Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 30

Deciding to draw outside every day in the month of September in The Netherlands is quite risky. Usually it’s 18°C/ 64,4°F with occasional rain, so not the best circumstances for drawing outside.

That’s why I decided to draw ahead. Every week the weather forecast said: rain! And every week the rain was pushed back with a week until September 29th! So I’m really happy I finished the challenge two days ago!!

I loved doing this last one. When I sat down next to these tree roots all kinds of animals and faces kept popping up. Amazingly beautiful.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 29

Another go at the fallen tree from day 26.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 28

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 27

A very different view of the birch tree I drew multiple times.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 26

During previous drawings I would bring my drawing stool and sit on a grassy field or a path, but last few drawings I let myself wonder off the yellow brick road and into the woods.

After the blackbird has stopped it’s alarm all gets quiet again, or actually very noisy because when I sit there very quietly the birds don’t take notice anymore and let me be a true observer.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 25

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 24

Back at my new spot and back at this fallen birch tree. This time from the other side with a close-up of the roots.

Fallen Birch tree, Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 23

A new spot to draw, again the Amsterdam Forest but this area has a more woodsy scenery.

During this drawing I was surrounded by the sound of beech nuts falling from the trees, sounding like rain. They kept falling on my drawing pad and ended up being a nice little snack.

Fallen Birch tree, Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 22

Yesterday was the first day I felt a little cold drawing outside, in the shades. After a while I had to  move to a sunnier spot.

Temperatures had been way too high for the time of the year in the Netherlands but when I rode my bike into the Amsterdam Forest this week all of a sudden the paths were yellow with leaves and the leaden summer air had changed to a cool autumn air. How I love the change of seasons.

Fallen Birch tree, Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 21

Did I ever mention I love trees? I love trees! Today I stumbled on this lady leaning forward and I had to draw her.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 20

For some reason this one felt really good to do and I think it depicts the amazing sunny and peaceful atmosphere of that day really well.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 19

With this one I started with the background in ecoline saving the light areas like the birch trees. Then I slowly moved to the foreground adding bistre for the darker areas.

Adding pencil last I worked the other way around, starting at the foreground and adding the background last.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 18

Another revisit at the spot I drew on day 8 and 9. They are all so different!

In the middle of this drawing my three legged fishing stool broke which forced me to sit on the floor (not comfortable) and changed my perspective a bit.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 17

Berries!!

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

16-09-2016 Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 16

In my previous drawing I decided to add more colour. Next to my usual (brown) bistre I added ecoline (burnt umber) and red ink. I also had to switch the colour of my pencil because I ran out of Derwent Graphitint ‘autumn brown’ and replaced it with ‘port’. But the ‘port’ one ended up really soft and broke all the time.

For this drawing I switched from ‘port’ to ‘juniper’, continued with the burnt umber ecoline and brown bistre and added green bistre.
This one was really fun!

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 15

Do over of yesterday’s drawing.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 14

Pushing yourself doesn’t always work out…

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 13

Thus far I’m very lucky the Dutch weather is cooperating with my plans to draw outside. Sun shining, temperatures around 27°C (80,6°F), it’s amazing!

Next week will be around 19°C (66,2°F) with possibly rain so I feel a bit pressured to push myself these last days of summer…

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 12

Today I didn’t have much time to venture out and draw so I just sat on my balcony and drew the neighbour's cat and the shed it always sleeps on.

Neighbour's shed, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 11

Line of trees.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 10

This peaceful drawing does not convey the small disaster that happened right before I started this drawing.

I dropped my beloved Pentel Aquash WaterBrush in the water!

I was having a small brake, put down my brush, I looked away for a second and it started rolling, fell on the wooden bridge I had chosen as my workspace and slipped through the cracks! With a small splash it landed in the water!

I first feared I had lost my brush forever but soon noticed it floating under the bridge, right in the middle. Panicky I tore a reed from the ground and started poking at the brush. Slowly it moved to the side of the bridge. I moved to the side of the bridge and lying flat on my belly I used the reed to move it towards me and that’s how I got it back.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 9

Here’s the do over from yesterday. I left this version much more open which gives it a more clear look. It still could use some tinkering but for now on to new sites!

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 8

Confession, I don’t draw one drawing a day, I do 2 to 4. This way I can work ahead to cover things like  rainy days.

The drawing of today is from yesterday. I knew it was going to be a huge challenge. There’s a lot of (murky) water and not much sunlight. I feel like I totally lost control on this one.

Today I went back to have another try. I’ll post the result of the do over tomorrow.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 7

Another view of the waterside I drew yesterday.

I really enjoyed drawing these two drawings. From a drawing perspective but also because something happened that made me grin every 15 minutes or so.

On the other side of the water there was a path a lot of dog owners used for their walk. Around every 15 to 30 minutes I would hear a big splash and more sloshy sounds and a dog owner either going berserk at their dog or start laughing hysterically because they used to have a clean and not so muddy dog.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 6

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 5

Today a somewhat wider view of the spot I’ve been drawing for the last couple of days.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 4

Back at the same spot at the Amsterdam Forest as in my first 2 drawings.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 3

Usually I’m alone when I draw. During this drawing I was on a nature walk with a good friend and I learned that I can draw and chat at the same time!

Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 2

The first time I had to sit down and draw nature was during highschool. I say ‘had to’ because I didn’t like it at all!

My teacher was very pleased with the result but I wasn’t. To me nature was utterly chaos and I couldn’t decide what was important and what not, I didn’t feel like I was making well considered decisions what to draw and what to leave out.

Until this day I feel the same way about drawing (in) nature. There’s so much going on: branches, leaves, twigs, shrubbery, it’s just too much!!

But I do love nature. That’s why I decided that drawing outside in nature would be the challenge for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge of this September.

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest, bistre & pencil, 24 x 30 cm

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2016 – Day 1

Last January I entered Leslie Saeta’s painting challenge: Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days.

It was a really good experience, I learned a lot and I ended up exhibiting all 30 paintings last April.

This September I’m having another go at the challenge.

This time I decided to be less strict. Leslie Saeta said it herself: there are no rules, just to have fun and ‘paint’ more than you would’ve if you didn’t participate. A ‘painting’ doesn’t strictly need to be a painting, it can be a drawing, a linocut, whatever your medium is.

For the month of September I’m going to draw in nature daily, mostly at the Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam Forest) and my ‘paintings’ will actually be drawings.

I found out about the challenge and Leslie Saeta through her podcast Artist Helping Artists which I highly recommend!!

Amsterdamse Bos/ Amsterdam Forest (24 x 30 cm)