pastel two little ducks in progress

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

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

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

watercolor sparrow work in progress

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

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

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

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

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.