Echinopsis spachiana
Tag: watercolour sketches
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A few more random sketches.
Warthog piglets in the garden Striped Field Mouse. Rhabdomys pumilio Golden torch, (white) torch cactus or golden column.
Echinopsis spachianaSheep T’shirt for a Christmas gift 2018 -
Plein-Air painting with John, 2018 Christmas Holiday.
Starlit sky, Silvermere. 
Garden Bench 
Guineafowl Kop, Silvermere 
View of the Broken Dam, Silvermere. 
Early morning shadows, Silvermere 
Silvermere, as seen from the dam. 
Plein-air sketching in our new Gazebo, Silvermere. -
More Journal pages, August to December 2018
Our Garden Fountain. 
African Hoopoe 
Candle and Lamps, during a power failure. 
Orphan lamb feeding 
Purple Iris in my garden. 
Shearing time, Silvermere 
Apricot Blossoms and Yellow canary 
Glossy Ibis, Journal page 
Orange River Francolin -
A few more Journal pages
Peacock, in our Guinea fowl flock. 
The African Wild Cat, while pruning. 
Sweet Violets and the Roman Alphabet. -
EDM. Every Day in May challenge, 2018
Robin eating cheese, Cape robin-chat, Cossypha caffra 
Silvermere farm road after rain 
Blue flowers in my garden. Lavender, Plumbago & Rosemary. 
Mountain Reedbuck, (Redunca Fulvorufula) on a misty & rainy day on Buffelskloof Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga. 
Tree by the roadside. Acacia Sieberiana. 
Portrait of John on his Birthday 
Grey Crowned Crane, Balearica regulorum, 
Gate on the Hill 
Autumn fruits and leaves. Tomatoes, Chillis, Rose-hips & Leaves of the Virginia Creeper. 
Lone sheep in Karoo Veld 
Buffelskloof Pine Forest. Mpumalanga 
Remembering dear Uncle Tony Fitt 
Mum’s Blue Tea-set, Mother’s Day. 
Silvermere Sunset and puddles after rain 
Chloë and John’s Birthday Portrait. Grand daughter and Grandpa sharing a tender moment. 
Expectant Ewe, lambing season, Silvermere. 
Secretary Bird, Sagittarius serpentarius 
Farm Road with Gumtree shadows 
Mana & Rufus, my brother’s cats. 
The Doves of Pentecost 
Karoo, Road through Veld to the Windmill. 
Sketchbook, Old Farm Boots 
Commemorating Chelsea Flower Show 2018. Floral wallpaper. On homemade paper. 
Hansie Lambs, Orphans. 
The forgotten houses on Buitekant St. Burgersdorp 
White-breasted Cormorant, drying his wings, Loch Logan, Bloemfontein. 
Sunset over Farm Dam. Silvermere 
Windmill Repairs, on Silvermere 
Feeding Guinea Fowl 
Clown-faced cow and calf 
Kalahari Karoo, between Prieska & Vanwyksvlei -
Three Holiday Sketches.
During the Christmas holidays, 2017, I did these three little sketches with my son, John,
A little corner of my garden 
Old Dead Tree, Excelsior. 
Gariep Dam, view. New Year’s Eve 2017 -
Lambert’s Bay holiday. 2017
In April 2017 John and I travelled across the karoo to the west coast of South Africa, to Lambert’s Bay. Over the years we have been to different parts of the East coast, but never the West coast. So it was wonderful to experience the wild wild sea of the west coast for the first time. It is such a different coastal town with extraordinary bird life and breathtaking sunsets every evening. Our only disappointment was the lack of fresh fish in the restaurants. Perhaps all those seabirds have eaten them all? These are the sketches that I did while we were there and later in the May challenge.
Boat repairs, Lambert’s Bay 
Last Sunset, Lambert’s Bay holiday 
Kelp Gulls, and Sacred Ibis, Lambert’s Bay. SA 
Lambert’s Bay Harbour 
Cape Gannets, Lambert’s Bay, South Africa -
Windmills of the Karoo
Windmill sketch When windmills propel gently through the breezes in lazy rotations, or spin frenetically facing into the strong winds that sweep across the karoo plains, I am often mesmerized by them. They knit together the vast expanses of earth and sky, in perfect stately harmony. Like elegant sentinels, windmills tower over the vast expanses of veld that surround them. They have held a deep fascination for me ever since I first settled here many years ago, and have featured quite prominently in most of the karoo landscape paintings I’ve done over the years. Here are 3 small veld scenes and one rough sketch, to add to the catalogue of windmill studies done time and again.
Teebus & Koffiebus with windmill. 
Dreunberg Windmill 
Farm road & windmill. -
Blue Cranes
Karoo Landscape with Blue Cranes Since May, a pair of Blue Cranes has settled on Silvermere. It is really quite unusual that they have made themselves at home here. Yesterday, while hanging out the washing, I heard their wistful calls and saw them circling high overhead. Usually we only see the occasional visiting cranes just passing through. We used to say that they were a rain omen, one of the many that farmers in our part of the karoo use to predict the rains. I have taken a few photos of ‘our’ pair, and felt inspired to paint them again, for the first time since way back in 1995 & 1997.
Two Blue Cranes In those days, we saw big flocks of them in the Caledon district, and several paintings followed. But, more recently I photographed a flock that we saw on a trip home from the Nieu Bethesda district. This big watercolour depicts the cranes in the landscape where I saw them. The other 2 sketches were drawn from photos of our new resident pair of beautiful and graceful Blue Cranes.
Sketching Blue Cranes -
Salted Lambs
A little experiment with salt to achieve a different texture, on this sketch of 3 lambs.
Salted Lambs
