A few recent daubings

Wildlife art is not my strong point, but hanging in there with this cheetah portrait was a good exercise. Acrylic on board, 210 cm x 297 cm (which is the same size as A4 paper):

For the rest, I mostly did miniatures. For some reason I can't get the camera to reproduce the colours well, so in the photos they tend to look either garish or washed out. Hence I'll post only the ones where the photos worked out at least marginally well. These are all in acrylics on board ACEO sized, i.e. 2.5 x 3.5 inches, or 64 cm x 89 cm:

I rather enjoy miniatures; free from the pressure to produce a large-scale masterpiece, one can relax, have some fun and try out a variety of styles and subject matter.

A bunch of new ones

Been busy and did not post all the new updates, so here they are in a single post...

Plate and bottle, bread and egg

Oil on board, 297 mm x 210 mm.

Can't quite decide whether I am happy with it or not. Perhaps I oversimplified a bit? Or perhaps it's the beginning of a style!

A few paintings

I have recently been playing around with oil paints again. I discovered something: I really hate canvas board as support. The paint just sinks right into it, making it almost impossible to blend or work wet-in-wet, and the brushes tend to pick up bits of fluff from the canvas, and then roll it around all over the place. What's more, the surface is murder on your brushes, because you have to scrub and scrub and scrub to get the paint worked into the surface.

So I returned to a support I have not used in a while: humble hardboard primed with a layer of acrylic. It seems to give better results: the paint flows onto the surface far more easily, showing the brush strokes (which is an effect I happen to like) and one can do some blending on the surface. On the negative side, the paintings do take longer to dry, and you have to work with extreme care when working wet-in-wet to prevent colours from turning into unsightly mud.

I may or may not try canvas board again. If I do I'll probably first put on a few layers of acrylic to properly seal it. For the meantime, a few small paintings (210 mm x 148 mm) in oil on board, all done from direct observation (as opposed to reference photos):

Rather frustratingly, I can get my photos to really capture the colours and light as they appear in the original, so these reproductions are less than accurate.

Back in the land of the living

It appears I am not done with art after all. Or perhaps I was done with art, but art was not done with me. In recent times, I once again found myself drawing and painting. Once the bug bites, it never lets go, it appears.

I spent some time working from reference, such as stills from a film (in this case, The Name of the Rose):

Or trying somewhat detailed sketches from various reference photos:

But, as I have discovered before, I seem not to really enjoy working from photos. I am not too sure why, but whatever the reason, I am now back to working mostly from life. One evening during a power cut, I sketched this self-portrait by candlelight:

It's a bit lopsided, if you ask me. In my defense, it was really dark and by the candlelight I could hardly see my own image in the mirror, let alone the drawing. You can it was winter by the way I am bundled up in wool - when the power goes, so does the heating!

Under better conditions, a sketch of a pine cone, a challenging but interesting subject:

Mexican poppy

Mexican poppy, Argemone ochroleuca. Originally from Mexico, it is now a widespread weed in southern Africa.

Datura

Cosmopolitan weeds. Datura ferox:

And Datura stramonium:

In both species, all parts of the plant are toxic, especially the seeds. Because the toxin can lead to delirium and hallucinations, the plants are sometimes used as recreational drugs. Not a good idea at all, and death as a result of intentional or accidental Datura poisoning is not unheard of. 

Pompom weed

Pretty, but very invasive in some areas of South Africa: pompom weed (Campuloclinium macrocephalum). Originally from South America, it has spread into many South African habitats, where it often displaces areas of grassland.

People in the know tell me that pulling these out can stimulate the remaining bits of root to even further growth, thus worsening the problem. Currently controlled by the laborious method of spraying herbicide on individual plants while trying not to harm the plants surrounding it, and by removing and burning the flowers. 

Cestrum

A species of Cestrum. Originally from the Americas, they are somewhat popular garden plants in South Africa. In some areas they have become invasive. They are also poisonous to some livestock.

Grass aloe

Aloe veracunda. It is one of a group of slender-leaved aloes known as grass aloes. The aloes have traditionally been classified under the family Liliaceae, and for the purpose of this blog, I'll keep them there. I have seen them classified under several different families though - taxonomy seems to be in a state of flux at the moment.

Wild apricot

Ancylobotrys capensis, Also known as wild apricot. The fruits are pleasantly sweet-sour. If the baboons leave you any, that is. They are found mostly along the edges of rocky hills.

Wild wormwood

Artemisia afra, also known as wild wormwood or, in Afrikaans, wilde als, a common herb in Gauteng. Used by traditional healers to treat chest conditions and intestinal worms. The crushed leaves are fragrant and probably actually help to open up the sinuses. Not sure about the worms, mind you.

Protea

Protea caffra, one of the most common species of Protea in Gauteng province.

Sweet thorn

Acacia karroo, a.k.a. sweet thorn, found throughout much of southern Africa. According to the Wikipedia page on the species, it is also known as Vachellia karroo, and it has a whole collection of other Latin synonyms. It is somewhat unusual in that it seems to have more (and more confusing) scientific names than common names.

Still alive

Having sort of given up on visual art, it has been ages since I posted anything here. But I found myself regaining my old interest in natural history, and thought this blog might serve me as a sort of personal, online field guide to whatever I find in nature.

I still do the odd sketch, but now mostly to aid plant identification.

This is a ballpoint sketch illustrating some features of the Cape honeysuckle, Tecomaria capensis. Often used as garden hedge plant around here.

Some photos: