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Sketching the one and only road through Puy d’Arnac

With only one narrow road passing through it, Puy d’Arnac is our tiny village where mostly old people still reside.  They themselves don’t think it is that pretty, but I suppose living in a place for years and years result in one not seeing the beauty any more. Then someone new comes along and through those new eyes they can recognize all that is beautiful again.

…the only road through Puy d’Arnac..

early afternoon

done in watercolor, pencil and pen on Arches watercolor pad HP, 18x26cm

When sitting here and sketching, a gentle old lady walked towards me with her walking cane.  She couldn’t imagine how I could find this little village quaint enough to paint and how I can find the old people living here beautiful. (A project I’ll share later). I showed her the second drawing, done the afternoon before…and she exclaimed how beautiful my painting was! I told her it is her “ugly” little village she sees on the paper. Then we started talking about beauty and age. My opinion had always been that age has a beauty far removed from the beauty of this world. To me it lies in the quietude of a life time’s experiences, a life lived by the forces of  nature. When we’re at the age this old lady is, we’re not of this world any more, but we enter that world of fragility and tenderness, knowledge, a world of acceptance and admission and smiling  wisdom. How can that not be beautiful? She smiled that fragile smile, which I hoped she would see that evening in her mirror, and when she finally walked away, I think I saw her walk just that little bit more up straight…

…the only road through Puy d’Arnac 2…

late afternoon

done in watercolor, pencil and pen on Arches watercolor pad HP, 18x26cm

…the only road through Puy d”Arnac 3…

midday

done in gouche, pen and pencil on brown paper, 26x26cm

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A garden sketch at coin Perdu.

Is it fair to say in April that it is too hot to work? We have a blistering afternoon here at Coin Perdu and it REALLY is hot in the sun. No complaints from me though. I took a break to do some sketches of the olive trees and a few other nick-nacks waiting to be planted in the garden…on a cooler day!

...gardening at Coin Perdu…

watercolor and pen on Fabriano artistico watercolor block HP, 18x26cm.

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March postcard to Katherine

Deciding what to do for my second postcard which was to be sent to Katherine, was relatively easy. She had already visited “la Touraine”, ate dinner here at my home and saw the Loire in all is glory. So it would be the Loire. Easier said than done. The Loire stretches wide and far.

I finally decided on the Montlouis sur Loire bridge which makes for an impressive scene , crossing the Loire.

…Montlouis bridge across the Loire..

Pencil and watercolor on watercolor paper.

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I wanted  to use a brown paper envelope for the postcard and wanted to draw an extract of the postcard on the envelope which brought me to this: Part of the same bridge of my postcard, with touches of white…too much.

..envelope 1: pen and gouche on brown paper envelope..

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Not being satisfied with either the exaggerated slant, nor the drawing, I grabbed another envelope and kept things more simple…in gouche: a hint of the Loire wih the “muettes” hovering over their nests on the islands in the Loire. A typical spring scene. Happy with the result, off it went to the UK!

..envolope 2: pen and gouche on brown paper envelope..

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All our postcards are to be found on A postcard from my walk

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Garden sketches from February

February was a busy month and I didsn’t get around to doing much art. I did succeed on doing a garden sketch and a drawing of Tartelette ad Omelette,  on a reasonably nice February afternoon.

I feel happy with the drawing, which was first done as a sketch and then developed further into a drawing. The cloches were done afterwards, rather lazily and not much effort or desire went into this sketch.

…Tartelette et Omelette…

…sanguine and charcoal drawing on paper, 24×20 cm…

..Two garden cloches…

…charcoal sketch on paper, 24x20cm…

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Koi studies and painting in oil.

I finally completed one koi painting in oil. But before that, I did some more studies in different mediums. I didn’t really enjoy these koi studies as I should have. I felt a bit like ” eating strawberries in the mid winter” and so I feel out of season with the koi paintings and it influenced the “taste”. But I’m happy that I stuck to it and completed at least one painting. I definitely plan to go to the koi farm in summer, where I can seat myself for a day and really get to work on some series.

..koi, oil on linen, 61x37cm

In  step 1, using terpentineI put down thin washes of burnt sienna for the fish shapes and a thin wash of paynes gray and french ultramarine for the background/water.

.…step 1…


In step 2 I added some colour to the fish, cadmium red and yellow to the fish in the foreground and prussian blue to the back fish, to form the shadows. I started using liquin as a medium to have the oi dry quicker, but still have  an oil shine.

…step 2…

In step 3 I darkened the water with a mixture of paynes gray and french ultramarine and softened the shadow marks I made on the yellow fish. this was my first mistake, because I made mud. I left it to dry completely, so I could rework it…the oil was still thin enough to redo without removing the paint.

…step 3…

the last stages was all about adding colour and depth to the fish bodies and depth to the water , while using the same colours I’ve used in the previous steps, with the addition of ochre, raw umber and white.

…koi completed…

When doing the studies for this koi project, I worked mostly from photographs, using about 20 different photos, building my own scenes. I really found it difficult to render the koi in an interesting way. I feel I can do better, which is why I will patiently wait for the koi season to open and I can go and study them in real life.

I also felt that they ask for something a little more abstract or expressive than mere realistic rendering. In the following studies I tried to present them on the page in a little more interesting way. I found it quite exciting and I think I can even push the envelope even further in the expressive domain, which makes me more excited about the series of koi than I was when I started out.

In the meantime, I have a lobster and crab and mussels and oysters and several other shellfish in my freezer, waiting to be sketched and painted and studied. Maybe a new series of sea creatures? So hang around if you’re interested in seeing what will surface – it will be a surprise for me too.

…koi study in charcoal on paper, 22x15cm…


…koi study in graphite on paper, 22x15cm…

…koi study in oil pastel on paper, 22x15cm…

Also posted on Watermarks.

..à bientôt…

Ronelle

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People sketches in ink in a bistro in Tours..and a postcard.

I’ve picked up my pen again. If one stays on a break for too long, you can lose the desire to return. It is like that with everything in life. At some stage you need to apply some discipline to get going again.

For the first time in along while, I have done some sketches while having coffee in a bistro in Tours. My favorite way of doing it, is with contour lines. If I don’t watch it, I’ll do everything in contour fashion. I love it.

Some of the sketches worked, others didn’t. But it is always like that. Not every sketch is a success. I’m happy with the sketch of the three men at the top and I’m happy with the two men to the left in the bottom sketch. Unfortunately the child and man to the right didn’t work out.

I have also received my first postcard from Albrecht in Germany. Please visit A postcard from albrecht in Germany to see the post on his postcard.