My Bags are Packed and I'm Ready to Go! - Off to France

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Off to France again for a long vacation - a whole month!!!

photo copyright Judith Nijholt-Strong

View of Chateau-Chervix, France - Limousin region.

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We're returning to the village of Chateau-Chervix, which is about 35 minutes south of the city of Limoges and located in the Limousin region of France.

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I've packed my art supplies ...

photo copyright Judith Nijholt-Strong

My well-travelled art supplies ...

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We leave tomorrow morning and return the second week of June.

I won't be blogging until the middle of June.

So, see ya when I see ya. :o)

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Tot ziens!

Au revoir!

Until then!

Judy
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A Keukenhof Beauty - colored pencil drawing of a tulip

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drawing copyright Judith Nijholt-Strong
A Keukenhof Beauty
approx. 6" square
colored pencils on stonehenge paper
*sold*

Awhile back I finished this drawing, but forgot to post it here. Oops! I can't even remember the proper name for this tulip and I usually write that sort of info down somewhere, in case I want to buy the bulbs at my local tulip nursery here in Holland. Oh well ....

I do know that I saw this tulip in the Keukenhof Gardens here in Lisse, Netherlands. I used my own photograph as a reference for this colored pencil drawing. I don't often work from photos as I prefer working from life, but you know I can't afford evey tulip bulb on the planet. Plus, I don't exactly have my own tulip field out back ;o) I can only dream of enough space to plant all the tulips or bulb plants/flowers I see in the nurseries here ... so I draw them instead.

For this drawing I used:

♦ ~ Colored Pencils: Caran d'Ache Pablos, Prismacolors, Faber-Castell Polychromos and Lyra Rembrandt-Polycolors ( all regular colored pencils, not watercolor)
♦ ~ Solvent Used on some layers: Primascolor Blending Marker (not the blender pencil)
♦ ~ Paper: Stonehenge

Tulips really do make me smile. :o)

doei!

Judy

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And Still More Vitamin-C ~ Strawberry colored pencil drawing

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drawing copyright Judith Nijholt-Strong
Strawberry Skies
3.5"h x 2.5"w (ACEO size)colored pencil on drafting film
*sold*

One cup of whole strawberries contains:
0.96 grams of protein, 46 calories and 2.9 grams of dietary fiber
Vitamin A - 17 IU
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - 0.035 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - 0.032 mg
Niacin - 0.556 mg
Folate - 35 mcg
Pantothenic Acid - 0.18 mg
Vitamin B6 - 0.068 mg
Vitamin C - 84.7 mg !!!
Vitamin E - 0.42 mg Vitamin K - 3.2 mcg

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm recently obsessed with my Vitamin-C intake. If you've had the horrid cold I just had, you might be obsessed with "pumping C's" too! I still have a lingering cough ... ack!

For the drawing of the strawberry, I used:
♦ Colored Pencils ~ Caran d’Ache Pablos, Faber-Castell Polychromos, Talens Van Gogh regular colored pencils
♦ Grafix Dura-Lar ~ acetate/drafting film (matte surface, medium weight)

It's pleasing to work in this small size on drafting film. I might frame this strawberry together with the kiwi. Here's an idea of how they would look framed together (I've used a digital frame for this mock-up):

drawings copyright Judith Nijholt-Strong

Or maybe I'll do a drawing of a tangerine in this size, on drafting film, and frame it along with the kiwi and strawberry. Hard to decide because I do like these two images together ... though three is also a nice number. Decisions, decisions! ;o)

tot ziens,

Judy

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More Vitamin C ~ Kiwi Fruit colored pencil drawing

drawing copyright Judith Nijholt-Strong
Fruity Kiwi
3.5"h x 2.5"w (ACEO size)
colored pencil on drafting film
*sold*

One medium kiwi (69 grams) contains: 0.79 grams protein, 42 calories and 2.1 grams of dietary fiber.
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - 0.019 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - 0.017 mg
Niacin - 0.235 mg
Folate - 17 mcg
Pantothenic Acid - 0.126 mg
Vitamin B6 - 0.043 mg
Vitamin C - 64 mg !!!
Vitamin E - 1.01 mg
Vitamin K - 27.8 mcg

Along with eating more kiwi fruit, (though not too much or you get really sick of them), I'm thinking of doing a bigger drawing from this small art card size I did. Or, maybe just do some more small fruits and mat them together in one frame. Not sure, thinking about it though.

For the drawing of the kiwi, I used:
♦ Colored Pencils ~ Caran d’Ache Pablos, Faber-Castell Polychromos, Talens Van Gogh regular colored pencils
♦ Grafix Dura-Lar ~ acetate/drafting film (matte surface, medium weight) - which I just discovered, via Grafix's site, Dura-Lar is also biodegradable.

tot gauw,

Judy

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