Walking a wilderness trail

The ultimate experience in the bush veld is walking a wilderness trail.

If you like a bit of the rough, you can experience the unspoilt beauty of the natural bush without any of the trappings of civilization by walking out each day from a base camp, returning to your creature comforts only in the evening.

Or you can walk from wilderness camp to wilderness camp, where a bucket shower is your only luxury to wash away the dust of the day.

Or if extreme hardiness is your style you can carry the bare necessities on your back and make camp wherever the days adventures take you and then stand solitary guard through the night acquainting yourself with the sounds of the African night.

Truly soul cleansing, or so I’m told!

I am not that hardy but I still enjoy viewing our amazing African wildlife in their own environment so I enjoy the safer route of a guided walk with an experienced field ranger who works in the bush every day, and whose senses are attuned to the comings and goings of the natural world. This way I can be exposed to things I would never see on my own and be a whole lot safer than if left to my own devises.

I also enjoy a game drive in the mornings and afternoons as each time of the day has its own special characteristics with light and shade, smells and the wildlife that is active.

You can join me and our own Ranger John at John’s Big 5 conservancy. John is used to watching over us painters and allows us to partake in the wonders of animal viewing amongst hills which change colour from green to brown to blues and greys in the distance. He tells us ranger tales and animal facts all in a thoroughly entertaining way. He takes us to beautiful spots to paint and gets us as close as possible to the animals for that photo opportunity that will become the next painting. Then after all the excitement we get returned to our luxurious 4* lodge where we are pampered and fed and left to enjoy the vistas and the painting opportunities.

This is my way to enjoy the privilege of game viewing. Not too many hardships for me! All you need is a shady hat, loose clothing, a stout pair of shoes, binoculars a sketchbook of course and a camera for those special shots which will inspire paintings for a very long time.

Are you ready for your walk in the bush?

The opportunity to walk through natural bush or grassland, where you can touch, smell, feel the African veld with all your senses is really special. Take the time to experience it on your next South African Painting Holiday.

SMILE FOR THE WEEK…

Bumper Sticker’s for painters..

“I used to think in black and white….then I met an artist”
and
“Artist’s keep it in perspective”

Accept my warm invitation to join me on a holiday I promise you will remember – forever

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An Interview with Gill Van Wyk Senior tutor on South African Painting Holidays

Sally:- Gill, where do you work?
Gill:-  At home in my studio but I enjoy working in the open as it’s a challenge working with the real thing

Sally:-How do you find a title?
Gill:- I try not to think about it and it will just come to me.

Sally: – What do you most enjoy about painting?
Gill: – aHa! It takes you into a relaxed mode and I enjoy working with colour and capturing the feeling.

Sally: – What is a typical day for Gill?
Gill: – Getting going with a cup of tea, then the chores around the house. When they are done I set up my work and usually do three hours of painting a day. Then I have a fairly long break till after supper then I start working again when it is nice and quiet.

Sally: - Is spontaneity important?
Gill:- For me it is.

Sally: – What is difficult?
Gill: -  Enough time. Things that interrupt me

Sally:- What is your favourite subject to paint?
Gill:- Birds and outdoors. I’m not into still life but anything organic I enjoy

To hear more of my interview with Gill, you can join the
Painting Circle and watch the video here

PAINTING TIP NO.02-2009

To unify your paintings, ask yourself these questions:
1. Does the painting have a center of interest?
2. Does it have a dominant value?
3. Does it have a dominant color?
4. Does it utilize progression?
5. Do the light shapes “walk the eye” through the painting?
6. Do the dark shapes lead your eye through the painting?
Thanks to Ken Hosmer in our October 1986 issue:  The Artist’s Magazine

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South Africa on centre stage in 2009

Composition and painting plein air

Do you have trouble choosing what to paint when working out doors?

You need to carefully decide on the composition of your work as you have so much more to choose from than you would if you were using a photograph.

You need to be quite disciplined!

Try following these simple ideas to help you choose what to keep and what to discard.
Use a view finder it makes the task a whole lot easier.
• Look through the view finder using it as the initial tool then take the same view with your camera.

• Now hold the cardboard viewfinder up like a picture frame. Look through it, moving it across the scene and decide where the best composition is.

• Keep in mind all along the focal point that you wish to include and place this focal point in the correct position in your frame as this often determines the format of your picture i.e. whether to use a landscape or portrait format.

Hope that helps you start your year out right with some good compositions.Let Gill help you compose the best bush landscape on one of her
Painting Holidays

PAINTING TIP NO.01-2009

Although landscape painting is generally divided into a simple thirds; sky, middle distance and foreground, this may sometimes change. If you wish to make the painting mainly about the sky, as it may be very dramatic, sky will take up two thirds of the format and thereby minimize the importance of the foreground. But the thirds formula is still being used.

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