Maastrichter Pastoorstraat

I was in Maastricht today. It was too cold to draw, but I tried anyway. The ink would not dry properly, and the watercolour didn't flow at all. Still I couldn't help myself by trying this. At home I did some touchups at the tower of the city hall (the ink was smeared), and I think in the end it worked out okay.

Abandoned in the snow

There is a lot of snow here, since Friday.  I wasn't able to go out, but a friend made a picture of an abandoned house somewhere in Belgium. I liked the picture, and redrew it.

Varanassi: Dolphin rooftop cafe

 

Watercolour of a view from the Dolphin rooftop cafe in Varanassi (India). Overlooking the Ganges, as seen during our visit in 2010. I made an Urban Sketch and some pictures back then, which formed the basis of this painting. You can check the old post at the following link: renefijten.blogspot.com/2010/09/varanasi

Live portrait: Margareta

 

A new live portrait/model session painting. Margarata (I think), she is an Indonesian model.
The idea was to use round brushes, and to start in watery shades, defining the interesting parts later in more detail. Took about 2 hours to make.
Acrylic, about 40x60cm.

Corravillers

 

Watercolour of a workshop in an abandoned factory in Corravillers, France. I made a picture of it last summer, tried it out as painting. Schmincke paint on Millford paper. This is the second one, the first was horrible. Still not 100% satisfied. But when are we ever :).

Brunssumerheide

 

I tried to go urban sketching this week, but twice the rain fell over my drawings, and I had to throw them away. So I went back to plan B: drawing at home. Sketch I made based on a picture of last monday, on the heather of Brussum, a nature area  where I go running. I used my new Duke fountain pen.

Best wishes for 2023

 

Merry Christmas and the best wishes for the next year.

My wife made this tableau, including the ceramic and decorated trees.

Dimmuborgir

 

Luchtime doodle. Based on a picture of the quite alien looking Dumuborgir landscape in Iceland.

Zakynthos, Olive tree

 

Zakynthos, a 2000 year old olive tree, in a village called Exo Chora. Well, loosely based on a picture that we made on holiday a few years ago, in 2018. Actually, I had already sketched it back then, see my post https://renefijten.blogspot.com/2018/10/exo-chora.html. The chair and table were actually there.

Oia, Santorini

 

A little more working on my watercolour skills. Oia, Santorini at sunset. Not on location, onfortunatly, but based on a picture I found on the Internet, by Tom Archer.

Duke Confucius sketch

 I have a new fountainpen: a Duke Confucius 551. Great pen. The pen makes everything between very thick and very thin lines. A quick sketch after a picture.

Bingelrade

 

Saw this yesterday during my running excercise, a country road between Merkelbeek and Bingelrade. Painted it today.

Nuth Nierhoven

Nuth, Nierhoven, at the fishing pond.
 

Gouda

 

A few days ago I made a business trip to Zoetermeer. But I had planned on traffic jams which did not happen, so I was early, and had an hour to spend. I stopped briefly in Gouda, where I managed to make this sketch at one of the canals. Located just outside the center, to avoid hassle at parking my car. It was nice sitting there, under a feeble sun, 12 degrees C, far to high for halfway November, but quite enjoyable.

LIve portrait session

Live portrait session. The idea was to use a small canvas (I used 20x30cm, not very very small).

It took 2 hours to make, using small brushes and acryllic paint.
 

Vaesrade

 

Cycled to Vaesrade this afternoon, to paint the colours of autumn. Even though the sun was nice for november, it was not warm enough for the watercolour to dry properly. Especially after 4 pm, when the sun started to set. The paper buckled, colours kept running, and some nuances didn't come out as expected.

 

Rocks and trees

 

Watercolour based on a picture I found on the Internet, from an artist who regularly posts images to train watercolour skills. hoffmannwatercolors.blogspot.com/2022/10/using-edges-to-create-illusion-of-space

You can find the original image in the link. Also an interesting site. Size 23x30cm, on Fabriano Artistico paper and a limited range of Schmincke colours.

Another Miggelenberg

 

Another one from our weekend. Now the other side of the cottage. I made this sitting outside.

Miggelenberg, Hoenderloo

 

We had a lovely weekend, renting a cottage in the Veluwe. We took our grandson, Jake, with us. He is almost 7, and we had a great time. I also managed to do some watercolour painting. This is the view from  our cottage into the autumn coloured forest. Made from behind the window.

Terramining

 Just doodling.