ans-artplace, sculpture, dolls, drawings, photos, etc.

excercises sketch cutlery

2011-12-12T06:02:00.000-08:00

sketch radish charcoal A3

2011-12-03T03:28:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered charcoal again and also that I love to draw at a large scale.
So the radish I drew is A3, so very enlarged and I used 4 different greys and white for this sketch.

some drawings of mushrooms and gourds

2011-11-20T06:38:00.000-08:00

I made some drawings of mushrooms and gourds this week.
The gourds are drawn on cartridgepaper and hb and 2b pencils
For the mushrooms I used charcoal and grey and white chalks
The first mushroom is in real 4 cm and the drawing is approx 26 cm. So a huge mushroom.
But when you work with charcoal you cannot work too tiny.
The drawings of the other mushrooms are also very large.

listed my E-book on CD at Ebay!!!!! ship worldwide.

2011-10-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

A lovely present for the holidays!

I just listed my E-book again at Ebay. ebay-listing
My book is called : "Little babies of Clay" In my book I show you step by step how to sculpt a life-size babydoll out of clay.
The auction is only for 7 days till the 5th of November.
But of course you always can order my E-book directly with me for an even lower price.
And you can either receive my E-book by email or I can put it on CD and send it to you by Priority/Airmail.
Please visit my Ebay-listing to see the detailed description of what my book has to offer.
Or you can email me directly at email adress

new distance learning course

2011-10-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

Last week I started a new distance learning course with Julie Douglas.
I met her through another distance course and when I read her blog I knew that her way of teaching is what I have been looking for.
She is just such a lovely and enthousiastic lady.
I received the first 8 excercises with warm ups and I am very busy right now with learning to draw and to do it with a different approach.
Just to look at the negative spaces and that way building up a drawing.
So not drawing the objects but the objects will develop while drawing the spaces between the objects.
Very refreshing indeed. You can take a look at her work and her teaching at: http://www.juliedouglasdrawingpaintinglearning.blogspot.com/

watercolor little flowers

2011-08-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

I found these wild flowers peeping through a fence. I never had seen it before and I did not find a name yet.

just finished water color small hydreangea

2011-07-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

Just finished this little bundle of flowers. They grow in my garden and I love the transparant colors of some of them. Others are very vribrant and not so transparent and I have a couple of them with different colors. From blue to purple to white to pink etc. And once they have bloomed the colors fade and the pale green and soft sand colors are also beautiful to look at.

sketch pastel still life and workingplace

2011-07-16T03:21:00.000-07:00

I took a photo of one of my workingplaces that I have made a couple of month ago.
My great wish is to have a workingplace at a window facing North but...... I have to be satisfied with a window facing West. Therefor I like to work with a daylight lamp and in the evening to get better highlights and shadows.
The worktop is more than 2 meters long and there are some cupboards beneath it.
So all my materials are on hand.
But I also have in a corner in my livingroom a table special for working with oils. That way I can keep, the sometimes messy oils and also the brushes, separate from the pastel, watercolor and acryl work.

You can see the setup of a still life of some fruit.
The sketch at my easel is a different setup but with the same fruit of orange, nectarine and bananas, and I worked on it at daytime as you can see at the shadows and highlights.
I am working right now at the setup you can see in front of the window and I will place the picture of this second still life real soon.

some new studies botanical illustration

2011-07-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

above= colored pencil
below= watercolor on Arches HP

Anemone Japanese

colored pencil = leave Acer

watercolor and pencil on Arches HP = garlic

watercolor on Arches HP = Hypericum

Kerria Japonica

watercolor and on the right colored pencil on Arches HP

water color chart for mixing greens

2011-07-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

I always had so many troubles in mixing greens and painting leaves so therfor I am very busy right now with painting leaves. To help me I made a large color chart of greens. And I am amazed how many color greens and browns and shadowcolors you can mix. It will be a big help to me. Perhaps it will be of some help for others too. You can click on the charts to see the names of the colors.

Today I also painted the leaves of a Prunus Larocerasus. Click to enlarge

watercolor charts

two little sisters step by step oil painting

2011-06-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

I finally added some color to the black and white portrait of the two little sisters by Bouguereaux.
Just the first color layer and it has to dry before I can add some more color. The white of the flake and titiaan white paint lights up a bit but that will vanish when I add some fleshcolors (I hope) And of course a lot of detail has to be added too. Still a long way to go.
Here you can see some of the steps of the painting process.

oil painting after Elizabeth Pruitt 3e fase

2011-06-05T02:57:00.000-07:00

I took the time to let the layers dry thouroughly and the last couple of days I started to paint again at this painting. Still...................... of course I am struggling at different parts and therefor there is a lot to be done. And again I have to let it dry before I can go on. So here are the different stages sofar.

2x dandelion, 2x total different

2011-04-21T02:04:00.000-07:00

Last night I took a photograph of a dandelion and this morning I took one of the same flower.
Total different curcomstances, different times of the day, different light and the flower did not bloom anymore.
Also the result with the color of the (same) background was surprising.

