Winter Trees and Warm Wishes From Heidelberg

This is my card from Albrecht in Germany.  It really shouts of stark cold winter.  Albrecht is a true master draughtsman and it is such a privilege to receive something like this. On the reverse he has taken time to show step by step, how he builds up the composition to it's final stage.  I have learnt so much by looking at it, such as how the pencil should move and twist to produce the twigs.

Winter can sometimes seem a gloomy time of year for artists, but it's a great time to draw trees. The bare branches have so much character. Thank you so much Albrecht, it's a wonderful final card!

The call of the wild - winter greetings from Banff

I have to admit I was looking forward to this, a card from Charlene. Charlene lives in an area that counts to the dream landscapes on this planet. Also Charlene has been traveling to magnificent places, as for example to Machu Pichu too. So I knew that the card from Charlene would be something special in any case.

But getting such beautiful a card from Banff however strikes a special nerve with me. It brings up the memories of my young days and the extensive reading of Jack London and the great landscapes of Canada and Alaska. Charlene' s Water color card shows the city of Banff surounded by gorgeous mountain vistas.

Memories of Winter

What can i say, this is such a beautiful card, it doesn't need words!

Vivien's use of mixed media is always so inspiring!  She tells me, this was started back in the winter as a demo for one of the classes she tutors. The first frostings of snow, done in oil with a palette knife on brown card. She then finished it off a couple of weeks ago on a scorching hot day "a nice antidote to cool me down" as she put it.

 All the veil of colour on top of the white is coloured pencil.  It's really lovely. No other medium lets you produce such delicate interweaving.  I am definitely inspired to pick up my pencils again.  I had no real idea one could get such effect over oil paint.

Thank you Vivien, it's such a wonderful mix of composition and colour.  I think it will look rather good framed and on my wall!