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Plein air watercolor Watercolour

A tulip field and a puzzled local

Yes, like I mentioned in the previous post, my wife was at a conference in Noordwijkerhout, Holland. I tagged along for the chance to discover a new place and to find inspiration to paint a watercolour.

I left the hotel after breakfast with my easel and painting gear. It was day two, what should I paint? I wandered around for a while and then decided to make it easy for myself. There were only flat fields, as far as an artist could see. It was a hot, sunny day, so when I found shade, it decided the view of the tulip fields.

While painting, a local carefully asked, why was I painting the field? It was empty after all, the tulips had been harvested two weeks before. She smiled, mounted her bike and cycled away. I had no choice did I! I had missed the harvest and was in the middle of nowhere. I probably made the fields redder than they really were, because of that little encounter with the lady on the bicycle.

Categories
Plein air watercolor Watercolour

A painting challenge, south of Amsterdam

I have just returned from a two week holiday. Sylvie, my wife was attending a conference in Holland and I just hung along for the ride. Later, we took the train to Paris and then visited her mother in Brittany, France.

I didn’t look at the exact location of my wife’s conference on the map. It was in a place called Noordwijkerhout. A farming region, flat as a pancake, south of Amsterdam. Small towns dotted around but mostly just farmland. No windmills. What could I paint? A field? A field that once had tulips? And, they had been harvested weeks earlier …

It’s fascinating how, when one stares long enough at a seemingly mundane landscape, one can find beauty. I did my best to capture it. I had walked around for hours with my easel. It was late evening when I settled for this scene.

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sketching watercolor Watercolour

All good things come to an end

I’ve been having a great time in Mexico visiting my old friend Jorge. Yesterday, Luis , a new friend, showed me a wonderful spot in the local forest to sketch. My adventure is coming to an end soon. I have to get back to Stockholm. My life drawing classes begin this Thursday. Contrasts.

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watercolor Watercolour

Giving a painting a second chance

I painted this watercolour back in the summer of 2021. We had sailed to Åland from Stockholm and as usual our first port of call was Rödhamn. While there I painted this plein air sketch of the Radio Station Museum and a nearby navigational sign.

I basically was unhappy with it and I placed it in my failures tray back home. Saw it recently and said to myself maybe I can tweak that watercolour a little and it will be okay. This is the result.



Happy New Year! 😃😃😃

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Plein air watercolor Watercolour

Just doing it

In the beginning of the week I took the ferry on a short trip across the water to Djurgården here in Stockholm. I wheeled my art gear behind me and looked for an inspirational spot to paint from. In the end it was the weather that decided. I needed protection from the strong easterly wind which was making 7 degrees feel really unpleasant.

The day’s subject became some oil storage tanks on the other side of the water. I was more interested in the sky but I needed a point of focus for the sake of the composition.

The finished watercolour may not be a masterpiece but for me just getting out and painting was the biggest achievement of the day.



Have a nice weekend.
Cheers 🙂

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Plein air watercolor Watercolour youtube

New video from Utö, Stockholm archipelago

I just published my latest video:
Painting outdoors in the autumn Ep35

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Plein air watercolor Watercolour

Painting from Beckholmen on a damp day

I painted the other week on Beckholmen, Stockholm. The view is of Danvikshem which is very close to where I live. Size: 26 x 36 cm.

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Plein air watercolor Watercolour

Painting plein air in the Stockholm autumn

What a contrast to the week before. Then I was in Croatia enjoying warm and sunny conditions, on this day (last Monday) I took myself out to Sandhamn by ferry. Sandhamn is a popular harbour during the summer months but now in late autumn it’s empty.
It was a grey day, 7 degrees, rained from time to time and the wind gusted to 16m/s. It was important to somehow find shelter on the harbour. Thankfully I had a stool with me so I could keep a low profile behind some seating on the pier.

The highlight of the day was to go to the local pub/restaurant and eat freshly baked cod and drink a local beer.
It’s a short working day. The light started to fade around 3pm. I took the ferry back to Stockholm at 5pm, it was dark by then.

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watercolor Watercolour

Painting plein air locally

I try to be out in the Stockholm archipelago as much as possible. But sometimes the weather isn’t kind and I’m forced to stay home. This was the case last week when there was gale force wind with heavy rain. It wasn’t raining all the time though so I was able to nip out and paint a scene close to where I live.

The building I chose to paint is called Danvikshem, an Art Deco old folks home, it is a dominant feature on the local skyline. I sat myself down outside an apartment in Finnboda and had a go at capturing the scene.