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO SEE THEM ENLARGED AND SO TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE DETAILES

new macro photos

2011-04-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

I have bought some daylight lamps because I like to take photos indoors.
I love macros but it is so difficult to take photos outside. Here in Holland there is always wind. So I decided to buy some lamps to be able to take photos whenever I want.
And here are the first photos. Please click on the photos to see them enlarged and to see the details.
The first one is a bit abstract. It is a wild hyacinthflower stem.
The second is a cherry blossom flower and the last one some springflowers called Pulmonaria, longkruid

portrait of 3 bassethounds pastel finished

2011-02-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

Finally the portrait is finished. I want to celebrate because I am so proud.
This was such a huge project. I do not think that I will ever again make 3 portraits together on one paper. Click on the picture to see it enlarged.

unison pastels

2011-01-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

Last week I ordered a beautiful set of 72 Unisons soft pastels. This was a real wish for a long time and I decided to reward myself for the hard work and I also wanted to give myself a birthday present. On the 24th I will be 63 years of age.

I cannot wait till they arrive, but I ordered them in the UK and they would have it in stock in 5 days time so I have to wait a couple of weeks. Is it not a beautiful sight? all those colors.....................mmmmmmmmm.

portrait of 3 bassethounds second head almost finished

2011-01-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the second head, the head of the father of the two puppies.
Of course in real .................. I find the portraits are better, sigh.
The black is not so blue in real, more subtle, but I think you can see all the colors I have used to create the "blacks".
When the 3 heads are finished I will of course make some last alternations like the white breast and shoulder of the middle head.

As you can see I started with the third head, the youngest puppy. His colors are different from his father and brother, so again a real challenge to get it right.

portrait of 3 bassethounds pastel fourth stage

2011-01-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

I took a break during the holidays but I am a little bit further with the second head.
The black ears of the second head were already finished but I decided to take off almost everything from the black ear. I was not satisfied about it.
So I started again and it took many many hours to draw the ear again. It looks better now.
And I started to work on the other parts of the head. Still a lot of work to do.

portrait of 3 bassethounds pastel third stage

2010-12-25T03:25:00.000-08:00

Last night I worked hard and I think the head is almost there. I will let it rest and concentrate at the second black and white head of the father and perhaps later on I will bring some tiny alterations at the first head. But I find out that when I let my drawings and paintings rest for a while I can see them with fresh eyes. In real the head is so much better, there is more depth and liveliness, ah well, we all know that taking photos and scans do not give the real thing.

So here it is.................. my first bassethead finished. Wow, I even surprised myself. The last couple of years I studied hard. Bought many beautiful books about all kind of materials and techniques and also bought many DVD's. And I think that it pays out right now. I am so glad.
I have a very low income and I hope that I will get a couple of commissions per year. Not too much, only to be able to buy my materials to keep going.

portrait of 3 bassethounds pastel second stage

2010-12-24T01:42:00.000-08:00

Last night I worked at the front of his face and his eye, not yet there. A lot of things to do, this is only the base. The snout has a somewhat deeper color and his nose is still with no color at all, etc, etc.
I already start to work at the portrait of his father so you can see some of the black ear of him behind his son. Although the father is black and white I will use many many colors to get the black and white. All those folds is fun to do, but to create the shine on his hair is difficult, I expect. But a real challenge. This is a real big project for me, 3 heads on one paper that's a big painting.

2 portraits, sister and brother, pencil drawing

2010-12-22T02:09:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I finished two portraits of two little children. They are brother and sister and her grandmother wanted to have a portrait of them for her 70th birthday.
I took a lot of photos of the two children in the garden of their grandmother. It so much rewarding and fun to take my own photos, but it is not easy with children. They do not sit still. But I got many good photos to choose from. The grandmother was very satisfied about the portraits, I am glad to say that. Every new project is a real adventure and when I start I always feel insecure. But when I start at a commission there are no strings attached. I only sell the portrait when I am satisfied and the potential buyer only have to buy when he/she is satisfied. So no stress and pressure and I need that to feel free while drawing/painting.

These pictures are © protected!!

portrait of 3 bassethounds pastel first stage

2010-12-22T01:23:00.000-08:00

Last week I started at another commission: a portrait of 3 bassethounds. Father and his two sons.

The owners they live close by and I know them for a long time because I meet them when I am walking my dogs. I told them I would love to portrait one of their dogs. They are so adorable and colorfull. They already have several paintings of their dogs but they also wanted to have a portrait of father and his two sons together.

So I took a lot of photos so they could choose the ones they like the most. And I put them together in several different setups so they had the choice which one they wanted. I like it when the owners and I decide together about the photos and the layout before I start.

