Pinkish Magnolia



This is another version of magnolia flower I painted before which I called 'Amazing Magnolia.'
This is in watercolor, size 18 x 24 cm (7 x 9.5 inches).

Holland's prunes

A practice study

Pink roses with a vase

I did not make any sketch for this painting before I started working on it. I just thought what to do while painting, no planning over what will come out later. This is a study painting of sort. The size is 5.5x6.5 inches (about 14x16 cm)

Yellow orange rose

This is based from the picture of a rose I 've taken somewhere in Germany. I 'll check my daily notes when I made that trip to that country.
This is a small study painting, the size is approximately 5 1/2 x 7 inches.

Philippine Mangoes

These are Philippines' Carabao mangoes. This kind of mango is unique in the Philippines, at least that is what I know. Is there anyone dares to say not really? Anyway, this sort has plenty of flesh and smaller seed as compared with other varieties. I really love the taste of it. Early this year I had brought some pieces of this mango to Holland from the Philippines. I took some photos of the fruits and used for this exercise.

This image is 18 x 24 cm or roughly 7 x 9.5 inches in size.

Lidice Rose

I called this Lidice rose because I based it from a reference photo of a rose which I took from Lidice, a place in the Czech Republic where a memorial dedicated for the Nazi massacre victims is located. The village is about 20 kilometers away from Prague. The victims are said to be more than 300 which include children, men and women. I was in the area last 8 June 2009. The memorial place has a beautiful garden  full of different kinds of roses.

This painting is 18 x 24 cm or approximately 7 x 9.5 inches.

Amazing Magnolia

At first I thought of throwing this painting because when I was doing its background it did not turn out what I wanted it to be. Fortunately, I decided to continue working on it and see what will happen. The outcome is not really that bad. The flower turned out beautiful though I am not really satisfied with its background. The painting is not perfect but this is how every artist learns, knowing what is wrong from his/her work.

I used a reference photo in doing this painting. When spring began this year I wanted to go around and look for magnolia flowers so that I could take pictures of them. Last Sunday, we went to the Arboretum Port-Bulten in De Lutte, and there we saw magnolia trees with flowers. I took some pictures and then we walked around to enjoy the sunny weather. Thereafter we decided to drive to Garden Center G. uit het Broek in De Lutte/Oldenzaal which is opened that day. While driving along the way to the garden center, I was checking where I saw the magnolia tree when we were on our way to the Arboretum. Approaching the garden center, I saw again the towering tree full of flowers in front of a beautiful house. We parked at the center's parking area and went inside to buy some plants for our terrace. We bought 2 pots of France Geraniums and a pot of pink hyacinth. Before leaving the garden center, we walked back to the magnolia tree nearby and took some pictures of its beautiful and pinkish flowers that were hanging on the lower branches. I used two of these pictures as basis for this painting.

The size of the image is 24 x 30 cm.

Claude Monet's house

For this painting, I used a reference photo I took during a visit to the house and garden of the famous impressionist painter Claude Monet in Giverny, France. We were there in October last year purposely to see the place. We were informed then that the best period of the year to visit the place is during summer when the flowers are in their growing and blooming stage. One disadvantage however, during summer is that the place is very busy because of the many tourists and students visiting the place. We were there in the fall, so most of the flowers were either in their wilting stage or some were totally gone. Anyhow we promise ourselves then that we will visit the place again during the flowering season.

The size of this painting is 30x40cm, and in watercolor.

Venice's Canal and a Gondola

Last October 2007, we were on a holiday in Venice, Italy. After leaving the city I brought with me a lot of pictures I took while touring and walking around the area. I used one of these pictures as basis for this painting. I spent working on it from 25-27 March of this year (2010). When I took the picture I was not thinking of painting it because at that time I was not yet into painting. I started with painting middle of last year.

The size of this painting is 30x40 cm and it is in watercolor.

Painting exhibition

I made the above slideshow from the photos I took during our painting club's exhibition on 14 March 2010 at Postduivencentrum Poolmansweg 128 t/o 113 Enschede. Most of the the members of the club participated. For me the exhibition was my first time since I have just joined the club. I have exhibited around 12 paintings. I really enjoyed the occasion and already looking forward to participate again next year.