Visé lock

The harbour of Visé Belgium, a boat entering the lock to the canal. Painted on location.
I tried different paper (seawhite brighton), but it did not work out. Then I tried to improve the green foilage, and it became a total misery. Just to show some paintings can never be salvaged.

Amsterdam

A day to Amsterdam, for shopping and a visit to the Hermitage. A sat on a wall somewhere on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal eating french fries and mayonaise, to sketch this. No, I did not smoke anything...

Car

I want to go outside and sketch, but no chance because of the bad weather. All it ever does is rain.
I took an old picture of an abandoned car I found some years ago, somewhere in France, and made this drawing.

Cow

No drawings outside, it's too wet. My value exercises are based on photographs. This one is based on a picture of a cow in India, taken two years ago in a village called Ochra.

Colour values

More value studies. Maybe a bit boring these exercises, but very useful as experiments. In order to focus on tone values and not on the subject "trees", I used other colours than the obvious green.  I had to do the sky three times to get it right.
This is a local road near Merkelbeek, a little further down the road than shown in the post of June 23rd.

Value studies

Trying to improve my "values" (toonwaardes) in painting and sketching. Almost every day one or two of these tonal sketches. The subject is pretty irrelevant, a photo or an earlier sketch will do, it's a study of shades of grey.

Into the light

One of the hilly country roads "holle wegen" as we call them here. Leaving Merkelbeek, as seen during one of my 8 km. running rounds. I drove back two days later for this drawing.
I am a bit dissatisfied with my drawing lately, I want to improve  my use of "values" and composition. So I bought a book by Carl Purcell (your artist's brain, het artistieke brien), one of those book about drawing with the right side of your brain. I always thought that to be new age humbug, but I was wrong.
I am doing some of the exercises in the book (in my own way), and they really help understanding what I am doing. This painting should be considered to be one of those, an exercise in values.

Prieel

Not much sketching lately, most of my Saturdays are spent building a wooden pergola in my backgarden. Fortunately I don´t have to do it on my own, my son Mart is a big help.  He is young and lean enough to climb on the roof.
With a little luck it´s finished next weekend, only the shingles roofing left to do.
Prieeltje in wording in mijn achtertuin. Het kost me al een paar zaterdagen, maar ik heb goede hulp van mijn zoon Mart. Alleen de dakbedekking nog.