For this portrait I use only pastelpencils, 3 different brands.
Chiaconda, Pitt and I gave myself a Christmas gift: Carbothellos. The paper I work on is Canson Mi Teintes, the smooth side.
All these materials are so expensive. But I pay my materials with the money I earn when a portrait is sold. So I can keep drawing and painting and stay busy. Especcially in wintertime and during the Christmas holidays, because these days are lonely days for me. And therefor having a task and a challenge is important for me so I do not feel to sad.

The first head is for 2 third almost ready, but there are always little tweeks to do.

leaf excercise

2010-11-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

I am trying to paint leafs, I find it so difficult to paint them.
So I will paint many leafs the next couple of days and I hope it will get better and easier.
At first I made a pencil drawing especcially for the veins, with pen and ink I made the lines more visible to use it to transfer the drawing to the watercolor paper. First I painted the front of the leaf and right now I am painting the back of the leaf

last commission: portrait of a little boy

2010-11-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

This is the last portrait I have made. Today I showed it to his grandmother and I am glad to say that she liked his little face. His name is Bram.

Billy Showell DVD's and books

2010-11-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

I gave myself an early Christmass present. I ordered two new DVD's of Billy Showell about painting fruits and vegetables and A-Z flowerportraits. I cannot wait to watch them. Today I looked at a DVD of her I already had for some time, I think her first DVD, about painting a tulip and orchids. Such an inspiration to see her working. Tomorrow I will buy a simular orchidplant and I will try-out her way or painting. I think it will be a great excercise in painting techniques and what colors to use.

onion excercise watercolor

2010-11-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

This is my first excercise for the course at Londonartcolege about higlights and working wet in wet and such.

online course botanical illustration

2010-10-30T03:55:00.000-07:00

Like I said in my previous post I wanted to take a course in botanical illustration and finally I found one in England, United kingdom. It is at the Londonartcollege. www.londonartcollege.co.uk
The website looks great and there is much information available about the courses and the tutors.

I justed signed up and I cannot wait to receive the lessons to start. The tutor is Sandrine Maugy.
She seems to me a lovely lady and a very talented artist. Her work is beautiful.

Although I have some experience I do not have much experience in botanical drawing and painting so I have to learn a lot. I asked advise which course was best for me: nr I or nr II. The advice given was, because I already had some experience in drawing and painting, to start with nr II. So I did.

I keep you informed about the course and my work and the progress thet I hopefully will make.

botanical painting

2010-10-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

I love botanical painting, I always did. But I feel it is so difficult. I bought some DVD's of very famous painters and my most favorite DVD is of Billy Showell. I bought also a lot of books about drawing and painting in a lot of different techniques and subjects. I searched the internet for botanical painting and painters and also for an online course. I found a course, but it costs so much money, too much for me. But then I discovered that one of their students (a professional artist now) put her journey while following the course in a book. It became a beautiful book and also because she shows and tells

botanical painting

2010-10-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

I love botanical painting, I always did. But I feel it is so difficult. I bought some DVD of very famous painters and my most favorite DVD is of Billy Showell.
I bought also a lot of books about drawing and painting in a lot of different techniques and subjects and of course also books about painting flowers.
I searched the internet for botanical painting and painters and also for an online course.
I found a great course with The Society of Botanical Artists, but it costs so much money, too much for me.
But then I discovered that one of their students (a professional artist now) put her journey, while following the course, in a book. It is called Botanical sketchbook by Mary Ann Scott
Here you can read more about the book, the author and the SBA
http://makingamarkreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/book-review-botanical-sketchbook.html

It became a beautiful book, also because she shows and tells all about the excercises and assignments.
Following the book you can follow the course yourself and I intend to do so.
That's why I started an excercise in drawing pears to start with.

I found another book that concentrate even more on the basics of drawing and painting botanical illustrations.
"Botanical Illustration course with the Eden project" by Rosie Martin and Meriel Thurstan.

I am so happy with these books. And it will take many many months to make all these excercises.
But I feel that when I have done so I will be able to draw and paint better.

some excercises drawing pears

2010-10-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

I felt it was time to do some excercise in drawing.
At the moment it is fall in Holland so a lot of pears are available.
I wanted to explore the form and different light sources and tones and methods to create the rounded form of the pears.
Not an easy subject I discovered.
But I like to start drawing and painting flowers and fruits so I feel that I have to start at the beginning and do a lot of excercises before I will choose an more complex subject.

selfmade greyscale finder

2010-10-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

Today I have made a greyscale finder.

A while ago I already painted a greyscale with acrylicpaint but I wanted to make one that would be more suitable for me to work with. So I used the greyscale I already had painted and put 3 rows of them on a clear sheet of thick plastic.
Because of the transparancy of the sheet I can find the right value far better.
I put a colored piece of paper underneath it so you can see the transparancy of the greyscale finder better.

Not only I can use the gaps or holes in the grey pieces of paper but I can also look at the spaces between the greys and be able to compare them very quick.

