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.

Sabrina

Live nude model painting. Sabrina. At Annemiek Jongen art class.
 

Spinalonga, Greece

 

Watercolour painting of a tree. I made the reference picture on the Spinalonga island, last summer during our visit to Crete, in Greece.

Schmincke watercolour on Fabriano paper (about A4).

I want to develop my watercolour skills further.

2 trees

 

Experimenting with colours. Above trying something the Mark Folly watercolour way. 

Below: a tree in coloured inks, made by flowing inks on moist paper.

Aachen: Dom

Aachen, inside the Dom (Cathedral). The part where I am standing (the octagonal chapel) is the oldest, dating from 796 AD. Several (some 30) German Kings were crowned here. But the octagon was quite impossible to draw. So I tried for the choir. It features the golden Maria shrine, which should contain a piece of cloth of Jesus.

Aachen Rathaus

Aken / Aachen / Aix La Chapelle. I went there to draw the Dom and the city hall (Rathaus). Nice weather and a lot of people that chatted with me. Nice.
 

Hulsberg, Benedendorpvoetpad

Commission, a drawing of the gardenside of a house in Hulsberg. A really beautiful house.

Drawn on location, on a very hot day.