Around here this week …

… there's autumn in full swing!
I took some pictures out of my studio window today – I love this view, especially in autumn! And it might all look different and leafless tomorrow, as they predicted the first frost for tonight …

I as well have been polishing up my Minted Store, to get into gear for the Holidays. As my Minted collection has been growing slowly but steadily this year, there's lots of beautiful wall art inside, and some kid's art, fabric and home decor too. Come have a look inside! Here's a peek into my faves for November:

Finally I couldn't resist to patch all my Inktober pieces together, so here's the full month!
There's some sketches that I'd love to develop further, in colour. And some interesting painting ideas and bits that might make nice patterns too. Hoping that I will find the time to do this …

Happy weekend everybody!

Autumn's Best – Inktober 2016, part 4

Running a bit late, as I had been away and "offline": here's the final part of Inktober!

Starting with the "Forest Girl" above, for Inktober 23. I thought I'd be painting an autumn wreath, but the brush decided differently and then this girl turned up …

Before doing Inktober 24 called "Treehome" I had been passing by the new tree climbing garden in our local wood. All these platforms in the trees reminded me of treehouses (though the one I did is rather a tree-tent…). As a child I really would have adored to own a treehouse and we kids tried to build one from found wood every now and then, but these always collapsed after a while … I still would love to own one now!

I had to find out who lives in the Tree-tent above, so I did this fox-girl, called "Forest Girl 2" for Inktober 25.

"Fall in the Forest" – some fun little forest folks and motifs for Inktober 26.

 

I can't help but love autumn. I always have. It's my favourite time of the year. Inspite of the colder days and earlier nights, there's so much to cherish! So here's "Autumn's Best" for Inktober 27.

Getting ready with this "Witch's' Prep Guide for Halloween"! Inktober 28.

"Melancholia" for Inktober 29. It's that time of the year again …

And here's my Inktober 30, called"Flower Girl". It's inspired by admiring a beautiful bold woman on the train station. She wore a stunning and summery flower dress brightening up the otherwise dull, grey late autumn scene. Wondered where she did come from! Prob directly from Frankfurt airport nearby …

Finally! A "Dark Mood" for Inktober 31.

Phew! Bit exhausted now to be honest ;-) but loved it nevertheless. I hope you liked following me along for Inktober as well!

Moon and sun and the valley – Inktober 2016, week 3

The third week of Inktober! I still enjoy it – most of the time ;-)

Sometimes I think it would be better to have a real theme … But on the other hand this way I enjoy that it is spontanious and often surprising for myself: I just sit down without thinking too much or researching and sketching beforehand, and I draw whatever comes to my mind in that moment.

Inktober 16 above was inspired by the beautiful Hunter's Moon that we had in that night.

As was the drawing below for Inktober 17: "Where do we go" – well I'd love to know! Who wouldn't!? Maybe the moon has an answer …?

As I was in a nighttime mood and had noticed a lot of moths in the garden on that evening, I did some of these for Inktober 18. Some of them are imagined, some a bit more naturalistic, but as well  drawn from memory.

This was the first time that I drew an Inktober piece before really starting the day, so I wanted to do sthg related to mornings. Roosters seemed fun - here is a little parade for Inktober 19.

On Inktober 20 I had accidentally stumbled upon some beautiful areal photography - like fields and villages seen from the sky - on Pinterest. So I wasn't surprised what came up when I later on sat down to draw: a little farmhouse scene with rooster and chicken.

The quick sketch of the valley railway below – for Inktober 21 – was drawn from memory after a bike ride along the river.

The last drawing for this week was as well inspired by the valley: "Deerjump" for Inktober 22. Biking homewards in the evening I met 3 beautiful deer, running and jumping across the path right in front of me and then through the meadow to a nearby hedge. But they didn't disappear, they turned round and looked at me for what seemed a long time … it felt like they were curious and as keen on observing me than I was on observing them :-)

That's it for today – now onwards to the final Inktober week!

 P.s.: For those who are not familiar with "Inktober": You can find a short explanation about it at the end of this post here.

Inky River (Inktober 2016, week 2)

My second Inktober week has gone pretty much local … one can see that our river valley is one of my main sources of inspiration. Let's go on a little river jaunt!