I used doubleside tape to attached the pieces of paper to the plastic sheet and put clear tape over them to protect the paper.
I wanted to have 5 or 6 greys to use for the earlier stages of drawing and painting.
The row in the middle has a small hole in them and the other row is at one side and has larger holes.
And for the final stages of my painting I like to see more tones so I added a third row of 10 values at the other end of the plastic piece.

I know, these greyscales are not expensive, but here in Holland I could not find them and I love to make my own things. While making the pieces of grey and the grey scale I had a lot of fun and of course I learned something from it, like always

new oil painting, still life

2010-09-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

I started a new still life oil painting. I bought the DVD's of Elizabeth Pruitt and WOW these DVD's are so good! By watching her I learned so much and I am trying to paint the same still life to learn even more. These are the first two stages. I bought the same roses of the still life and took a lot of photos in different stages as a reference to help me.

little girl reading, oil painting, next step

2010-08-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

In 2009 I worked at a painting of a little girl and last week I started to work a little bit more at this difficult subject. Of course this large painting is still not finished:-))))
I put three stages of the painting together so you can see the progress.
Click on the picture to see it enlarged.
In real (of course) the painting is longer and the colors are a bit different and lighter.
I get so frustrated about taking photos of my work.
When I scan a painting the result is a bit better, but this painting is far to large to scan it.

snowleopard first layer of fur

2010-08-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

I started to paint the first layer of fur, still very roughly.

In the precious layers I used Liquin, so I could paint every day a next layer.

But with this layer I used linseed oil, so I have to wait till this layer is dry before I can add more layers.

5th layer snow leopard oilpainting

2010-08-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Again, I worked a bit at this painting. I made it softer. Now I have to begin to paint fur.

snow leopard oilpaint first stages

2010-08-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

I added some color to the painting. I wanted to make the base more solid and to give it more shape and depth that's why I added this layer of color. Far too much color for a snow leapard but I will build up light/white hairs on top of this layer. I also made the spots and the dark colors very dark, again I will put white hairs partly over these black and brown spots. The whole painting will become more softer. This is the first time I paint fur, so this is an experiment, I hope it will work.

snow leopard oilpaint first stages

2010-08-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

I started a painting of a snow leapard. It is a study, I never have painted such a subject with oilpaint.
I have a book about drawing and painting animals by Edward Aldrich and this snow leapard is one of his examples. I do not want to make an exact copy, I want to make the painting more loose.
These are the first three stages, still very basic with not much detail yet.

The painting is of an A4 size, approx 20x30 cm and I use MDF as a base. It is 1,6 cm thick.
I put on several layers of gesso and sanded between the layers.
I painted the gesso also on the sides and on the back. Than I put a couple of white layers of acrylpaint on the surface and put the drawing on and sealed the drawing with transparant white acryl.
The first stage is painted with acrylpaint, the other stages I used Liquin as a medium, so I can work in transparant layers. Later on I will use more linseed oil and less Liquin to get a bit more opaque layers.

watercolor portrait of a little girl

2010-07-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

I think that the portrait is finished. It is always so difficult to decide when to stop.
This portrait was a real journey for me, I learned so much of painting it. Many, many layers where added. The last layers I used yellow ocre. This color is opaque so I could not use it for the previous layers. Now her hair is a bit blonder and I also put some of the yellow ocre in the face and ears to tone down the red collors a bit and the blue became a bit greenish. Only slightly.
I had a commission of drawing portraits of her and her brother for her grandmothers birthday. And once fnished I decided to also paint a portrait of the little girl with watercolor paint.
The size is A4, 20x30 cm and I used hotpress watercolor paper.

watercolor portrait of a little girl, first stages

2010-07-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

For the first time I try to paint a portrait with watercolor paint.
I use very diluted paint, layer on layer, a very slow process of building color.
No details added yet, so I have a lot of work to do.

watercolor horse portrait second stage

2010-02-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

I put more layers on the portrait, almost there. I have to paint his ears and of course some detailing is needed. But I am getting there, slowly. I learn a lot by painting this portrait. It is a new way of working with watercolor paint. I have never done something like this. And I am very excited about this process. I like it and I hope you like it too:-))))

watercolor horse portrait - first stage

2010-01-30T02:19:00.000-08:00

I have started to paint the head of a horse. This is my first horse head:-))))
So be gentle in your comment.
The photo that I use as a reference is unfortunately not so good. The neck and breast are not shown, they are in the shadow. So I have to use my imagination a bit for that.

Ah well, I see this painting as an excercise, like always. And one day I hope I will be able to say: "I am there, I am satisfied about the result". But I am a perfectionist, so I do not think that this will ever happen.

Already many hours are put in, but I do have to do so much more.
Like the ears, the eye, the mouth and a lot of details have to be added.
But still I think that it is a good start.

