Let me tell you about my summer! 🙂
I had the opportunity to go to the Black Forest at short notice and work from there.
This allowed me to extend my portfolio / repertoire by a few places that I would paint now – because as you know, I only paint places that I have already experienced myself.
These now include the Black Forest around Titisee, Neustadt and Hinterzarten as well as Freiburg and Basel!
In this post I’m sharing glimpses into my sketchbook. When I’m on the road, I try to capture my impressions and memories with watercolour sketches (‚watercolour action painting‘), which I can then paint with soft/chalk pastels when I’m back in the studio.
I’m also sharing lots of photos of my excursions, so that you can get an idea of the scenery and motifs that may result in paintings.
I have explored the area by bicycle, on foot, with my sketchbook, and with my camera
I found a place where the forest met the water – my absolute favourite combination!! This is where I did some of my sketching and where I also went for a swim in Lake Titisee:
Here’s the beginning of one of my sketches:
And this is the finished version – as much as these ‚action sketches‘ can ever be finished…
This is where I went for a swim – the water of lake Titisee was beautiful!
While I was drying in the sun, I did another sketch 🙂
The following photos were taken during an evening stroll.
These chapels are very typical and you can find them in every settlement and next to many farmsteads.
Mountain pastures everywhere…
The Black Forest lives up to its name:
There are several motifs here that I can imagine painting!
If you’re curious, I followed a walk („Panoramaweg“) between Titisee-Neustadt und Neubierhäusle.
Titisee-Neustadt is located at about 850 m altitude.
Until the cows came home… 😉
The bells rang – those of the chapel and those of the cows.
One of my ‚action sketches‘ – it is actually one of my Visual Morning Pages, which I do first thing in the morning. They are abstract and do not have to mean anything – although they often do. They are intuitive, sometimes meditative, and of course I usually process the impressions and colours of the previous day.
This sketch is more like an underpainting. I plan to embellish it.
One afternoon I visited Hinterzarten.
Have you ever watched ski jumping in the winter? Hinterzarten is one of the most important centers for this sport.
No photo and no TV image can really convey the height and steepness of these jumps. Amazing!
Over the years I have watched a few competitions on TV. Now I wanted to see one of the locations live. There were even some athletes training, so I could watch – and hear – a couple of ski jumps.
The town looks like this almost everywhere. Very typical for the Black Forest.
But because Hinterzarten is such a famous winter sport center, there is also quite the chic 5-star hotel in this small town, the Parkhotel Adler.
On July 31, after work, I went for a longer hike.
It was very, very hot, and it got a little tight with time, and I was very exhausted when I came home at nine o’clock in the evening, but sometimes you need a challenge, right?
Because time was so short, I didn’t stop to draw on the way, but only took photos.
I passed many, many cow pastures…
On the way up the mountain, there was barely any shade, so I took advantage of every little bit.
The highest point of my hike: 1071 m!
I found out about this hike on the Hochschwarzwald-Webpage (hochschwarzwald.de). It’s called „Von Titisee nach Neustadt und über das idyllische Spriegelsbach zurück“ -> From Titisee to Neustadt and back over the idyllic Spriegelsbach. However, I started in Neustadt, not Titisee.
The Black Forest was quite an adventure for me. It is not necessarily a region I would choose for a holiday, but on the other hand I love the challenge of exploring a place to which I am „sent“ and discovering its charm and beauty! After all, this is my „mission“.
This hike absolutely helped me to connect with the area!
From the mountain I had a marvellous view down on Hinterzarten and the ski jump, which I had only visited the day before.
Finally downhill!
Another one of my Visual Morning Pages – done the next morning after my hike:
Some additional impressions and perspectives:
Typical architecture of the region:
The Rathaus (town hall) in Neustadt:
Titisee is all about clocks!
Now that I’m back in the studio, I will take all my sketches and photos, look at them, let everything sink in, and then pick up my soft pastels and capture my memories in paintings.
Would you like to be among the first to see these paintings, receive more news about my creative journey, the places I visit, as well as first dibs on selected offers?
Yes, I want to stay in touch!