Day 9: "11 o'clock Bridge" features our main bridge over the Lahn River. It's a quiet spot on the evenings and nights and I love how you can see the fogbanks rolling in from the hills.

Day 10: "The Glowing Tree",  inspired by a bike ride when I saw these flaming yellow and orange trees on the riverbank. It was pretty strange to do this in ink only … must def revisit it in full colour!

Day 11: The "River Goddess" says hello … she just turned up …

 Day 12: I am calling this "River Goddess 2".

Day 13: This is a beautiful and sometimes a bit spooky spot on the riverbank, that we call "Owl Hill". It is a derelect quarry, now just a wooded hill with lots of rocks hidden inside, and it is home to several brown owls. When you pass by in the evening or night, you can hear their calls echoing through the sky. Sometimes – depending on the direction of the wind – you can even hear them from our house.

Day 14: "Owl River" – inspired by drawing no. 13. It shows a personal and not so very accurate map of my favourite part of the river, featuring one of the valley's brown owls.

"Floating" for day 15. That's what I always think when I come by this spot in the evening or night … The drawing shows our local castle, "Count's Castle", illuminated by spotlights and floating above the city.

Let's see what I will come up with next week!

Curious about what "Inktober" means? You can find a short explanation at the end of my last post, please just scroll down!

Black Ink Nights (Inktober 2016, week 1)

So I decided to jump on the Inktober Challenge* again, like last year. Here's my first week!

Above is how I got started, drawing a little toad lily from our garden. For Inktober 2 the lily quickly morphed into a little night-time story, that then turned into a whole "Nocturne" series.

Nocturne 2 and 3 above were inspired by some evening hikes along our local river Lahn, as was the night-time scene for Inktober 5 below.

On day 6 I felt a bit uninspired, and turned to some floral/ garden motifs for help. The "Flutterby" drawing below might be a nice starting point for a pattern later on.

Day 7 continues with the "Nocturne" series. The black cat for sure is related to our own cat Dikkertje,  but I was really wondering where that ladder idea came from …? Then on the next day I realized that it was inspired by the view into our neighbour's garden, where a huge ladder for cutting the ivy is perched on a wall. Funny how the mind works!

Finally more black cat adventures with "A little night-time stroll" for day 8!
I am curious myself how this will go on … I have no real plan, I just draw what comes into my mind. Maybe I'll end up with a full night-time Inktober?

*(For those who don't know, "Inktober" is a drawing challenge happening all over social media. It was  created a few years ago to inspire people to draw and be creative. Taking part means to do (and post) one ink drawing per day for the whole month of October. Inktober has a huge response all over the world and you'll find many artists, designers or people who love to draw posting their sketches/drawings mainly on Facebook and Instagram. Just search for #inktober2016 and have fun!)

Goodbye blue-green September!

We had some gorgeous late summer days in September, with lots of greens and blues everywhere … they made me feel a bit like living in a fairytale :-)

 

Now it looks like autumn is here …
But sorting through my sunny photographs I just can't help posting some more garden pics!

House and Garden at the beginning of September …

… and mid September. The Morning Glories are growing …

… and that's at the end of September!

I have been asked quite a few times if the plants might bring a lot of insects into the house? Amazingly (and fortunately!), that is not the case. Maybe it's just more attractive for them outside, with all the pollen of the many blossoms ;-) And maybe these chaps help too:

We have many of these, forming a kind of second veil in front of the morning glory curtain. I find them a bit spooky, but interesting to watch nevertheless. And their webs are just beautiful, like mini works of art! (So far I refuse to think about where they might retreat to when it gets really cold …)

Some more blue September blossoms …

The Bluebeard is always humming with bees.

A little Toad Lily.

… and other colours are there too:

Hibiscus …

… Clary …

and Brown Sunflowers.

Plus lots of green foliage that add to the jungle feeling:

Dwarf Tamarillos and Caiguas.

The Dwarf Tamarillo umbels form beautiful silhouettes against the afternoon sun.

 Now we are hoping for a mild October, we just want to enjoy all this a bit longer!