Chow Chow acryl finished

2010-01-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Finally the Chow Chow portrait is finished. This is the first time that I worked with acryl.
In future I want to combine different materials such as watercolor and colored pencil and/or acryl paint. And also acrylpaint as a base for a painting with oilpaint. This was a lovely excercise to get familiar with acrylpaint. I hope you like it.

chow acryl soften a bit

2010-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

It seems that there is not much difference between the middle picture and the third one. But I tried to soften things a bit and I am going to put more detail in concerning the hairs.
Acryl is a total different technique and it is therefor more difficult to show the softness of the hairs.

chow chow acryl next stages

2010-01-21T14:24:00.000-08:00

chow chow acryl first stages

2010-01-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

Last week I finished a portrait of a Chow Chow in pastel and I want to make another one but this time with acryl plaint. Perhaps I will add also a layer of oilpaint later on but I do not know yet.
These are the first stages. I have to build up many layers of color. I dilute the paint with lots of water, almost like watercolor paint.

oil painting, little girl reading, second color layer

2010-01-13T04:54:00.000-08:00

I added some more color to this painting. Of course ....... in real the painting is longer.
I corrected it a bit with Paint Shop but.... Ohhhh, taking good photographs is sooo hard to do and often the results are so disappointing:-))))) If anyone has a good tip for me..... please contact me.

Ah well, I cannot change it. The painting is far to big to put it on the scanner. My previous painting, a pastel portrait of a Chow I did scan it once finished. I still had to scan it though in two parts and had to put the parts together with using Paint Shop Pro. It took a lot of time to do so, but the result is so much better than when I photograph the painting.

Of course painting is far from finished, but it has to dry befor I can put another layer of color on.

pastel portrait Chow Chow finished

2010-01-11T05:07:00.001-08:00

Finally the painting of the Chow Chow is finished.

pastel portrait Chow Chow next stage

2010-01-02T01:21:00.000-08:00

I worked hard at the head and the collar of hairs of the Chow Chow. Now I am going to paint the body and the legs.

pastel portrait Chow Chow second stage

2009-12-29T08:42:00.000-08:00

I am trying to build up color and all those layers of hair.
A huge task:-)))) The photo I have as a reference is not so good.
I find it difficult to get depth in the painting. Still a long way to go.

pastel portrait Chow Chow first stage

2009-12-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

This is the first stage of a pastel painting of my neighbours dog a Chow Chow. So many hairs to paint:-)))). And there are not many different colors only a lot of tints to play with.

watercolor acrylic stones study

2009-12-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Just a study on painting ordinairy stones. I used watercolor and some acrylic. Not finished yet, I will add some layers of acrylic to give it more "body" and more details.

oil paint still life apples, third stage

2009-12-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

At last I worked a little at this still life. Not yet there. The piece of apple at the front I still have to paint and than some details and the finishing touches.

pastel two little ducks in progress

2009-11-30T06:56:00.000-08:00

These lovely two young ducks, I just had to paint them in pastel.
I used pastel pencils and Canson MiTeintes, the smooth side of it.
Not yet finished. I have to paint the back and foreground and some details in the ducks.
I made this very difficult for myself because I had choosen green colored paper and it was so hard to mix and add the right colors on it:-)))) This picture was photographed, but I hope that once it is finished and protected I am able to put it on my scanner. In real, of course, the colors are a bit different. (As always)
I have used for this painting sofar Derwent pastel pencils and some Koh-I-Noor, these are a bit softer.
I have ordered 27 colors of even softer pastel pencils: Faber Castell Pitt. Only the colors that I need the most, because these pencils are soo expensive.
I like to thank Edgar Thissen for the use of his beautiful photos. You can look at his breathtaking photos at his website: www.edgarthissen.nl

water color sparrow almost finished

2009-11-28T07:08:00.000-08:00

I was not satisfied about the photo I had taken of my little sparrow. So this time I used my scanner. The outcome is a bit better I think.
Right now I am working at a pastel painting of two little ducks. I use pastel pencils.
Previously I only had not much colors and I decided to give myself a present and I ordered at Amazon.co.uk for less than half the prize a wooden box of 90 pastelpencils of Derwent. They are not too soft and that is what I like.

water color sparrow almost finished

2009-11-21T05:23:00.000-08:00

Little sparrow almost finished. Some tiny details and his leg and feet I have to paint.

watercolor sparrow work in progress

2009-11-19T03:55:00.000-08:00

I just started to paint a little sparrow in watercolor. This is the first time I try to paint a bird. Many hours are already spend and many layers are added. Still a lot of work to do, but I love this little one and I think that I will paint many more birds:-))))

oil paint still life apples, second stage

2009-11-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

Next step, a little part of the painting is set up and some color added. But... again I am so disappointed and frustrated about the photos of my work. I know so many have troubles to get good photos. I tried everything but still........................ in real the painting is so much nicer.
Ah well, you can get an impression of what I am doing.

