Embrace the wonkiness

A couple of years ago I started following the Dutch sketch artist Koosje Koene. Each Tuesday she puts up a video with inspiration for drawing. She is very good at drawing street scenes, and it is nice to see her techniques and her explanations of materials.

She has several quotes which she uses often, one of which is Embrace the wonkiness. Meaning that "wrong" lines or quick interpretations add that little funkiness to a drawing.

So, as a reminder, I put the quote in my sketchbook :).

 

Garden inspiration

I have been working on a couple of paintings the last weeks. One of them is inspired by a flower border in lovely colours. I had painted this one before but thought I would give it another try on canvas.

And this is the result so far.

I will add more details and look at it another time, but had fun building the composition and layers, working from the back to the front.

Nature is awakening here, so there is inspiration enough.

This Friday my studio is open again for visitors, 11-16 hours. Please contact me for more info if you'd like to drop by.

Wishing you a good week.

 

Spring

 Ah, Spring is coming. Finally some days of sun, and immediately nature responds. It also means that I am spending time outside, working in the garden and exploring the woods. And getting some exercise... But I am still painting in the studio though. Wishing you a good week!

My palette

Here you see the palette of colours I was working with in my studio last week. A couple of months ago I made a sketch/composition of a woman writing. I thought it would be interesting to paint, but I never got to it. But now I took the sketch out and started.

The painting is sort of finished and as you can see I kept the colours quite neutral, serene. But maybe it is too neutral for me, so I will look at it again and see whether I should make changes and add colour.

And so the process continues...

 

Betzy Berg - a Norwegian female painter

 Sometimes you stumble upon a story that speaks to you. I visited a small museum on the island of Vlieland and it appeared to be the home of a painter. And quite a remarkable one, a female painter called Betzy Berg from Norway, married to a Dutch man and fascinated by painting the sea.

You see a picture of her here below. She sits in a small custommade box, in which she could sit and paint without being bothered too much by the wind and the cold... It had wheels so she could pull it on and off the beach.

The story of her life is written in a book by Tineke Hendriks, it gives insight into her thoughts and methods, and passion to paint. Her road was not easy, but she followed her heart. The museum shows the house they were living in, her studio, her garden and some of her paintings. See for more information here, Trompshuys.

Winter colours

Here you see a picture I took last week. This is the Veluwe, a large area of nature and forest: Dry grasses, brown patches of heather and darkgreen pine trees. In between wild oars and deer can be seen sometimes but we did not see any. The sky was grey, as it has been for weeks... A ray of sunlight would have made this scene golden-coloured. But anyways, I still like these muted colours, they are calming and serene. So back in the studio I made some small sketches with pencil and watercolour in my sketchbook, also to see what composition I would choose. There is so much to learn and try.

 

Waiting for me

 Last week I was able to spend some time in the studio, doing small tasks, taking time for inspiration and I also did some painting. So this is the beginning of a portrait, I have no idea where this is going but it is waiting for me...

For next week I am planning to do some charcoal portrait sketches, to practice some models and see where it leads me. And so I am working on different techniques at the same time.

Hope you have a creative week too!