Apple blossom

I looked up and saw...:

Just love to take pictures...

this one I took in our garden.

It is the blossom of our apple tree.

Books for inspiration

You should think I have time to read books,

but I am in the process of making at this moment... so I do not really have the focus for reading.

This book about Colour is one of those Books to be read.

I bought this in a museum and it is all about the history and making of colour.

There is so much to learn about Colour, I find it very interesting.

At the moment there is a lot of interest for dyeing with natural colours, 

so I am following up on those experiments.

Book "Colour. Making and using dyes and pigments.",

written by Francois Delamare and Bernard Guineau.

The power of nature

While the COVID-virus is making us stay home,

nature is still going strong. 

Sunny days have given a boost to the flowers, birds and bees.

Sun, sun and sun,

it is nice to enjoy these beautiful days.

Charcoal before and after

 I made my own charcoal, yeah!

I cut branches from the willow just outside my studio, debarked them (a bit of work...), 

cut them to size to put into a metal bin.

Then we put this bin on an open fire,

lots of steam comes out of it and after a while when the steam stopped,

we opened the bin and found lots of charcoal.

With a small drawing we tested the quality, and yes, I can use them, happy!

We used the tips from Nick Neddo, who wrote a book on the Organic Artist.

Hands, hands, hands

As an exercise I have been collecting and making pictures of hands for inspiration and study.

I like the different poses, and the simple lines to put a hand into shape.

This is a good exercise for my figurative paintings. 

To paint hands is quite difficult, and the more you practice the shapes, the better I can paint them.