oil paint still life studies peppers and fruit

2009-11-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

Just for fun and to experiment with different types of underlayers and to see how it looks when I add a colorlayer on top of it I have made these 2 studies.
One with an umber underlayer and one with an underlayer of grey tones.
In real the painting with the appel, pear and citron the underlayer of grey tones shines beautiful through the very thin color layer. The photo does not give a good impression of this subtible transparancy. I will try to put another thin colorlayer on to see if the transparancy still be there.
I am not so satifies about the underlayer of umber with the peppers. It is a very heavy color and when I added a colorlayer on top of it I have to use a less transparance color layer. I think that this kind of underlayer is more suitable in case of using thicker layers of color on top of it.

oil paint still life apples, first stage

2009-11-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

I already tried to paint this still life, but I was not satisfied.
The canvas (a cheap one) was so rough that it was not nice to work on. The paint sunk in immiddiately, the paint did not flow and my precious brushes got ruined.
So I took another canvas, still not so expensive:-)))), and I put a layer of Gesso and an layer of acryl paint on. I mixed Umber and white. And it is a lot better to work on.
Not too slick and still some thooth.
I tried to paint a bit more loose and after adding the brush strokes with color I soften a bit the edges of the brushstrokes and mixed the colors a bit.
I used almost no medium, in case the paint was a bit to stroppy I put a tiny bit of medium at my brush (half terpetine, half standoil)
I have a jar already mixed, ready to use.
I am almost half way now, to night I will try to paint the left side of the table and tomorrow the background.
In real the apples are darker and more volumpteous like real apples.

It is so difficult to take good pictures and to get the right colors.
I took I think 30 pictures to get this one.
The painting is 30x40 cm, I find this a real nice size to work on.
Not too big not to small.

water color still life study nr2

2009-11-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

Last night I did another still life study of some fruit and a vase. A shiny vase, so I could practise also the reflection of all the things that surrounded the vase. It was fun to do.
The painting is approx. 13,5 x 11,5 cm.

still life setup and studies

2009-10-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

I like to learn how to paint still life so I made a setup in my room with a cardboard box, some cloth, a daylicht lamp and a bowl and apples and such. I made some photos and altered them in Paint Shop to find a suitable size and compositon and I have made a lot of sketches.
And I made a couple of studies with apples and glass objects.

oil painting, little girl reading, first color layer

2009-10-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

Finally, I could not wait so I added the first color layer to her face and neck.
That was soooo difficult and of course I am not satisfied.
In real on her forhead there is too much green and her face is too yellow.
So when it is completely dried I have to work on her face again and also her hair has to be more detailed.
But till it is dry I can work on the other parts of the painting and I am alsostudying hard with composition and still life and making sketches and such.
Today I will place a lot of pictures of all my work of the last couple of days.
This picture is large, click on it to see all the details.

oil painting, little girl reading, next step

2009-10-20T01:32:00.000-07:00

The grey tone underlayer is almost finished. I have to paint the arms, legs and background with grey tones and also her blouse has to be more white.
But then I can start to put some color on the canvas.
Very exciting! This is the very first time that I will do this technique and I am so afraid to ruin all my work.
So I will take some canvasboard and put, just like on the painting, the same color underlayers on it so I can practise color layers before I will add color on to my painting.
In real the little girl is longer, my camera shorten the picture.
It does not show the right dimensions unfortunately.
I have not discovered how to prevent this.

oil painting, little girl reading, grey layer

2009-10-15T05:22:00.000-07:00

Just an update, I have some parts painted with a layer of tones of grey. A lot of work has to be done though. The whole canvas will be painted in tones of grey before I will add color.

water color still life study

2009-10-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

For this still life study I used not satin/smooth paper but a more rougher surface and I like it!
Untill now I had so much trouble with working with such kind of water color paper, but I think that it helped a lot that I have painted with oil color the last month(s).
This is only a study in working with water color but also with composition and such. The white you see is the white of the paper, I did not use white paint.

I have so much difficulties with backgrounds and composition. I have purchase a beautiful book about composition and I just received it. I can really recommend this book, it is called: "Mastering Composition by Ian Roberts". A beautiful illustrated book, I only looked through it but it seems to me that it will be a great help to me.

oil painting, little girl reading, second layer

2009-10-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

This painting is the largest size I ever drew or painted on! 60x40cm
The second underlayer is painted and tomorrow I will start to put the first
dead layer on.

drawing breakfast for art journal

2009-10-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

This excercise is to try to draw round forms in perspective.
Not quit right yet, I keep practising!
But it was nice to draw again.

oilpainting 2 sisters, finished

2009-10-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

Finally the painting of the two sister is finished.
I decided not to put colorlayers on top of the so called deadlayer.
I like it the way it is right now.
In real the painting have lots of different tones of grey and so much more detail.
The underlayer of raw umber is looking through and gives the painting more a lifely look and more depth.
I think that I will use this method also for other paintings.

I already started another painting, a big one this time and also made by the same painter.
It is still a very rough sketch with some tones.
For the first time I used a grid, but I found it a lot of work and I did not like this method.

oilpainting 2 sisters, first deadlayer

2009-09-30T01:25:00.000-07:00

At last I began to paint the deadlayer, not finished yet.
It took me approx 6 hours to get this far with the deadlayer.
In real there are more details to see and it is more crispier and fine.
It is so difficult to get a good photo of a painting.

