sketches – Page 31 – Africantapestry

Posted on November 5, 2009November 6, 2009 by Myfrenchkitchen · 12 Comments

Just some sketches….and a vendange in Vouvray.

Every year I paint these clementines from la Corse. See last year’s sketches at CLementines.

…clementines from Corsica…

Sketch done in moleskine with pen and watercolour

The next two sketches were done a while ago. I just sketched some things around me – a container in the living room with brushes and pens and stuff and part of a bookshelf. I try very hard to keep the bookshelf, neat, but I am starting to think we will never have neat bookshelves.

..brushes and pens…

…disorder…

Sketches done in Moleskine with rotring artist pen and water wash.

On Myfrenckitchen, I have posted some photo’s of a vendange in Vouvray that we did in Octobre. Good freinds have a bio vineyard where the harvesting is still done by hand. On one Saturday during the harvest period in October, all their family and friends get together for a day of grape harvesting. It was hard work, but a fun day, with a delicious lunch, many laughs and jokes and a messy grape fight towards the end of the day. I only took photos, because I didn’t want to hide from the work behind my sketchbook! you can see some photo’s here at Pears in red wine and a wine harvest.

Posted on November 3, 2009November 9, 2009 by Myfrenchkitchen · 23 Comments

Carnets de voyage

I am a collector of Carnets de voyage (travel sketchbooks). They are scattered throughout my home, atelier and Coin Perdu in Correze and I enjoy them all over and over again! The problem is that I can get so caught up in them that I stay there and revel in their beauty and travels and strokes and stories and not get onto my own page. Here are a few of my favourites…

At the bottom you can find a list of links to some of the artists.

…carnets de voyage…

…rochefort – denis clavreul…

…iles de bretagne – Patrick Camus

…patrick camus…

…onze peintre de la marine ..

…ronan olier…

…le mexique – didier lisetti…

…didier lisetti…

…aveyron – alain marc…

…alain marc…

…le jardin de l’ile de Batz – denis clavreul…

…denis clavreul…

…eban…

…mali secret – stefano faravelli…

…stefano faravelli…

…balades a montrichard – yves de st. jean…

…yves de st. jean…

Available at Edition Equinoxe.

Posted on October 5, 2009October 5, 2009 by Myfrenchkitchen · 18 Comments

Hawai’i: sketches and chronicles 2.

My favourite stopping corner was here at the koi pond. Its tranquility and the elegance of the kois in their ballets seduced me into seating myself on the rock by the edge early every morning, staring at them endlessly, sipping my kona coffee.. the world was still quiet when I softly spoke to them, telling them my schedule for the day. Joking about their pouting lips searching for a delicacy. And then I’d sketch them. Snap them. Photo’s galore. They enjoyed posing and pirouetted spontaneously only for me.

Voila some stops on my walks. Colourful canoes on the lagoon. Elegant flamingoes. Impressive statues. I could probably have stopped more often to sketch, but a big part of the allure of Hawai’i is in the reflecting and quiet time, staring into distance. Quiet and still. Watching waves break. Listening to the wind rustling through the palms. Being entranced by the play of light on the shallow waters by the shore. Waiting along with the surfers for that next big one. Feeling that drop of sweat trickling down your back, telling you it’s time to move on. People who don’t do that, miss out.

In this quiet time in still corners of the island, away from people, in solitude with only the wind and the ocean as company, I have succeeded in solving issues, finding peace in who I am and how I am. It gave me acceptance with roads I will be following from now on. It gave me breathing space and freedom to come to terms with bridges that were burnt. I imagine I gave it all up to the waves and the ocean, while the soft touch of the breezes swept me clean from disappointments and sadness and just maybe the whisper of the palms filled me with optimism and a strong spirit. I look forward to tomorrow.

…canoes…

…flamingo…

…statue…

Because I enjoyed the koi fish so much, and because I have these millions of photos of them(almost), I thought to share them with you, offering them(like with the sunflowers) to those who so desire, to download and paint, paint paint them! Throw the photo’s together and compose a watercolour or pastel, or oil or drawing. Make marks…they are wonderful to paint and play around with. Look at the water as well…lovely shapes and colour. Great movement. Here are some close ups as well as general shots. So. I invite you to enjoy!

…koi fish for painting…

click on image to print larger version

For more photo’s on the trip see Myfrenchkitchen: travel

To be continued…

Posted on August 28, 2009August 28, 2009 by Myfrenchkitchen · 22 Comments

Sketching with greens

A post for Sketchercise:

This morning’s walk provided me with greens.I have to admit that I don’t enjoy drawing/painting/rendering leaves. Maybe it is the greens in them I shy away from. I find green a difficult colour to paint in watercolour as well as oil, or any other medium. Beautiful in nautre, difficult to render. Too much green can make me feel quite ill. The wrong greens can look very artificial. Green can easily look flat and lifeless. Like white, green isn’t just ..green. It absorbs and reflects its environment and by looking closer you’ll see browns and reds, yellows and blues…a whole spectrum of colour. And then we get transparent greens and saturated greens, which you can’t paint with only green from a tube or pan. Even oils are difficult and mix differently than watercolour, for one – we have a white which can be added to green in oils, then making it less transparent of course. Which explains why I rarely paint with green, but prefer mixing a green. And I love to mix it directly it on my paper or canvas to have the colours flow into one another, giving dimension and vibrancy and life, even if the green isn’t the “perfect” green. I sometimes add olive green(Schmincke) and the very different olive green(W&N).

Please do tell how you paint greens?!

…apple branch…

In these three sketches, I have used more or less the same palette:

Cobalt yellow pale(W&N), cobalt yellow deep(W&N), yellow ochre light(Schmincke), lemon yellow(W&N),french ultramarine(Sennelier), cobalt blue(Sennelier), Prussian blue(Sennelier), Cerulean blue(W&N), Paynes gray(W&N), burnt sienna(W&N), raw umber(Sennelier), olive green(Scmincke).

…walnut branch…

…acorn branch…

All sketchesdone with rotring pen and watercolour in watercolour moleskine

Posted on August 27, 2009August 27, 2009 by Myfrenchkitchen · 10 Comments

Walk and sketch 1

A post for Sketchercise.

With a little bit of time on my hands I put on my heavy hiking boots..urgh.. and took off for a walk. All the flowers on shrubs have made room for berries of all colours. Since I am in the process of noting all the fauna and flora in this area, I dragged along my sketching palette, which is boringly still the same as you’ll see in this link, except that my sketchbook might be the small moleskine or the normal one…watercolour of course. I like the paper of the watercolour moleskine.

Tokala and Aiyani tailed along, until they realized to their horror that we were going further than normal. That had them plonk down under the apple tree, all the while complaining about my imbecility. On my promise to give them joghurt back home, they sulkily agreed to wait under the apple tree. I kept my promise.

…prunellier and aubepine…

…bramble, stinging nettle and dock leaves…

All sketches done in rotring pen and watercolour in watercolour moleskine.

Posted on August 26, 2009August 27, 2009 by Myfrenchkitchen · 15 Comments

Le Boss is in Paris – sketches

…le Boss is away!!…

It has been quite a while that I held a sketch pen and book in my hand, but now that le Boss is in Paris for the week and I am alone at Coin Perdu, I took my chance to go from …

…this…