Chess, Crystals, Christmas Cards, a Clock and Canines - in Watercolours

Anna-Karin finished her chess pieces. She bravely added a transparent (Schmincke) orange to the background and darkened the black fields. The finished picture has a warm and classic atmosphere yet has not lost its spontaneity

Liz finished her second chess board, again a slightly estranged one with it's folded corner... is the opponent unhappy? Or is it just a very good idea of a paper chess board (light and easily transportable).

In the previous post (below this one) you can read about all the watercolours we created with pine cones as subject. But of course there were also Aquarellistas who worked on other beautiful and interesting subjects:

 

 Isabel for instance, who finished her tree as one of the first! she loved the exercise that she cleverly combined with zentangle patterns, and the exercise loved her right back as you can see 😊

After her excellent pine cones Judith had time left to do a portion of her moomin' Zentangle

Marie-Claire's creativity also grew using the Zentangle technique! Look at these soft delicately moving plant-like shapes...

And after finishing the tree, Isabel started a Christmas card, again in Zentangle style!

Michele C. finished her snowflake - it is SO good in every way, well painted, spontaneous, mysterious and a fantastic sparkle!

And here is another awesome icy work, Sylvie D. painted it. It is quite abstract but it tells me a deep story about being little in the winter and looking through the frozen windows

And how about the gorgeous New Years card by Marie-Claire - also snowflake-themed. She used candle wax, salt and white felt pen and it turned out so well!

  

  Violet finished her beautiful still life with pumpkins. It is a present for a family member - who will be delighted no doubt, because it is terrific! The little cute penguin toddler below is also Violet's...

 

 Jutta continued with her cards for friends and family. They will love them no doubt. here you see 4 out of an impressive stack, full of experiments of which she learns a lot. Sounds like clear win-win!

Work in progress: These 4 original cards, designed by Anna-Karin.Mars Black over colours gives depth and feels as if you look through something...

Maud travaille sur un tableau d'une horloge ancienne. Elle a travaillé si dur et au début, la peinture semblait vouée à l'échec - mais maintenant, elle est si belle et je suis très fière de ce qu'elle fait!t!

 Carol finished her awesome group of Norfolk Seals. They are so gorgeous, slowly enjoying themselves on the sand... And se started another animal - a funny -and lovely looking- dog. What a character!

From Chess to Chat - A wide range of subjects in Watercolours

 Jutta's fabulous chessboard, I absolutely love the 'loose' style!

The Aquarelistas are more and more productive - especially now that we also have a session on Thursday! And a post with too many paintings won't get the attention it deserves, that's why I seperately show you the overview of what was done next to the Zentangles in today's other post 😃. Starting with the chess boards and pieces, ending with Maud's Chat - and everything in between

 

The finished board by Michele C. It is astonishing! I am so happy with what she has achieved in such a small period of time!

 Liz's large stone Chess painting is getting sturdier and the composition has fallen into place...

 Anna Karin has added the board underneath. It gives her painting such depth

 

Sylvie D. was away for a couple of weeks. Once back she finished her soap bubble-inspired painting. I think it is seriously awesome

Isabel D. worked on the forground-background exercise and finished with zentangle in the tree.The result is really great!!

 

Carol tweaked her already-gorgeous lonely wind mill on the water front. It is now perfect! We all love it to bits

 

The gorl with the blue scarf by Marie-Claire.Very beautiful, in colour as well as shape! Well done...

Sylvie let herself be inspired by Modigliani for this fabulous nude.

 

Maud a mis le dessin sur son papier, en couleurs Si vous regardez à travers vos cils, vous pourrez distinguer un chat blanc dans une poussette rose et des nombreux jouets: un commande!

As you can understand I am so proud of our group - both by the quality of the painting and the hard work... Especially impressive if you know that we are also working on Christmas Cards... In a next week's post I'll present some of those!

Aquarelle Chess

In last week's sessions (we also own the Thursday afternoon now 😊) the Aquarellistas used Chess pieces and boards as their inspiration... As always, the difference in everyone's styles makes it very interesting to look at the paintings.There are so many ideas, interpretations and perspectives - and everyone gives their best!
I am very proud of our group, and here's the work - for you to enjoy:

Celina's Knight, Tower and Bishop, on an unusual board. (The marble effect is achieved by sprinkling a bit of coarse salt on the wet paint) It is somehow very calming to look at and I am curious about how it will look when finished!

This still and determined set is painted by Anna-Karin and her big pointy brush. She also used salt and the effect (always a surprise) is awesome!

