Blog

2 February 2012

Space Invader

The Space Invader family of alien monsters in 3d blocks

Tagged: Alien, Cartoon, Comic, Drawing, Game, Monster, Space Invaders

27 January 2012

Chinese Pavement Calligraphy

Watercolour painting of a man practising chinese Calligraphy on the Pavement

At the university of Changsha, China, I came across this man using water for ink, a mop for a brush and pavement for paper… Far more graceful than graffiti.

Tagged: calligraphy, Changsha, China, Chinese, Painting, Water, Watercolour

21 January 2012

Sketchcrawl 34 – Old Observatory

Oil painting of the Old Observatory buildings with Viewpoint of Johannesburg from the platform

34th Worldwide Sketchcrawl at the Old Johannesburg Observatory

Tagged: City, Drawing, Johannesburg, Observatory, Oil Painting, Painting, Sketchcrawl, Sketching, Stars

20 January 2012

The White Lion

Watercolour painting of a white lioness from the Lion park in Lanseria.

Tagged: Lion, Lioness, South Africa, Watercolour, Wildlife

19 January 2012

CMR Beetles

Drawings of Mylabris Oculatus - CMR or Blister Beetles

A study of the CMR beetle which is also more broadly known as the Blister beetle. Officially the Mylabris Oculata of the Meloidae family

Tagged: Beeltes, Drawing, Insects, Pen & Ink

14 January 2012

Sketching Mandela Bridge

View of the railways from Nelson Mandela Bridge

Various drawings of Nelson Mandela Bridge and the South African railway tracks and trains.

Tagged: Bridge, Railway, Road, Sketch

13 January 2012

Giraffe Profile

Small painting of a giraffe’s head from the side done with oil paints on canvas paper.

Tagged: Giraffe, Oil Painting, Wildlife

12 January 2012

Brown Swiss Calf

Watercolour and pencil crayon of a young bull calf - Brown Swiss

A watercolour and pencil crayon sketch of a brown swiss bull calf which my Dad has now got on the farm.

Tagged: Brown Swiss, cattle, Cow, Pencil Crayon, Watercolour

11 January 2012

The anatomy of an ant is fairly complex – half way through I realised I competely messed it up. Apologies to all the Entomologists out there. I’ll have to give it a more serious go sometime. Also discovered what a wonderful technique it is to use coloured pencil crayons on top of watercolour to bump [...]

Tagged: ants, Drawing, Pencil Crayon, Sketch, Watercolour

10 January 2012

The Antbear

Cartoon drawing of an antbear or aardvark walking along with ants escaping the danger on some branches.

Tagged: aardvark, antbear, ants, Cartoon, Comic, Drawing, Watercolour

4 January 2012

Furrow and Windmill

Plein Air oil painting of a farm furrow leading water to the lands. On the horizon is a windmill with a dam hidden by the bushes.

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Oil Painting, Plein Air, Windmill

3 January 2012

Agaves

Day 13. Our final day painting together. We chose to do the aloes (agaves is the correct name) by the dam. The light was once again amazing, but I think I was just a bit too slow to capture it properely. I did a watercolour study on day 2 of the painting a day challenge [...]

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Oil Painting, Plein Air

2 January 2012

Outside the shed

Day 12. I had to take a break from the oils and do something different. So I did two. The sheep were wondering around constantly in front of us. Both of these views are from outside the big shed on the farm. Which is the same area as the oil I did on day 9. [...]

Tagged: Buildings, Holiday Challenge, Pen & Ink, Plein Air, Sketch, Watercolour

1 January 2012

Potato land and beyond

Quick oil sketch of the view of part of the farm

Day 11. I really should have spent more time on this one. It was extremely quick. But I did start another one which I completed on the last day of my holiday which was a much more satisfying result. For an idea of what it really looks you need to see my Mom’s here. Check [...]

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Plein Air

31 December 2011

Dead Willow

Plein Air painting of a dead tree stump of willow

Day 10. Another morning session of painting this time. Got a little too absorbed in painting the dead willow tree trunk and ran out of time to do anything else much this time. Check my Mom’s version of the same scene on Facebook to get the more complete picture. Check out the rest of the [...]

