museum' using inks, water-soluble pigments and crayons. I learned a lot about using materials that are new to me, the teacher was very helpful and the instructions were good. 

We were allowed to follow our own inspiration, so I tried the water-soluble earth pigments (a green earth and a red earth) combined with two inks. All using water and a brush to apply these mediums on watercolour paper.

Looking at the results, we (the teacher and me) decided not to add anything else, besides, the time was running out.

Of course this is not the only work I made during this session, the other work(s) will be shown in a separate blog post.

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

Tree bark with ivy - a pencil drawing

 

Some months ago during a nice forest walk I made a reference picture of tree bark with some ivy growing up the tree. There were a few branches of the ivy, a lot of the tree bark was still visible. This reference picture was made for later use.

Last weekend I prepared this drawing, by making the watercolour under painting first and after that had dried I made the lines of the branches of ivy, the outlines of the leaves and the structure of the tree bark.

Later, during my presence at the 'Af en Toe Kunstroute' (an Art route not far from my home in which I often participate) I had almost six hours to complete the drawing. Of course I had to talk to the visitors, give information about my art, the route and more but there was enough time to work on this drawing.

Only for the leaves I used a bit of water after the first pencil layer. After that had dried, I added two or three more layers of pencil until I was happy with the result.

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.

Common Broom

 

The May challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is "Hello Yellow", so we have to make something with the colour yellow. Last weekend, on the moorlands of the province Drenthe (The Netherlands) we saw the broom (Cytisus scoparius)  covered in flowers, so there I found my subject for the contribution to that challenge.

My husband made a nice reference picture for me and I made this watercolour painting, showing the flowers and only suggesting the rest of the bush. On a yellow background I made a light drawing of the flowers, added the greens of the bush and after all had dried, I painted the flowers, using two shades of yellow and hints of green for the petals and some brown for the stamens.

The result is what I hoped for.

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

Juniper berries - a pencil drawing

 

Last weekend my husband and me went to the province of Drenthe (The Netherlands) to walk in the beautiful nature there. Before we went to our vacation home, we made a signposted walk in the Mantingerveld, a place where the junipers are still growing in great numbers. 

Of course there was more to see than just junipers (Juniperus communis and I have a lot of reference pictures for nice paintings, but I just had to make a reference picture of the berries and make a drawing. 

As known, the berries take two years to mature, the green ones are in their first year, the darker blue ones in their second year and those will fall off or be eaten by birds. The juniper is the only indigenous needle tree in The Netherlands and it is having a hard time because of changes in the landscape and pollution. In places like the Natural Reserve 'Mantingerveld' the forest rangers are working hard to preserve the junipers. Looking at the amount of trees in that area, they seem to be successful.

The drawing was made during our stay in the vacation home, I only bring drawing materials when we are going for a short vacation and so I am limited in subject choice.

The berries have multiple layers, I used some water to 'awaken' the colours and added more pencil lines on top of that. That was done to make the berries stand out as my subject.

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.

Aekingerzand

 

Last weekend, during our (very) short trip to the Northern parts of our country, we walked in Natural Reserve 'Het Drents-Friese wold'. We passed by the 'Aekingerzand' and made several pictures. Of course we made a lot of pictures during that walk, but this charcoal drawing is made after a picture made at the moorland bordering the Aekingerzand.

The clouds were getting darker and the moorland is still brown in springtime - not many green leaves yet and the flowers will not be there before August. The horizon had some bushes and a lonely tree. This reference picture just asked for a charcoal drawing, adding a bit more darkness to the landscape to add to the atmosphere.

The drawing was made in our vacation home not long after the reference picture was made and I am really happy with the result.

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