Mask

I love masks. This one I painted with acrylic inks on mixed media paper. I had no specific reference for it, I just loved the combination of redand brown colours and the light green serving as focus point.

Village in the Haute Provence

In the 1980s we spent a three weeks holiday in the Provence in the South of France. At that time diapositives were the state of art - and so this photo was taken as a dia. Now that I am retired I have the time to go through the stacks of diapositives and to select the ones which I want to have digitalized. I chose this one because I like the contrast between the light and the shadows and I like the architecture of the village houses.

Cute Houses

Here I used an old line drawing which I had done with Inkscape a really long time ago. I coloured that drawing many times - with acrylic inks, with markers - and now with gouache paints. I painted on mixed media paper which tends a bit to buckle when you add too much water. So I taped it down with a normal painter's tape, and when the paper was dry I didn't peel the tape off but simply cut the tape off together with the paper. 

I used the following brands: Lucas Studio Tempera/Gouache, Reeves Gouache and Schmincke Akademie Gouache. The interesting thing is that I am quite surprised how manageable the Lucas Studio Gouache is, whereas I had two disappointing experiences with the Ultramarine paint from Reeves and the Schmincke Akademie Indigo paint. When I opened them a big blub of water came out, with some coloured binder. Obviously the binder had separated in the tube. I kind of expected something like that from Reeves, but not from Schmincke. However the second Gouache paint from Schmincke Akademie, the Violet blue, worked fine.

Where is the snowflake?

Just now I am challenging myself with using snowflake line drawings and transforming them in such a way that you have difficulties recognizing the snowflake shapes. My palette here is quite limited - in fact I am using up the paints left on my palette from the last painting. 

I find that kind of painting very relaxing and zen-like. After having thought about the hues to use I am slowly colouring in, trying to stay inside the lines and to work as precise as possible. I know that other people do a proper colour chart planning before they begin to paint - I do not do that (yet).

Viking shield

There are hundreds of snowflake templates on the web. Some of them I downloaded and printed out, hoping they may become useful some time. Well, as I am practicing painting with gouache I thought:,  "Why not use one of them?" However, my goal was to transform these snowflakes into something different - and here it is - a snowflake turned into a Viking shield! Of course no one knows how these Viking shields looked like in reality - but why not paint something that could have been a Viking shield?

Playing with colours

Paintings like this are never planned by me. They happen. The only thing I think about in advance are the colours I want to use - in this case it was simple because they were leftover from the painting before. I don't clean my palette thoroughly - I only clean the mixings on the palette, so that there is place again for adding new blobs of paint.
I used a variety of brands - an indigo from Schmincke Akademie Gouache, a golden yellow from Lascaux Gouache, a brilliant blue from Reeves Gouache and an orange from Lucas Studio Tempera/Gouache.

Abstract Landscape

This abstract landscape was done with gouache and markers and a white acrylic paint marker. When I started the painting I had no idea what the outcome would be. I was just putting marks on the paper. Of course there was a moment when I thought that it would never come together, but I kept on painting. Considering that I have very little experience with gouache I am rather satisfied with the painting - and I decided to focus on that media. 

Cikada

This photo was taken on holidays in the Provence in the South of France. If you look closer you can see the insect sitting on the branch - one of the big cikadas which were producing a typical sound of the South of Europa. Mostly you could not see them but here we were fortunate enough to take a shot of little noisy critters.

Purple snowflake

This painting was my first kind of commission. I'd already done that snowflake, but with a completely different background design and a complete different colour palette. I'd made a card out of it and showed the card to a nice person in the restaurant which I use to frequent quite often. Sie bought it and said that she would like another one but with other colours.

Well, I actually did another one. This one is done with a range of media: watercolour brush pens, liquid watercolours and some alcoholbased markers, and of course, a white gel pen in the very end of the creative process. Today I went to the drugstore and had two cards printed out with this design.

Red Dragon

. 

I must admit, I love dragons. I love to look at them (I really didn't know how different they can be, all the Chinese Dragons, the Sea Dragons, the Western dragons!) and I love to draw and paint them. Here in Western culture dragons are considered to be evil beasts, which love to eat young maids and princesses. Eastern cultures consider dragons to be more positive, full of energy and power.

Blue and Purple Abstract

This painting has been done mostly with liquid watercolours, using the colours purple and night from Colorex, pebeo. Then I added some finishing touches with brushpen watercolours, using the ecoline brush pens and the tombow brushpens. 

Half-timbered houses in the South of Germany

As the car on the photo will show you - this photo is quite old. However the beauty of the half-timbered houses still shines on. These half-timbered houses can be found in the South of Germany - Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

Young witch

This was a quick sketch which I coloured in with my liquid watercolours. I did the necklace and the chain around the hat with an alcoholbased marker because I liked the contrast between the soft colours of the liquid watercolurs and the strong vivid blue of the marker. 

I am still practising doing very light washes, and not every wash is as light as I wanted it to be. The face is much to reddish-pink, but - as I said - I am still practising.

Summer at the lake

I honestly don't know where and when this photo has been taken. It belongs to the series of digitalized diapositives. The reason why I selected it is the peaceful and quiet atmosphere of this place. Not a single person is on this photo, just a number of boats.