The deadlayer is the underlayer before I will add color.
The color of the deadlayer is neutral and has a lot of detail and tones. They will shine through the colorlayers and will give depth to the painting.

This is the first time I work this way with oilpaint and I love it!

oil painting, 2 sisters, next underlayer

2009-09-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I put another raw umber layer on, in real the painting is softer and the highlights not so white.
I am not yet satisfied, some detail has to be added and also some shadow.
Overall the uderlayer is still not yet finished, but I hope tomorrow evening I can start to put the first dead layer on.

oilpaint two sisters first layers

2009-09-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I started a little painting (20x30cm).
I am going to paint a part of a painting of William Bouguereau called: deux soeurs.
I am a member of WETCANVAS.com and every month they have another subject to study from.

I will try to paint like the old masters :-)))) (don't laugh).
I already made some layers of the underlayer (grisaille) and tonight I hope to finish this underlayer, so tomorrow I can start with the first "dead"layer.
That is called that way because several layers of a neutral greyish white color is added. In the same tones as the underlayer.

When the underlayer has as much detail as possible and good tones it will be a great help by building up this "dead"layer. On this layer finally will be added layers and layers of transparant colors. I hope to achieve the same result as the old master had: that because of all the layers the painting will "glow" and seems lively. It will take a lot of time before this painting is finished. Therefor I will start, another one hopefully tomorrow. Also a painting of William Bouguereau, this time I will paint the full picture and the canvas will be a bit bigger.

oilpaint study black and white

2009-09-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

I want to learn to paint like the old masters, so I am studying hard.
This is a study in painting only with black and white paint. I will use such black and white layer as an underlayer for my paintings.

I love this way of painting and the result of it. The paintings of the old masters glow and that is the result of the underlayers of paint before color layers are added.
Right now I am in the first fase of several paintings I am going to paint. I will try to paint some paintings of old masters. That way I will study their way of painting.

oilpainting flowers next fase

2009-09-17T02:13:00.000-07:00

This is the next fase of the oilpainting, vase with flowers. Still not finished though, but I used more medium so I have to wait till it is dry to put the next layers on.

watercolor tulip finished

2009-09-14T10:49:00.001-07:00

This watercolor painting is finally finished.
However after I took this picture I found that some arias perhaps need a bit more darker green.
It is always difficult to know when to stop.

oilpainting flowers excercise

2009-09-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

I just started an oilpainting.
It is an excercise in painting with thin layers using Liquin as a medium.
I use a watercolor painting of Jan Kunz as reference.
This is just the beginning, many layers are needed.

flower watercolor finished

2009-09-03T01:50:00.001-07:00

This flower is so complex because of all the folds, shadows, different parts and color mixing. I hope it is still recognisable as a flower. I used an example out of "Glorious garden flowers" of Susan Harrison-Tustain as an exercise. And I learned a lot while painting this flower. I hope you like it.

brushes of Billy Showell

2009-08-30T05:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I received the brushes I ordered with Billy Showell.
Wow! they are lovely. Long hairs and a beautiful fine point. Just the brushes I was looking for and great additions to the brushes I already had.

I am studying hard in working with watercolor, but it takes a lot of time to finish one.
And yesterday I ruined a watercolor painting of an orchid. I made a red smudge and I could not get rid of it. So I decided to paint a background. But I know that I am not good at backgrounds and .......................... yes, I ruined it:-)))))) Ah, well, I learned from it.

So today I started a new one, this is the very first stage.
The grey dark forms are the stems, I covered them with masking fluid.

The other pictures are some of my colourmixing cards I make when I am painting. They are realy useful references while painting.

oilpaint: selfportrait

2009-08-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

Last year I made a selfportrait with oilpaint. I do not have much experience with oilpaint. It was a real struggle and of course I am not satisfied about the result That's why I decided first to learn painting with watercolor and than to try painting with oilpaint again.
Painting with watercolor is faster and I can learn much about mixing colors and built up layers of color. I hope that once I have much more experience, working with oilpaint will be a bit easier.
I placed this selfportrait on a shelf in the livingroom and she is (I am) looking at me and acouraged me to keep painting.

watercolor exercise: bud

2009-08-22T00:58:00.001-07:00

I just finished another exercise, this time I choose this bud because I wanted to practise long lines. The bud is approx 22cm/9 inches so I could not scribble:-))))

I am using the book of Billy Showell to practise, such a wonderful book. I also bought her DVD.
I can highly recommend her book and DVD's. She uses brushes with long haires and a fine point and it is a joy to see her working.

