Stillman & Birn sketchbook – Africantapestry

September 17, 2015September 17, 2015

Sketches of old Fench soupiere and plates.

I love my old French tableware…soupiéres, platters, plates, bowls and other dishware. Sketching them is quite challenging though, since they have such nice old patinas that I would love to capture. The only way for me to get that is to use different media. In the 2 sketches below, I used J. Herbin inks, De-Atramentis inks, watercolour, watercolour pencils, nib pen, pilot prera pen and gouache. I think I sort of got some patina on the dishes..

The sketches below are an old French soupiére, a Polish jug with my chickens’ feathers that I stick in at will.The second sketch is an old French platter and oval plate.

French soupiére and Polish jug

mixed media in Stillman & birn sketchbook, epsilon series14X21.6cm

Old French platter and plate

mixed media in Stillman & Birn sketchbook, epsilon series14X21.6cm

à la prochaine

Ronelle

September 13, 2015September 13, 2015

Hibiscus in watercolour.

It is raining outside, proper weather for a nice tajine, which I already have simmering on the stove. In my atelier corner, stands a vase with white hibiscus from the garden and in my Stillman and Birnsketchbook, a sketch of those hibiscus flowers.

After turning the sketch around several times, I felt finally that it looks better upside down, as in the image below. when looking at the top picture the eye wna&ts to get in at the top right corner and run down diagonally towards the bottom. Most of the time it feels uncomfortable to let the eye travel from the top to bottom. It feels more natural to travel from the bottom , upwards, over the painting and out, which is what happens in the upside down version, bottom sketch.

à bientôt

Ronelle

May 16, 2015May 16, 2015

EDM-art 12 & 13: Steps and latest purchase.

I visited our children in Toulouse this week. La villa rose, it is called, because of the typical red brick of the architecture. The fountains, quite different to those in Paris, have a charm that entices you to sit on the steps and eat your sandwich. Or watch the people go by. Or sit opposite the fountain and watch the people sitting on the steps. Life is always interesting around a fountain.

..la fontaine a la place de la Trinité.

watercolor and dip pen with Sennelier ink in S&B sketchbook

..coffee tables next to la fontaine on place de la Trinité..

watercolor and dip pen with Sennelier ink in S&B sketchbook

Opposite the fountain is a tiny shop with the very appropriate name, La Fontaine De Boulou. This is where I spoiled myself with something summery…a large necklace and an even larger ring; I love large jewellery and since I don’t have loads of jewellery I figured it was time for a splurge. These 2 pieces are from the createur Parisien, Dominique Denaive who makes gorgeous jewellery. Now I am waiting for the occasion to wear them…” Mon cheri, will you take me to dinner?…”

..necklace & ring Dominique Denaive..

watercolor and dip pen with Sennelier ink in S&B sketchbook

May 8, 2015

EDM art 8: Handles.

I first considered sketching my seductive love handles in a mirror and I even started, but in fear of having my grotesque image become viral on internet, I thought the better of it. So I stuck to an ordinary door handle. On the stable door. Our 2 year old filly loves this handle and discovered that it is a great scratching tool for her nozzle and head and everything which can reach so far. She also discovered that she can open it. She fits her nose right under the latch and with a quick swift she lifts and pushes at the same time, making the door swing backwards. And then of course she just casually steps out as if this is normal everyday routine and hits the road. Fortunately the door has swollen now from all the rain and gets stuck at the bottom. She couldn’t yet figure that one out. To her utter dismay, I might add.

..Dumêla and the stable door handle..

watercolour and nib pen and J. Herbin inks in Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook, 22.9×15.2 cm

à demain avec “something with an interesting label”.

Ronelle

May 7, 2015May 7, 2015

EDM art 7: Envelopes.

Whenever we receive one of these official “Republique Francaise” envelopes, proudly printed with la Liberté Egalité Fraternité, my stomach turns a knot. Even though I love la Republique and la liberté it stands for! But these envelopes always mean trouble. Or most of the time at least. It is either taxes coming your way…and who doesn’t hate/fear those? Or it is something you did which you shouldn’t have done. Like speeding or some other infraction. And so we received one of these proud, but dreaded envelopes a while back. In its usual, very formal and polite but nonetheless slighly accusing tone, it stated that the driver of the vehicle.. bla bla bla….bla bla bla.. ran a red light. That of course meant mon chéri. I started on my tantrum, throwing my hands up at this obscene amount we now have to pay and en plus...lose 4 points on the driving permit for a whole year! Zut!! I, being perfect and all, started lecturing mon chéri about responsible driving, paying attention to the signs and manners of the road. Until he frowned and pointed to the date. Zut!! He was in the States on that date! It meant he was far from that red light. It meant that I was the one who ran this red light. But that is of course impossible. I mean, really… being perfect and all, me? Oh c’mon….impossible!

..envelopes..

nib pen and J. Herbin inks in Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook, 22.9×15.2 cm

à demain avec “something with a handle”

Ronelle

May 5, 2015May 5, 2015

EDM art 5: A hot woodburning stove.

Few things are as comforting and warming as an old woodburning stove, or coalstove as we used to call it. during the day it gets stacked with wood and at night with coals which can simmer all night long with closed vent; Coming down to a kitchen, smelling the heat from the coals and just moving the kettle over for an old fashioned coffee,…it is a joy few people know about today and many might remember it form childhood. In winter this is our chef in the kitchen.. For heat, for comfort, for a homely ambiance, for cooking , for keeping the kettle ready, and warming the hands. Of course this thing can push out some mean kilowatts and I have a few scars as evidence. But boy, a tajine or a boeuf bourguignon or a rosemary leg of lamb coming out of that little oven…it gives total a new meaning to the term oven baked. As the thermostat is long gone, I am obliged to step back in time and test the oven temperature by sticking in my hand in the oven and counting….warm, hot or freakin hot!

..kettle and woodburning stove..

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

On this hot note I leave you until tomorrow when I will hopefully be back with “bristles”.

Ronelle

May 4, 2015May 4, 2015

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.