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Sketching those high heel Mary Janes.

Ronelle's art- sketching-mary jane shoes..0001

“When I was young, I had beautiful shoes. High heels, stilettos, platforms, ballerinas, even vintage shoes my mother wore in the 40’s.  But that was then. Now my favorite shoes are loafers. With dresses or with trousers. I wear my loafers all four seasons long. In summer I love sandals too. Ones with bands over the foot, no flip flops which force me to arch my sweet toes into cramps from hell  to prevent the things from slipping off my foot and drive me to legal drugs at night to just get some shut eye. Comfort is the magic word when it comes to shoes. As well as clothes for that matter. There was a time when I would sacrifice comfort for beauty. But that was also then….

Continue reading…..

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Dipladenia flowers in aquarelle.

We have a humid summer this year…hot and humid which isn’t normal for us. One can clearly see the effect on us humans. Our energy gets sapped by the humidity and many a day I , who adores heat, feel like a limp fish on these mucky days. The Mediterranean plants even more so. These Dipladenias enjoy heat and dry summers , so too they  struggle with the heavy humidity.  With not their usual abundance of flowers, they still bloom and show off beautifully, quite different from me, who struggled to stay focused on my sketching with no blooming and showing off in sight.

…dipladenia…

..watercolour and pen on Arches watercolor block, HP, 18x26cm..

dipladenia 5844x4108

à bientôt

Ronelle

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A rough sketch of some painting tools.

I dug this sketch out of the bin. It ended there along with many others I’m lately not happy with. I feel in an awful slump and nothing seems to work..everything is either too “pretty”, or too perfect or it is just plain bad art. I struggle to find that exciting stroke, or that exciting subject, or even the right medium. I work on small tiny papers and do small tiny challenges. I am in need of freedom and uninhibited expression. I know what I want and what I don’t want..or do I?

I wonder if art can go through menopause…in which case, that is where I would say my art is right now. Going through menopause. I hope it passes soon.

the first one is just pencil contour lines and then of course I didn’t like it and thought colour and pen would make it look better…

painting tools-001…just to realize it doesn’t look better, nor worse.

watercolor, pencil and pen on watercolor block, HP, 18x26cm

painting tools 2-001So. The solution is probably just to carry on and maybe consider not throwing out the awful ones. They should stay with us strive for better, or different, ot both.

à bientôt

Ronelle

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Peaches in watercolor

Yay..I’m back to plein air painting after a dry spell of two years…..The oil paintings are busy drying, while outside the thunder is rolling and the rain is showering down, bringing welcome relief to a dry garden. The days are wonderfully hot, hot, hot…I love every sweaty minute! Believe it or not, it is in this sweltering heat that I decided to move out to plein air again with my palette and oils. Summer works for me. In the meantime, some peaches  in watercolor, done with some big round yellow peaches and juicy flat white ones..which are all devoured by now and the cause of some tummy ache…Summer and its fruit does that to me too..

..trois pêches plates.

watercolor and pen on aquarelle block, 18X26cm

trois pêches plates 23-07-2013 19-01-24 6117x4175

..trois pêches jaunes..

watercolor and pen on aquarelle block, 18X26cm

trois pêches jaunes 23-07-2013 19-34-34 6076x4122

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Two..or maybe three eggs in watercolor.

Eggs. Easy to draw. Difficult to paint. but satisfying, because one can play around a lot with painting eggs..or the suggestion of eggs. Sometimes it works.  Sometimes not.

..three eggs 1..

in watercolour and pen on Fabriano watercolour block, HP, 23×30,5cm

..three eggs 2..

in watercolour and pen onArches watercolour block,CP, 18x26cm

..three eggs 3..

in watercolour and pen on Fabriano watercolour block, HP, 23×30,5cm

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Ochre fall leaves

This is my favorite time of sketching.. I love all the ochres and umbers. And on days when the weather is a bit chilly or wet, it is nice to bring in leaves and branches and whatever else I found on walk and fiddle in the studio. I don’t work in my atelier enough and I actually love my atelier! My table is in front of the fireplace, my coffee machine just a further to the left..in fact, the whole barn is my atelier and I am in it for another winter.

..fall leaves..

Both sketches done in pen and aquarelle in Hahnemule watercolor sketchbook, 19X20cm