 Glen had to leave earlier so she must have worked hard on her chess board, it is almost finished! She will paint the background a soft blue so that the highlights are the only white and will come out a bit stronger.

This is the subtle start of a beautiful painting by Michele C.The white pieces in the background have blue masking fluid on them and that creates an interesting effect! When they are black it will be a different look -- but no doubt very good.

Liz is going for a huge stone chess game, not placed on a board but on pebbles. Still a lot of painstaking paintwork to do, but knowing Liz she will pull it off!

 Judith carefully constructed her chess pieces using masking fluid for the light parts. She came back on Thursday and finished it. Best she's done up to now! It has great volume, light and shadows on and below the pieces. Perspective improved and salt on the black for a marble effect. Well done!

 

 Helene's Queen - a monumental shiny chess piece. It is obvious that it is not finished - and I look forward to seeing the reflection of the black and white on it!

Jutta first finished one of her soap bubble paintings, but I want to show you the drawing, because of the exciting perspective. The colours will come next week!

News from the 'bubble' project:

  Both Jutta's soap bubbles now finished!

 Celina's soap bubbles - and where they come from - now completed. The girl is not the focal point - but she is so cute - and there's a story there...

 Judith's soap bubbles finished and I think we can say she nailed them!

No painted soap bubbles but marbles - and how! First exercise, well-done by Katherine

And here some inspiring 'other creations'.

 Isa works on the background (bluish)- foreground (reddish)-and-details-tree.

Inspired by the 'lonely houses', Carol started this lonely mill. It is not yet finished, but it already has so much character. As does the painting of the girl with her brothers - version2!

 

Sylvie M could make it last Thursday, we were happy to see her again! Her arm is still hurting but that doesn't keep her from making wonderful watercolours. How about this girl with the pearl earring!

  Maud a terminé son Bouddha. C'est une commission pour une salle d'attente et je suis sûr qu'il va jouer un rôle important pour réconforter et calmer les personnes qui attendent ...

Reminder: a Zen Watercolour session will also be organised every Thursday from 2 - 4.30, same subject, same structure...

Lonely little buildings in watercolours

Last weekend I drove from Amsterdam back to Chateauneuf - and on the way through beautiful France, the inspiration for the subject du jour came easy... So many different landscapes - and often they had a little house or shed or church or ruin in them, which enhances the feeling that there is a 'story' behind it...

You will see below that it was a good subject - everyone had their own ideas, and there is an amazing variety of styles and 'stories'. Most of the artists need a bit more time to finish their work. But I am excited about the quality as well as the poetry!

 

Michelle C. with a stunning August landscape. And a little lonely yet comforting barn, where you can hide for a storm...

You need to enlarge this not-yet-finished watercolour of Leonie (click on the picture) to appreciate the texture of that little stone church on top of the hill. SO delicate.

The picture doesn't do justice to Anna-Karin's super-atmospheric Tuscan house. Next week I have new and better equipment and this painting will be finished, so watch this space!

It's been a hot summer day and now a storm is coming. The wind is already blowing - such good tones chosen by Michele F . Or maybe you see another story?

 Sylvie D. went for the wet-in-wet spontaneous landscape with what I call 'Chinese' mountains. And then on the left that little house... Incredibly atmospheric

 

 Judith's lonely house, Nordicc style, but with warmth despite the cold and that reflection is superb!

Glenn finished a lonely house in the snow, also a 'Nordic' image with such a charming simplicity - and then started number 2 in the series, a warmer and more southern one - Tuscan atmosphere

 Hélène has made such an impressive start with a small house in the endless fields. Before that she worked on the Corsican mountains, with the excellent wet-in-wet sky. And the sunbeams. Unfortunately  just lifting the paint (my advice I am ashamed to admit) to achieve that, didn't give the desired subtle effect. But still, a lovely and much-admired painting!

This is a perfect postcard, created by Diana. She really had to work to get to this result, the top half was fantastic immediately but the bottom didn't come out the way she wanted. She persevered, and look what it has become. Awesome! 

And then there were 3 other subjects

This is -as you may recognize- an exercise, and it is painted by Isa. There are so many versions of the picture and this is definitely in the top 3! Well done!

 Michele C finished her poetic still life by painting a dark background. The glass is now coming out spectacularly, and balances the composition...

 Maud has started a mixed media work with a 'Zen' character... The buddha is created in charcoal and crayon, the bridge in the background is watercolours