So to give myself a present I bought 2 brushes she offers at her website. I am waiting for them at the moment. I can hardly wait to work with them. Good brushes are so important but they are so expensive and it is difficult to know which ones to buy. So when I saw Billy working with those brushes I know for sure that they were the ones I wanted to purchase.

tulip watercolor in progress

2009-08-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

I am painting a tulip, a great excercise. Not finished yet, I still have to paint the leaves. The flower itself is finished.

little bee

2009-08-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

This little bee was posing for a long time, so I could take a lot of photos. These ones were the best.

butterflies Atlanta and Little fox

2009-08-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

The butterfly at the top is called "Atlanta".
This is a detail of his head.Funny eyes.

The Dutch name of the butterflyat the bottom is (translated) "Little fox".
The outside is very bland, the inside so beautiful.

Click on the pictures to see even more detail.

butterfly and want

2009-08-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was sitting in my garden and suddenly I heard a loud noise and an insect flew over my shoulder and landed at a branch. I had never seen such an insect. I looked it up on the internet and it is called a "want".

At the moment there are so many butterflies in my garden. Not many different species though. This kind of butterfly is very common and is enjoying the flowers in my garden.

first attempt watercolor flower

2009-08-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt in painting an iris in watercolor. This was a real struggle, I have so much to learn.
But this was a good excercise with all the leaves turning and twisting.

It is not easy to take good pictures, in real the colors are softer.

watercolor pallet

2009-07-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I have made a watercolor pallet to have an overview of my palet and to help me to find the right colors.
Every color has two different parts: 1 with only layer and one with 2 layers
I also put in the name of the brand and if the color is Transparant or otherwise.
I hope this all will help me.
I also have made a big piece of paper on which I will put all the 36 colors mixed with each other.
That is a lot of work so I will take some time to make it. In total I will have 1266 different colors and mixes.

drawings and paintings

2009-07-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

Last year I started drawing and painting again using several materials.
Like pastel, oil, pencil and watercolor. I do not have much experience with watercolor, so I wanted to give it a try. I bought some books and DVD's, mostly about painting flowers.
I love figurative painting, such as botanical painting.
So I am study hard, but it is not easy.
But I finally found the kind of watercolor paper I like, the hotpress. It is smooth and you can paint wet in wet but also very detailed on dry paper.
I placed some of my paintings, but I hope to put some of my studies of watercolor very soon.

libel and spider

2009-07-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

It is such a fun thing to do, to sit in my garden and watch spiders and other insects.
The little libel wat sitting on a leave next to my little pond. This little one does not have much color.
I already have seen the bigger ones, the dragonflies, and I hope to photograph one real soon. They are so colorfull.
The spider made his web and was waiting for his meal while hanging under a leaf .

a tiny fly, only 2 mm

2009-07-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

So difficult to photograph such a small fly, I already tried several times. The bottom one is taken with flash to get more details. I find it incredible to see such detail in such a tiny animal.

new photos, insects, flowers, macro

2009-07-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

Several new photos taken with my macro lens: Tamron 90mm 2,8
It is not easy to take Macro photos.
A bit of wind or the insect moves and everything is out of focus and blurred.
My tripod and the times is a big help.
I am learning with each photo.
It is a shame that I cannot show the photos as large as they are, so details get a bit lost.
But I hope you will like them still.

new photos, macrolens

2009-06-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

detail close-up rose

2009-06-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

It is a shame that blogger makes the photos smaller.
In real you can see so much detail and softness at the original photo.
I am very busy in looking for a macro lens. I think that I will enjoy this really

another two photos

2009-06-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

My first photos are taken using the automatic button, I had to study all the possibilities of my camera. Today I used the Manual mode for the first time and the photos were much better and sharper. So I am very pleased. Still much to learn however.

2009-06-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

Just another flower. I am very busy in searching for a real macro lens. But they are sooooo expensive. I think I have to buy a second hand one. But I would love to take macro photos. I've seen such beautiful photos of insects and birds and flowers. With my kitlens I can take close-ups, like this flower but not a macro. This was the closest I could get. I am studying my camera, it has so many possibilities.

little girl 13cm/4.4"curled up

2009-06-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

Finally I finished this little fullsculpt
I used white clay to sculpt her so I have to paint her hair and her body.
she is only 13 cm/4.4"curled up.

photo: little snale

2009-06-04T01:36:00.001-07:00

This little snale is only 0,5 cm.
I am practising with my Sony Agfa 300 and used macro to take this picture.
This kitlens of 18-70cm F3.5-5.6 is just lovely. It suits me fine. I can take beautiful pictures nearby and also in the distance.

new camera DSLR

2009-06-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend I bought my first digital DSLR camera.

The last 6 years I had so much trouble to take good pictures of my work that I finally decided to buy another and better camera. And I am so glad I did!

I have to practise because this camera has so many possibilities, but these are some of the first photos I have taken in my garden. Just at the Automatic stand and it is really a joy!

Now I can take good pictures of my dolls and drawings and show them om the internet.

little boy of 19cm/7.5 inch

2009-06-02T00:51:00.000-07:00

Finally he is finished!

Only 19cm/7.5inch

I have to start making clothes for him.