SOUTH AFRICA

Our visit back to South Africa was to be a family event and while I was not looking forward to the more than 15 hour flight, it passed quicker than I had hoped. We arrived in Johannesburg just as the sun was setting over the African landscape. Surprisingly it felt like coming home as I haven't set foot in Africa for over 20 years! As they say, "Africa gets into your blood", and for me that certainly is true. We were to be staying with my brother in his large and quite wonderful home overlooking a lake, so early the next morning I woke before dawn and walked downstairs to the second floor balcony so that I could watch the sun come up.

 The winter sky was almost clear of cloud so this, the first African dawn for a long time, was to be a very special one. In the photos above, the sun has yet to rise over the horizon but the colours were amazing!. The first photo shows where Hadeda and Sacred Ibis were roosting in the large Gum trees just to the right of the house along with about 35 Helmeted Guineafowl. It was wonderful watching them leave the roost and take off in different directions for the day - spectacular against the colours of the dawn. If you look closely on the right you can see a few Hadeda Ibis in flight - their loud calls adding to the mood. This day was to be the start of a very special trip back the the country I once called home.

Later driving around I noticed that not much had changed except that most of the roads were in better condition, although there were certainly more people than I remembered. The area around Johannesburg is mostly grassland with the occasional rocky outcrop (kopie) and one of the things that I had always found interesting was coming across small stands of trees - sometimes appearing in the middle of nowhere - which added a distinct character to the landscape. Usually these plantings were of Eucalyptus trees and the sight of them were something that had always epitomized South Africa for me. So it was this feeling that prompted me to paint the small canvas shown above. I had the idea to set the scene in the early morning with some cloud cover as added atmosphere and tried to capture something of the essence of South Africa in this study. With the dried grasses and lonesome trees, I felt very satisfied upon completing it. 'Roadside Trees' is in oil, size 8" x 10" (20cm x 26cm) .

EUROPEAN EAGLE OWL

Not sure if I posted a pic of this painting, I completed it awhile ago and for once I was happy with the finished painting. It took many layers of watercolor to get to this point but I felt that all the work was worth it in the end. It was fantastic to work on a painting with the real bird right there in front of me. These large owls are one of my favorites and I do plan on completing more studies of them someday. In the meantime I have been very busy with other work which I'll get to in my next post.
Eagle Owl, watercolor on Arches paper, 7.5" x 11". SOLD.

FERRUGINOUS HAWK, PART 4

Working slowly on the back and wing, I completed that section then moved around here and there darkening some areas and adding more details as needed. I tidied up the eye a little then added the finest shading to some of the markings and also along the breast as I wanted to define that line a bit more. At this time, I'm still not sure what pose the bird will be in when it comes time to do a watercolor study but have just finished another light drawing on watercolor paper of the bird in a slightly different pose than this one so that will most likely be it. I have certainly enjoyed making studies of this most impressive Buteo - I'm sure they won't be the last. Finished drawing is on Arches paper, size 15" x 11" (38cm x 28cm).

FERRUGINOUS HAWK, PART 3

Here I am well into the details of the back and wing, trying all the while to capture the rather intricate plumage and feather structure. Since this study will only be in black and white, I am more concerned about the tonal values as they have to read correctly across the image. Another pass over the top of the head brought up some of the markings there. Next I'll add the final part of the wing and a few smaller details here and there.

FERRUGINOUS HAWK, PART 2

Here I'm working on finishing the head, neck and upper breast. I'm getting closer to completing those areas by adding some finer markings and also doing a little more shading around the eye and lores. The beak has been worked over again and I'm trying to create depth by shading under the throat and on the front of the breast. It's coming along but taking much longer that I had hoped - each stage has been one day of work! Next I'll work more on the back and hope to complete the head.

FERRUGINOUS HAWK, PART 1

I had earlier enjoyed painting a study of an adult Ferruginous Hawk so much that I was inspired to do something more with this wonderfully-marked raptor. I completed the first study just over a year ago but this time wasn't sure which pose to use for the new painting. As is usually the case with my watercolors, I do a few studies beforehand trying to get more of a feel for the subject. So starting on Arches paper, I did a basic outline using a 2B pencil. There wasn't a lot of sizing on the paper (perhaps it was a very old sheet) so the graphite didn't go on as smoothly as I had hoped. This caused me to take a slightly more careful approach trying all the while to be as accurate as possible and to get as much of the character of the bird into the work. As always, I started detailing the head first and then concentrated on finishing the eye which is always the most important part for me. I then moved onto the beak and a few of the markings around the lores.

CHUTE, PART 4

Finally turning my attention to the water, I worked slowly and carefully trying all the while to get movement into the falling water. I didn't want the effect you get when you photograph moving water using a high shutter speed as that effect essentially freezes the movement, so I blended many of the brushstrokes and kept edges soft. A final darkening of some of the rocks here and there completed the painting. I'm glad that I did this smaller study as it has pointed to a slightly different direction for the larger painting to come. I should mention that I saw this scene at Great Falls, Maryland where the Potomac river drops quite a lot in a short amount of time producing a wonderful spectacle - a favorite place of mine to go and paint.