watercolour – Page 12 – Africantapestry

Posted on May 4, 2015May 4, 2015 by Myfrenchkitchen · 6 Comments

EDM-art 4: Spice bottles.

I struggled with this theme today. Not because I don’t like spices, au contraire, it is a delicious theme and I love it. But the ideas didn’t show up today.I couldn’t fix my pen on a cool composition and the brush didn’t work for me either. My wrist was stiff and unforgiving in sketching these bottles. Instead of having a free hand and sketching with some wonk, which is my usual style, my sketches become overworked and controlled. Not me. Not me at all. In this process of struggle today, I paged back through the last few sketches and artwork I did…and there I saw it; Stiffness and control. Slowly but surely during the last few sketches I moved towards controlling the pen and colour, while they should actually have more of a will of their own. That is how I raised my daughters and that is how I like my art.

Sketch 1: a himalayan salt and black pepper mill, totally overworked and in good ole French…“n’importe quoi!”

watercolour and pen in Daler Rowney sketchbook,21X29.7 cm

Sketch 2: without interest, overworked, not funk or peps, actually a bit boring.

watercolour and pilot prera pen in Stillman & birn sketchbook, 22.9X15.2 cm

Sketch 3: this ws my last sketch and almost there, but not quite yet. I think I got tired at this stage, but there is a bit more interest in the dynamics, a bit more wonk and interpretation.But still sloppy. (a loose, free style doesn’t mean sloppy.)

Sketch 4: This was the second last one and I was a bit angry here, trying and trying and not getting what I want (almost went into tantrum mode…). This sketch is downright sloppy.

watercolour and pilot prera pen in Stillman & Birn sketchbook,14X21.6 cm

See you tomorrow with sketch(es) on the theme…something hot!

Ronelle

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Myfrenchkitchen · 4 Comments

EDM art 3: – Curtains.

Urgh, curtains. Those lovely, but awful things we hang in our homes to dress our windows. Beautiful to look at, awful to maintain. They gather dust, their hooks and ties break, they get stuck after after many openings and closings, they fade like I do with age, they have to be taken down to be cleaned, they knock over every thing in a home like mine where a closed window doesn’t exist…need I go on? But nonetheless, me too, I have some curtains. While we live in the barn , restoring our home here at Coin Perdu, I have curtains serving as little closets under the wash basin, hiding those pipes and other uglies. Old kitchen towels bought at the brocantes serve as little curtains everywhere. They can be washed and rehung in a jiff, they are pretty, cost next to nothing and serve as playground for the cats. They suit me just fine, these miniature versions of a curtain. I’ll probably just move them over to the house later….along with the make-do bathroom sink which is concocted from an old wooden ladder lying around when we moved in. Our lives get simpler and simpler.

..curtain..

watercolor and dip pen with nib in Daler Rowney sketchbook, 21X29.7 cm

until tomorrow

Ronelle

Posted on May 2, 2015 by Myfrenchkitchen · 6 Comments

Every day in May – (1)a favorite food and (2)a tree.

“A favorite food,” says the list of the art group EDM for this month of May.. Only one favorite food? That is a huge punishment! I can draw a favorite food for a whole month and even beyond. How then to choose between all my wonderful favorite fruits, the colourful vegetables, the meat…(yes, you Greenies, I love my meat!) And then there are fish and shellfish and how about a slice of cake? Or a cookie. And dessert. I never skip dessert. I won’t even mention chocolate and that first cup of coffee in the morning. Only one favorite food?

However, I can sometimes play by the rules and this time seems appropriate enough to do so. So one favorite food it is. I confess my weakness for macarons. Those beautiful, sensual, romantic and utterly delicious delicacies our patisserie in Beaulieu so shamelessly flaunts in the display window. By just looking in my eyes, they know I am there for a box of macarons. Yellows and purples and pinks and reds which vary between red fruits and blueberry and strawberry and lemon and vanilla, chocolate, coffee, caramel and my big favorite, that green one, the pistache. I love them all. I leave the patisserie on an euphoric cloud and with my precious macarons gently tucked next to each other in a quaint box and artfully tied with a pink ribbon. All that is left now, is to nail this sketch, so I can retire with my box of macarons to my favorite chair in my favorite corner…..sigh. I rest my case.

..macarons..

watercolor and dip pen with Sennelier indigo ink in S&B alpha sketchbook, 22.9×15.2cm

***************************************************************

I can totally understand why there are nutcases walking around hugging each tree they come across. sometimes I am one of them. Cause a tree is not just a tree. It is a friend, it stirs our emotion, it is a refuge, that safe place under/or in its branches where we hide from all that scorches us..the sun, the world. The olive tree is all of that for me. I do hug my olive trees and talk to them, touch them, stroke them, care for them, love them. They make me think of sunshine and heat. They makes me hear the cigales. They bring me the scent of lavender and wild herbs in the fields and I see colourful vegetables drizzled with the golden oil from its olives, glistening with crystals of fleur de sel. That is my olive tree.

..olive tree..

watercolor and Prera pilot fountain pen in S&B epsilon sketchbook, 14×21.6 cm

à demain

Ronelle

Posted on April 22, 2015April 22, 2015 by Myfrenchkitchen · 6 Comments

Sketching a pansy and boxwood in the garden.

While waiting for a delivery…and everybody knows how that can turn into a long wait…I sat beside the pansies. I couldn’t help myself. The urge for capturing in a sketchbook was too strong for me. I finished the pansies. I checked my watch…still waiting. I moved on to a boxwood with a little statue. Then the delivery showed up.

..Pansies..

watercolor and pilot prera fountain pen in Epsilon Stillman & Birn sketchbook, 14X21.6 cm

..boxwood and statue..

watercolor and pilot prera fountain pen in Alpha Stillman & Birn sketchbook, 22.9X15.2 cm

..some blue pansies.. à la prochaine fois

Ronelle

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Myfrenchkitchen · 9 Comments

Sketching a streetscene in Beaulieu sur dordogne.

I sat on the terrace of Café Douceur this afternoon and while sipping my coffee, I sketched the street. My pen ran dry on my halfway through the sketch, which resulted in some thin, scratchy lines. I hope the colourful splashes watercolor make up for it..

..street in Beulieu sur dordogne – close up 1..

Pen and watercolor in Stillman & Birn, alpha series sketchbook, 22.9X15.2 cm

..street in Beulieu sur dordogne – close up 2..

..street in Beaulieu sur dordogne..

And lastly some people sketching..done on Fabriano artistico watercolor block, 27X18cm

à la prochaine.

Ronelle

Posted on April 5, 2015April 5, 2015 by Myfrenchkitchen · 8 Comments

Koi fish in watercolor

I have been doing quite a few koi watercolors. Some different styles and techniques and sizes.

Some are more loose than others, which is my usual style of painting. I also tried some watercolour techniques, like using masking fluid, different brush sizes but finally decided it is not my way of painting….I prefer only the brush, water and color. I also tried a more true “watercolour painting” style and not my usual washes or loose line work. Once again, I came to the conclusion that it’s just not me. It just goes to show…one can’t really lie in making art. You can perhaps get away with it for a while, but in the long run, the true you needs to surface. It is quite freeing to have finally come to this conclusion: I don’t want to do true watercolor paintings. I just love line and wash.

..koi 1..

watercolor and dip pen and indigo blue HErbin ink, 24X32cm