© 2008. Judith Nijholt-Strong
"Prinses Irene Tulip with Warm Colored Pencils" (NFS)
11" h x 8.5" w, colored pencils on d'Arches hp watercolor paper
Today is a national holiday in the Netherlands - Koninginnedag (Queen's Day) . There will be games, fun, music, flea markets, parties and lots of orange colored things everywhere to celebrate the Queen's birthday (verjaardag) ! Orange (oranje) is the official color of royal standard for the Dutch Royal Family.
"Mom" did the colored pencil drawing above in different shades of oranges and warm colors to celebrate the day. In the drawing she has included a lovely orange "Prinses Irene" (Princess Irene) tulip from our garden. The tulip is named after one of the sisters of the current queen of the Netherlands - HRM Queen Beatrix van Oranje-Nassau.
To get "in the spirit", I will spend my day in my garden enjoying "our" tulips and being appropriately dressed for this occasion ... of course!
image copyright J. Nijholt-Strong
"Sacha wears her Orange crown"
I might see if I can pop some orange balloons too! hee hee That's what I do, I stay in trouble all the time ... heh heh.
Here is another picture of our Prinses Irene Tulips. This year, "we"planted them throughout our back garden.
image copyright J. Nijholt-Strong
"Prinses Irene Tulips, 2008"
Beste Lezers,
Mocht u zich in Nederland bevinden, dan wens ik u een fantastische dag toe!
Dear Readers,
If you are in the Netherlands, I wish you a fantastic day!
:o)
Hup Holland!
Sacha
About the colored pencil drawing:
"Prinses Irene Tulip with Warm Colored Pencils" was done from life using the colored pencils I own as models, as well as a tiny baby Prinses Irene tulip that I cut from our garden.
I love the delicacy of the tiny tulip and I especially love the unique coloring of the Prinses Irene tulips. The purple-brown, feathery stripes that run up from the base of the tulips through the bright orange petals on stems of greenish-mauve is a coloring that is pleasing to me...though I'm not sure why?! I'm not usually found of lots of orange in my garden, but I fell in love with this tulip when I saw it two years ago at the world famous Keukenhof gardens here in the Netherlands.
When deciding which of the many brands of colored pencils that I own to use for this drawing, it seemed to me that the range of warm orange shades in the Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils fit perfect for portraying the Prinses Irene tulip (they also were my models). Add to that the fact that the Faber-Castell and the Talens' Van Gogh caput mortum pencils were perfect for the feathery stripes & stem - I love the caput mortum pencils! lol
Materials used for this 11" x 8.5" colored pencil piece:
Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils
Talens Van Gogh regular colored pencils
d' Arches hot pressed watercolor paper
Want to know more about Queen's Day in the Netherlands?
~ Judith Nijholt-Strong
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