Some dangerous sea plant

This painting was drawn and coloured out of my imagination. What I had in mind was some kind of carnivorous sea plant, with long red slimey fingers to catch little fish. I used my Ecoline and colorex liquid watercolour paints and practised washes and the mixing of hues. I am still having much fun painting and trying out new things (new things at least for me!).

Funny Seacreatures

I had a blast drawing and coloring these cute seacreatures. But besides having fun I also practised layering my liquid watercolours and blending several hues. I used acrylic paint markers to add the marks on the seacreatures.

Fantasy Butterfly

I very much doubt that there is a butterfly in reality like this one. It is an illustration done with alcoholbased markers and I had fun using all those pretty colours. I had begun to work on it some days ago, and didn't finish it because I was playing with my liquid watercolours. But finally I could bear the sight of the unfinished critter anymore and decided to finish it. 

Winter Witch

Yes, I used a coloring page for this witch, simply because I wanted to focus on working with my liquid watercolour paints. I am using Ecoline watercolour ink made by Royal Talens from the Netherlands, and Colorex, made by Pebeo, a French brand. 

I love the intensity of these liquid paints, and I am still highly surprised what you can get out of a drop of these paints. You get wonderful washes! 

Practising painting with liquid watercolours

Some days ago I watched a video about practising flat watercolour washes with coloring pages. I felt so inspired that I grabbed my colorex and my ecoline liquid watercolours and a coloring page I had printed out a long time ago. I used my lightpad to transfer the line drawing to my watercolour paper and began to paint, using only one colour, the colour "night" from colorex. The painting process was very focussed and even meditative - and I decided to do more of these practice paintings!

Little blue snake

This snake was coloured with markers and coloured pencils. I did the line drawing myself with some references from the web. Isn't he cute?

Playing with Colours in Gimp

This photo belongs to a series of digitakuted diapositives. I played a bit with the colour saturation menu in gimp. 

Hill and Chapel in the Provence

This photo was taken many years ago when my husband and I were on vacation in the Provence in the South of France. At that time there were no digital cameras, and everybody was using a diapositive film. A few months ago I began to go through my diapositive collection and selected the ones I want to keep as digitalised photos. The above photo is one of them.

Beetles on a Mug

I drew this beetle some time ago with alcoholbased markers and thought it would make a nice design on some products in my Zazzle shop. Mugs are the first products with this new design, but other products will be following.

Pink Beetle Mug
by ullahennig

Happy little Flower

Isn't it cute, this little flower character? I painted it with alcoholbased markers on drawing board. I saved the line drawing so that I can create some colour variations and some variations of her ( I think of this little flower as a "her") facial expression.

Landwehrkanal Berlin

Berlin is a city with many green spots and much water - waterways like the Spree and the Havel or the Landwehrkanal which flows through the middle of Berlin. From Easter on you can see ships on the water - of course with many tourists on them but also some Berlin people as well who enjoy gliding through the city.

Painting with Markers on Coated Paper

Coated paper is paper which has been covered with some chemical stuff which makes the paper more or less water resistant. That means that the ink or paint is not going into the paper but stays on the surface. So marker ink can be blended and you can get some in-between-colours.

Funny little Houses

A long time ago I had drawn these houses with the open source vektor software Inkscape. I got a nice line drawing which I could print anytime I liked and colour in in several ways. Here I coloured the line drawing with alcoholpased markers.

Happy little Octopus

Obviously he is happy - the cute little octopus. And I had a blast drawing and painting him!

Nature around Berlin

Most of the people who come to Berlin for the first time are surprised how much green there is in this big city. But there is much more green outside Berlin, in the region called "Mark Brandenburg". The photo shows a forest landscape near Tornow which itself is a town not more than 1 1/2 hours away from the Capital. You can walk there for hours without meeting anyone.

What to do with leftover acrylic paint

When painting with acrylics often there is some paint left over. When it has dried you cannot use it anymore - here I show you how you can use your leftover paint and have fun. All you need are a spare piece of surface (I used watercolour paper) and some Acrylic paint markers.

Mask

I think masks are fascinating objects. They come in many shapes, and for me they are ideal to try out colour combinations or mediums. This one I did with acrylics - mostly paints straight out of the tube, but also acrylic paint markers. 

Tree character

I love to tell stories with my illustrations. This one was done with watermedia on watercolour paper. Some trees in a forest seem to have personalities - so why not give them one in a drawing? 

Tropical leaves

This is just a line drawing which I found on the web and colored with watercolours. I wanted to practice shades of greens and blues and to focus on the actual painting. 

Venezian Mask

This painting is one example of my art adventures with Gouache. I didn't do the drawing (though I slightly changed the original when transferring the lines to my watercolour paper) because I wanted to focus on applying the hues. 

Beta Fish

This Betafish was done with coloured pencils, blended with OMS, and Markers for the background. 

Landscape near Poland

Some weeks ago I visited the region around the border between Germany and Poland. There is a big river which is called "Oder" which functions as the border between those two states. It is amazing how peaceful and serene this part of Germany is!

Portrait of a bear

A few days ago I rediscovered my oil pastels. Some years ago I had bought a 24 pastel set by JAXON, tried them out for a while and then let them lie because somehow I wasn't satisfied with the results I've got. 
Now. some years later, I tried them again, using Odourless Mineral Spirit as a solvent. And I must say, I am hooked. 
This bear portrait is a quick sketch done on sketchbook paper.