The One

We “met” almost 5 years ago and it felt like love at first sight (at least from my side). Since then I wanted to draw this building many times but somehow the right moment never came… under those 5 years (doesn’t sound convincing, I  know). I always had a soft spot for old wooden buildings with charming details and this one was very old and really beautifully detailed.

It’s called Vastveitsloftet and was originally build in  XIVth century in Norway. After a few hundred years it was transported to Stockholm’s Skansen.

The surrounding is really picturesque as the building is placed on a high rock, overlooking a bay. If we have poor eyesight we probably won’t even see gigantic, grey socialist architecture on the other side of the bay.

The building originally served as a storehouse and maybe that’s why it was so carefully decorated.

What I find charming in a wooden architecture, are imperfections in the material: knots, cracks, signs of deteriorations, and elements in different sizes.

One day later...

Sweet, but… dark, desaturated tones would be much more sufficient.

And one more day... 

Gloomy, but not too gloomy (i.e. lagom gloomy). For some strange reason, this mood fits old Scandinavian buildings quite well :)

SÖDERMALM, STOCKHOLM

“Been there, done that, got the T-shirt”

I guess I haven’t painted any existing landscapes since a long time... Oh, I just had to check it. I haven’t painted any existing landscapes since May 2015, which gives us over 2,5 year! Looks like my record. This previous painting presented a high school building from my hometown.

This one is a view of an island where I’m living right now. Nah, I’m not living in any of those buildings, but the surrounding is pretty awesome anyway.

There are sooo many inspiring places in Stockholm that I would like to draw. I’ve even made a short to-do list, but, as always, lack of spare time can thwart my plans.

To the point! Drawing process:

1.      An accurate pencil sketch:

2.      I started painting (as usually) with the sky. Then it came turn for roofs. 

3.      And the walls. I used here a thin brush with a flat tip.

4.      The next step was painting windows and finally, the water reflection. OH, MY GOD, I’ve been struggling with this reflection so hard.

I'm glad that it's finished. I just hope that I won't have to wait another 2,5 year for painting some nice, real view :) 

Scandinavian Architecture

I wanted to draw this building ever since I saw it - Biologiska Museet in Stockholm. For quite a long time I was thinking about handrails and signboards on the front elevation. After an intense (though inner) discussion I made a decision to "remove" them. On the one hand inscriptions are an integral part of the building, but on the other hand... the drawing would look more atmospheric without them (hopefully). To work!

Chciałam narysować ten budynek, odkąd go zobaczyłam - Biologiska Museet w Sztokholmie. Przez dłuższy czas zastanawiałam się nad poręczami i ogromnymi szyldami na frontowej elewacji.  Po zażartej (choć wewnętrznej) dyskusji zdecydowałam się je "usunąć". Z jednej strony napisy stanowią integralną część budynku, jednak z drugiej... bez nich będzie bardziej nastrojowo (oby). A teraz do roboty!

1. A sketch of basic blocks.

1. Szkic podstawowych brył.

2. A draft of details. Doubts about signboards are back (a fragment of a huge semicircle is one of them).

2. Zarys detali. Powracają wątpliwości co do losu szyldów (fragment ogromnego półkola to jeden z nich).

3. The rest of the details made with a thin, waterproof pen. Signboards' destiny was sealed. Probably I've already written that somewhere, but sketching details with a pen is the most anti-stress drawing stage.

3. Reszta detali wykonana cienkim, wodoodpornym flamastrem. Los szyldów został przypieczętowany. Prawdopodobnie już to kiedyś pisałam, ale szkicowanie detali tuszem jest najbardziej odstresowującym etapem pracy nad rysunkiem.

4. It's a high time for watercolors. I'm going to "determine the tonality", which means that I'm deciding  how bright the sunlit areas should be and how dark should be the elements in the shadow or made of darker materials.  Despite appearances I used 4 colors here: yellow, brown, brown and brown...

4. Czas najwyższy na akwarelki. Teraz "ustalam tu rozpiętość tonalną", czyli decyduję, jak jasne powinny być nasłonecznione obszary a jak ciemne te zacienione lub wykonane z ciemniejszych materiałów. Wbrew pozorom użyłam tu 4 kolorów: żółtego, brązowego, brązowego i brązowego...

5. Below there should be a scan of an almost finished drawing, but it got lost somehow.

5. Poniżej powinien się pojawić skan prawie skończonej pracy, ale gdzieś mi przepadł.

6. The final version with details emphasized with an ArtPen. Ink in this pen isn't waterproof so I have to cope with the fact that there won't be any further additions of watercolors.

6. Wersja finalna z detalami podkreślonymi ArtPenem. Tusz w tym piórku nie jest wodoodporny, więc trzeba liczyć się z tym, że nie będzie już żadnych ingerencji akwareli.

That's all for now! The next blog post will be grim...

I to by było na tyle! Następny wpis będzie mroczny...