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

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

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 "Leycesteria"

I found these wild flowers peeping through a fence. The name of this plant is Leycesteria, the Dutch name: fazantenbes.

just finished water color small hydreangea

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

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

 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 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

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

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

 

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

online course botanical illustration

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.

I justed signed up and I cannot wait to receive the lessons to start.

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

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

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

 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

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

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

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.