The other side of Harties

"...try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever ... merely think here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape..."
- Claude Monet

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!


"The other side of Harties" - watercolour in Moleskine watercolour sketch-book - Maree©

For me, this is "the other side of Hartebeespoort Dam" - not the usual route we always take over the dam wall, but turning off at Strawberry Farm and going into the Villa D'Afrique housing estate - the estate has got a wildness about it, away from the normal hustle and bustle of the dam, very peaceful and quiet.

I found a comfortable rock, prepared my palette and just put the colour straight on the paper, with no sketching, starting with the water - the reflections were great and high above the the Magaliesberg mountains the vultures were soaring, not in my pic, making use of the warm thermals to gain height. A perfect day for sketching!