About Lenora Dontens

Lenora Dontens is the artist name of Nina Hendrikse. I’m a 26 years old self-taught watercolor artist from the Netherlands. Lenora means light and I love using vibrant and light colors in my works. Nature is my biggest source of inspiration. In my paintings I aim to portray the many facets of natural beauty in order to celebrate its diversity and to let the viewer dream away. I’ve been primarily influenced by realism and impressionism. I tend to go more realistic with a focus on details for my botanical paintings and portraits and enjoy taking a more impressionistic approach to landscapes.  

For my paintings I use water based mediums, primarily aquarelle and sometimes water-soluble graphite. Watercolor is as versatile as nature. Both delicate color transitions and razor-sharp details can be captured with this medium. Something I particularly enjoy about watercolor is the way it flows on the paper and the slight unpredictability that comes with it, which reminds me of nature itself.

Sometimes, I choose to paint smaller sized artworks, because you have to get closer to the painting to take in all the details. This creates an intimate experience and similar to nature, you only discover the many characteristics when you get up close.