Hills - landscape

 

During our short vacation in Vaals (The Netherlands) we made a few signposted walks, enjoying the weather, the hills, the views and the woodland areas we were walking through. Several pictures were made of the nice landscape and I intend to use some of them as reference for watercolour paintings. 

This is the first scene I painted and though the landscape was green under a blue sky, I adapted it to another colour scheme. Sometimes I just don't want to paint another blue and green landscape.

My limited palette has a yellow, two browns and a blue for making the grey-ish shades by mixing it with the brown ones.

This is one of those paintings that are started with a reference picture that is really good, but before all the trees or other elements are added, the painting already looks great, so  I decide to stop. 

I really don't think this painting would improve with foreground trees, it's all about atmosphere. 

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.

Virginia creeper - watercolour painting and pencil drawing

 

Last week we visited the Castle Ruin of Valkenburg (Netherlands) and one of the things that attracted my attention was this plant in full Autumn colours creeping over the walls of the castle. I made some reference pictures to make a pencil drawing.

The drawing was made but for several reasons I was not completely happy with the result

and I decided to use the drawing (second picture) as a study for a watercolour painting.

For the watercolour painting (first picture) the paper was given a hint of colour, using the colour of the 'mergel' or marl stones that were used to construct the castle. On top of that background I painted the leaves of the Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) and added the structure of the stones using a watercolour pencil. 

The emphasis of the watercolour painting is now on the plant and its autumn colours as I wanted it to be.

The information about the materials I have used for both the drawing and the painting, the sizes of the works and the availabilities can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Medlar - a pencil drawing

 

Last week we were on a short vacation, this time not only my husband and me, but also our children and grandchildren. That meant I did not have much time to make walks and/or drawings. Reference pictures were made, so I will catch up in the coming weeks.

This drawing was made during our short stay, from a reference picture I made during a nice walk near the 'Drielandenpunt' at Vaals (The Netherlands). We walked in the hills and passed through woodland areas, fields, crossed - or almost crossed - some borders and really enjoyed the walk.

This bush did attract my attention, I had never before seen these fruits. They look like large rosehips, but are in fact too large to be a rosehip. The plant is one of the 'rose' family, a medlar, Mespilus germanica. 

For the drawing I used my watercolour pencils, leaving the background only in one colour (in reality the leaves were still green) and adding water to the fruits, so the colours would be enhanced and so the fruits would be emphasized. This worked as I hoped it would 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.

Rooted and tenacious (for a challenge)

 

The October challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' has Deep-rooted as its theme, with references to trees in the description. That subject is all I could wish for, trees are my most important inspirations. Though I had some difficulty in selecting which tree I would draw or paint for this challenge. It had to be a living one and this tree, in the 'Alblasserbos', very close to my home (walking distance) is the chosen one.

This tree and another one of the same kind are lying on the ground in a small section of the forest area that used to be an orchard. It looks like the trees have been pulled down when the orchard closed but tenaciously stayed alive and are still bearing their fruits in autumn - now for the passers-by to pick and enjoy.

It has been a while since I made a Conté drawing, so my contribution for the challenge is a Conté drawing of that tree as it is at the end of winter - when the reference picture was made.

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

A glimpse (underneath) - Kalmthoutse Heide

 

The end of summer is more sunny and warm than the 'real' summer was this year so we went for a walk over the Kalmthoutse Heide in September, enjoying a nice warm day and the last of the purple colours of the heather in bloom. We made a nice long walk, combining two signposted walks to see as much purple as possible. Of course we also passed by woodland areas, sand dunes and sand paths and some trees that were standing (almost) alone.

Under one of those trees was a nice bench for tired walkers so we sat in the shadow of the tree and my husband made a picture of this glimpse underneath the branches of the tree. He made the request for a watercolour painting and I decided to do this 'my way' with the tree in the lead role.

The roots of the tree were interesting in shape so I gave them extra attention by changing the clarity of the reference picture to see the shapes - compared to the dark mass they were in the original picture. As most of the tree is back lit, it is only natural that the roots are too dark in the picture. With some help from the photo programme I managed to get the reference image I needed, another lesson learned for the future.

For the painting I wanted the tree in the lead role, so the background, a path, bushes and some trees  is mostly suggested. The pine cones under the tree were added for structure as well as some fallen twigs.

The painting is what I hoped it would be, so 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. If you are interested in my work (only original paintings are available) please contact me.

Between Art and Sound - for a challenge

 

The September challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is 'between art and sound' or how music can influence our art. Are we inspired by music or is there something else?

My art is not inspired by music, but a good melody helps me concentrate when I am painting. 

So I decided to do something with musical notes and a landscape. But what? Placing some musical notes in the landscape is not really 'special' enough for a challenge. After some thought I decided to give the landscape an extra layer of paint (or more than one layer) where the music can be found. Exaggeration is never good, so there are only two notes in this landscape.

I have used an old working sketch for the landscape, the first painting after this sketch was made almost six years ago.

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

Fantasy in green - my chestnut tree (again)

 

Lucky me, to have a chestnut tree in the front garden, now I have an easy source of inspiration two steps from my front door. This watercolour is another one made after a reference picture of my chestnut tree.

This time I wanted to paint the foliage as it is still full and there are many patterns visible. The open spaces between the foliage can have interesting shapes - or not - depending on the standing point of the viewer.

The still growing chestnut has a very different shade of green and makes a nice focal point in front of a dark patch of shadows and leaves. The branches give structure to the image, without them you wouldn't know what you are looking at and I am not yet ready for that much abstraction.

For this watercolour painting I first made a charcoal study - which is not worth showing as it is really only a study in values and shapes, so it is not much more than patches of white, grey and black with some lines.  

If I had painted from my picture I could have been distracted by all the other things that are in our street like cars, other houses and other trees, a bit further away. Making the study first, I could 'lose' these distractions in a first step.

So I used my very sketchy study for my painting and the result is even better than I hoped for. Now I just have to remember this procedure for future paintings.

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.