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Oil Painting, Plein Air, Trees, Willow

Old Fowl Run

Day 10. Needed to get some more painting in so did another painting just near the house. This is an old fowl run shelter with cyprus tree in the background. Check out the rest of the holiday challenge results here.

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Oil Painting, Plein Air

30 December 2011

Farmyard Gate

Day 9. Here we painted the area near the big shed on the farm. We had a few inquisitive sheep that visited us frequently during this session. Check my Mom’s version here. Check out the rest of the holiday challenge results here.

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Oil Painting, Plein Air, Trees

29 December 2011

Excelsior Broken Dam

Plein air oil painting of a dam with reeds.

Day 8. Painting the dam with reeds.

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Oil Painting, Plein Air

28 December 2011

Water Tank in Oils

Oil Painting of a water tank, windmill and bushes.

Day 7 – Painting of the water tank, windmill, fence and bushes.

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Oil Painting, Plein Air, Watertank, Windmill

The Wool Scale

Pen and Ink of an old Fairbanks wool scale

Day 7. – The old scale use for wool bales done in pen and ink.

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Pen & Ink

27 December 2011

Gums at Excelsior

Plein air oil painting of the gum trees.

Tagged: Bluegums, Holiday Challenge, Oil Painting, Plein Air

26 December 2011

View of Spitskop Hill

Oil painting of the farm scene with Spitskop hill in the distance.

Plein air landscape painting of Spitskop hill scene.

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Landscape, Oil Painting, Plein Air

25 December 2011

Pepper Tree

Oil painting study of an old pepper tree.

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Oil Painting, Pepper Tree, Plein Air, Schinus, Tree

24 December 2011

View of the land and gate with bluegums

Oil Painting of empty land, gate, and bluegums - young Eucalyptus trees

Day 3. Sat in a lovely shady spot here in the road by the house so wasn’t pressurised for time. Mom’s version here. Check out the rest of the holiday challenge results here.

Tagged: Bluegums, Holiday Challenge, Plants, Plein Air, Trees

23 December 2011

White Poplar

Pen and Ink with watercolour of a white or silverleaf poplar tree (Populus alba)

Day 2. My second drawing for the day was of a beautiful white or silverleaf poplar tree. I love these trees so much! Was going to be an oil but I discovered I forgot my paints! …and forgot a chair. So. Check out the rest of the holiday challenge results here.

Tagged: Holiday Challenge, Plants, Plein Air, Trees

Single Agave

Day 2. Sat under the shade of some bluegums to sketch this little watercolour painting of an agave flowering. We normally just call them aloes, but that is incorrect. The flowers were not they bright yellow yet on this plant. Check out the rest of the holiday challenge results here.

Tagged: Agave, Flowers, Holiday Challenge, Plants, Plein Air, Watercolour

22 December 2011

Artichoke

Day 1. My Mom and I took on a holiday challenge where we planned to do a painting a day while I was on the farm. Started close to the house with this Artichoke flowers. The detailed leaves were fascinating! You can see my Mom’s painting on the Facebook post here. Check out the rest [...]

Tagged: Artichoke, Holiday Challenge, Pen & Ink, Watercolour

20 December 2011

Lady of Dhanaula

Drawing of a woman from a little village in India.

Tagged: Dhanuala, Drawing, India, portrait, Punjab, Woman

16 December 2011

Man with a Blue Turban

Oil painting of a Taureg man from Algeria

Little oil painting of a man wearing a blue turban.

Tagged: Man, Oil Painting, Turban

13 December 2011

Army Man

Quick little oil painting on paper of a man marching in military uniform.

Tagged: Army, Gun, Man, Marching, Military, Oil, Painting, Sketch

11 December 2011

Pencil Portrait

Recent portrait I was commissioned to draw.

Tagged: Drawing, pencil, portrait, Sketch, Woman

10 December 2011

The Little House Outside the Big House

The last Joburg sketchday of the year spent at a fellow sketcher’s house.

Tagged: Building, Garden, House, Oil Painting, Plein Air, Pool, Trees

7 December 2011

Contours and Red Hair

This portrait sketch was a bit of a disaster, so I tried to make it a little more interesting with some pen contour markings and brightened up red hair.

5 December 2011