Tulips, a lobster and some sketches

Last months WetCanvas Floral challenge was all about tulips. I picked one of the reference photos and painted it twice. Once with watercolors only and the other one with pen and watercolors. Both in my Moleskine watercolor journal.

And I participated in a few WDE's (Weekend Drawing Event) on WetCanvas.

WDE 20 May 2016 - An old door in Greece, with brown  PITT pen, a brown Tombow pen and water

WDE 20 May 2016 - I was fascinated by the clearness of the water on the reference image. And I am really happy with my attempt. In watercolors only.

WDE 29 May 2016 - A juicy yummie looking lobster with pen and watercolors.

WDE 2 June 2016 - Two sketches in a square Handbook journal. The left one with my new Lamy pen and the right one with a Pilot Sign Pens. Both new pens, and both with ink that is not waterproof. But I do like the effect with the watercolors.

Last summer sun in Greece

Last week I was on Samos, an island in Greece, near Turkey. To soak up the last summer sun. The temperature was really nice, with lots of sunshine. My sister and I rented a great villa near Phytagorion with views on the sea and the coast of Turkey.

View from our villa

One of the churches we past on our trips and a visit to the Archeological Museum in Vathi - Samos city

A view of Kokkari

Cappuccino in Kokkari

View from our villa, the mountains of Turkey in the early morning fog

A monastery in the hills, and old remains in Phytagorion

And a tasty grilled sea-bream for lunch

And now we are back home again, autumn is here and the summer time has ended. Time to go back to work!

Painting holiday in the Netherlands

Last week I went on a 5 day painting holiday in the Netherlands. In the National Park 'De Wieden'. A beautiful part of the Netherlands with lots of water and beautiful landscapes. I focused on working with watercolors, but also did some sketching. As you see, I made several paintings of the same view :-).

Learning a new technique - Steven Reddy's Craftsy class

I took Steven Reddy's class on Craftsy and I love the new technique I learned. It starts with a sketch with pen and an underpainting with Indian ink. Love the technique! The class is great, Steven is very patient, explains well and he is very comforting, you are allowed to make mistakes. Great class for everyone who wants to learn new sketching techniques.


All in my Stillman and Birn Zeta sketchbook, 7" x 7".

Flower pots with ink washes

And the flower pots with watercolors

And a selfie ;-)

And it also works for portraits

The flower pots and Jim (the old man), the references are from pmp-art.com. PaintMyPhoto. The selfie of me on a Greek terrace drinking coffee is my own.

Sketches from Greece

I enjoyed a great holiday in Greece the last weeks, and returned home yesterday. I will show you some of the sketches I made in my Stillman and Birn Alpha journal. I have been working with pen, watersoluble pens (Tombow and Speedball) and watercolors.

This is a sketch I made sitting on the Golden Beach in Gialova, with a great view of the rocks in the clearblue water and the island opposite the beach. With pen and watercolors.

And some more sketches (in chronological order)

 

Methoni castle

Painting for the WDE Weekend Drawing Event

This weekend I have been painting for the WDE Weekend Drawing Event on WetCanvas. I you never participated, it is a great way to get some more practice into your busy life. Every Friday a host will publish 16 images and you can do with them whatever you want. Paint, draw, sketch, collage, crop, abstract etc. There are a lot more forums, in which you can post your paintings, or participate in monthly challenges. Check it out!

This week I printed a few images, the first one from the afternoon tea. I used the afternoon tea image to create this entry in my Stillman and Birn sketchbook, with pen and watercolors.

And then I moved on to a marvelous image of a porch, with an umbrella stand, boots and scattered shoes. I loved it. I painted this one on a 'scrap' piece of watercolor paper, with pen and watercolors. The size is 7 1/2" x 12 1/4".

And then I can finally share 2 ATC's that I painted for the WetCanvas animals ATC project. You create the ATC's, send them to the recipients and when they receive it, you can finally share your image. These are the first 2 that have arrived on their final destination, there are about 10 more in the mail.

And the great thing is, that you receive all these lovely pieces of art back in return!

The reference images for the goats and the pig came from PaintMyPhoto.

Sketches in my handmade artist journal

Last week my sister came for dinner and we made an artist journal / sketchbook each. I made mine from Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper. I bought 25 sheets on sale.

The journal is about 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" and because I did not want to spoil it... I made another one. And this weekend I made a bigger one as well (double the size).

I will be travelling to California in a few weeks time and want to sketch and paint every day. This is my practice run, trying to create every day.

A watermelon still life for the WDE (Weekend Drawing event) on Wetcanvas

And a fish with blue lips for the WDE

Poppy seed heads with pen and ink

And a sketch from Pacific Grove, where I will be staying a few weeks