"Fête de la musique à la Ferme Rose"

 

"Fête de la musique à la Ferme Rose"

20 x 25cm, oil on canvas

(private collection, Uccle)

 

It's never been so hot on June 18th in Belgium. Nonetheless we had our exhibit at the Ferme Rose while musicians played in the courtyard. I painted quickly trying to capture the light before it changed. I had left the blue chairs empty to fill in later when the crowds arrived, not realizing that they would pick up all the chairs and move them to a shadier spot off to the left. I also waited to paint the musicians later because I figured the light didn't matter so much back there. So when the five person Brasilian band, Roda Rio, stepped on stage and they fit my composition, I added them. Of course, people enjoyed the music so much they started dancing, photographing the group, and blocking my view but that's all part of the challenge of "plein air" painting.

Art Exhibit & "Fete de la Musique" on 18 June 2022

 

I will participate in a one-day art exhibit at the "Ferme Rose" in Uccle on 18 June 2022 from 11h00 to 18h00. At the same time, musicians will play in the courtyard all afternoon.

 

Find the complete program here: https://sites.google.com/view/dimanchart

https://www.facebook.com/DimanchArt/

La Ferme Rose
44, avenue de Fré
1180 Bruxelles

Fun on the Internet

I find that Internet challenges are a great way to try out new supplies or techniques. For instance, there's a portrait challenge on Instagram @faceportraitclub that's gaining followers. They manage to pick reference photos of people you'd like to draw and they find insightful poses that result in portraits with meaning. I've been practicing small format colored pencil portraits:

@quanghoart

 

@danajerimaier

 

 

@treadle_trowel_thimble

Another time I tried Intaglio printing using Tetrapak. More on this technique on my Flickr account: HowToAlbum

 

 

 Ukrainian solder, based on photo by @sergekhivrich

Then there's the 2022 version of EDiM ("Every Day in May") that just took off. I'm trying out various pencils on black paper, experimenting with my Caran D'Ache Luminance and Derwent Coloursoft pencils as well as a white gellyroll. You can easily meet this challenge with quick sketches of everyday objects so I'm trying to keep up. Day 5 was "fruit":

Find the rest on my Flickr album:  EDiM

Exhibit at "La Ferme Rose" on Sunday, 10 April 2022

 

I will bring a few recent works to the group exhibit "Dimanch'Art" on Sunday, April 10th (11:00am to 6:00pm) at La Ferme Rose in Uccle.

Please stop by and say hello if you are in Brussels!

Dimanch'Art Website (includes map of location)

 Photos from the other exhibitors are also on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DimanchArt

A walk in the desert in the spring

"Springtime in the desert"

Polychromos on A4 Dawler Rowney smooth heavyweight paper

 

Watching the garden grow during the pandemic

 

“Waiting”

Polychromos on Steinbach paper 

Isolation Blues

"Let the games begin"
Ink on paper, just for fun!

On a roll

 

I've recently realized that pencil rolls can be useful to protect colored pencils when traveling. So, using a store bought version as my model, I managed to sew three to house my Faber-Castell Polychromos collection.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and creative 2022, with -- dare we hope -- an end to this Covid madness!

Still in my colored pencil phase at the end of 2020, so I created a series of "confinement chicken" postcards. These two contrasting breeds make great models but are much easier to sketch from photographs.

"Chicken in a Van Gogh landscape"

"Merry Chickens!"

The reference photo for the pine trees
was by Dananthi Arnott in the FBGroup
Landscape Reference Photos for Artists

These are all either Koh-i-noor or Polychromos on "Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketch Postcards". The paper is 190g/m2 and 10.5x14.8cm. Hahnemühle is the only brand I have found that makes smooth postcard paper for sketching in pencil. I'm grateful but wouldn't mind seeing a slightly heavier version because I drop these in the mail without an envelope. Yet so far, everyone says they received their postcards in good condition.

Lake Afton in Yardley PA

"Yardley"
29.5x42cm, Faber Castell Polychromos on smooth drawing paper

I started this one before the pandemic, finally brought it out again, and finished it today. It's based on a photograph that I took a few years ago in Yardley PA. I remember it was late in the afternoon when the fall colors were at their best. What a treat to use my large set of Polychromos again after nearly two years -- over a hundred colors to choose from!