Hazel Catkins

This morning the weather was beautiful. A clear blue sky and a wonderful sun. Only the wind was cold and strong. I decided to take Bertus outside in the garden. My Hazel is full of dangling catkins for some weeks now and I really wanted to make a photo of it before it was too late.

Is spring coming?

They say it will come.... It's doesn't feel like spring is coming though.... BUT the snowdrops are starting to flower here and for that reason I wanted to show you this little drop:

I made this one a couple of years ago and it was a difficult drawing because it's white. White is always difficult. It was the first in a series of flowering bulb drawings (still working on it btw). This is made on Bristol paper (I don't work on Bristol anymore, but back then I only used Bristol paper).

Just a quick update on the Alder drawing:

Not finished yet, but I'm getting there. It is such a difficult subject. It has so many different directions, shapes and textures. I hope to finish it this week.

Yesssssssssss

Today I worked hard on the Alder branch. And it went well. But I must say it is maybe one of the most difficult subjects I've done so far.

Anyway... this is just the beginning. It's going to be a big drawing. I hope I'll finish it.

No progress today...

I am working on a large drawing of a branch of the Black Alder tree. It took me one day to make the sketch and get the drawing on the Fabriano. Today the drawing wasn't leading me anywhere. That's very frustrating. I used to keep on working, hoping it would look alright in the end. But most of the time that ended up in a ruined drawing and tears. So, having learned from my mistakes, I decided to stop the drawing for today. It's not good to mess the drawing up now (as if it ever is a good time to mess it up).

I thought I would do some crocheting instead. I am making a cat. And since it is a bit cold, the cat needs a scarf. I made her a grey spiral scarf but it was too dull for her. So now I've made another one. It's purple.... I guess I will have to make a second cat to match the grey scarf...

Aaah, life is hard.....

Winter Buds of Cornus mas

I first had no idea what kind of shrub this was but my friend Michiel Thomas helped me with that. It's a European Cornel, one of the Dogwood family. It was planted beside the road in our village and I liked it. It will get very yellow flowers soon, but for now it is still looking very pretty (I don't like very yellow flowers).

My first coloured pencil drawing after the surgery. Not a masterpiece. But I'll keep trying.

Coloured pencil on Fabriano designo 5 Liscia paper. 25 x 11 cm (the branch)

Check out the large size: View On White