The road West

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm with a couple of ink scribbles

Taking the road West from us and going from Rustenburg towards Botswana, the landscape suddenly changes from bushveld to a somewhat dry and arid landscape, especially in winter, when everything turns to lovely yellow and brown hues.

.

Enter the wilderness

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm
A farm road to a smallholding in Magaliesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

 

Alienation from nature and self is a uniquely modern malady. “Progressively, over the course of the centuries, Western humankind indulged in a mental separation from the totality of all physical phenomena, building up the wall of civilization against Being, elevating ourselves above all other living organisms.”
- (Francois & McGaa, 2007)

The modern world is slowly realizing that our disconnection from nature has become self-destructive. Take up some eco-therapy and go into the wilderness, take a nature walk, leave behind our man-made fences separating us from nature, allowing greater connection with ourselves.

.

En route to Magaliesburg

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Whenever I go to Magaliesburg (Gauteng, South Africa) just 13km from us, I choose to take a short-cut through Spring Farm and although it is a gravel road, I do away with lots of traffic and getting stuck behind trucks on their way to Rustenburg or Botswana and, to top it all, I see lots of wildlife. It’s a route we used to take with the horses during my horse riding days.

.

The road to a friend's farm

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Two years ago I visited a friend in Tarlton and sketched the road leading to their farm (above). When I visited them again this past weekend, I noticed a few changes along the road and decided to sketch it again (below).

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

::

Technology and Country living

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

A track leading up to a friend's farm - dodging the rocks and ditches in the road is quite a feat. The Roads Dept. has long since stopped grading most of our farm roads and it's up to the individuals living along that stretch to maintain the road. And the telephone poles don't actually have any wires, that's artistic license - those have been stolen long ago and not been replaced by Telkom. So, the general mode of transportation around here is 4 × 4 and the general method of communication is the iPhone as technology meets up with Country Living.

Location : Hillside, Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa

::

Someone's life somewhere...

"Use your Imagination, not to scare yourself to death,
but to Inspire yourself to Live."
- Adele Brockman

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

A bit more on the sketching side - a farm road leading into someone's life on a smallholding. Here I used my Parker Fountain pen with black Quink ink and a colour wash.

An artist's biggest problem is how to find inspiration. Once you have a subject, a character, or a circumstance that fascinates you, it’s all anyone can do to keep you from rushing to the blank page and sketching away like mad.

One of the reasons for the elusive nature of inspiration is that we expect finding inspiration to be effortless. More than effortless – we expect it to be nearly magical. One day we’ll open the drapes and look out on the street and there, walking in front of us, will be the character around which our next great sketch will revolve.

Sure, sometimes inspiration happens unexpectedly, at just the right time and in just the right place. However, most of the time, artists have to go looking for it. And we have to have the skills to recognize where to find it.

Sketching more

MOST of the earth is beyond the walls of buildings, and is untouched in appearance by the art of the sculptor or the painter.

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


Quick landscape sketch with my Parker Fountain Pen, black Quink ink and some colour added - done in my Moleskine Folio (A4) 200gsm Watercolour sketchbook

Sketching has always been one of my great passions, but of late I've been neglecting it in favour of doing mostly watercolours. I've decided to go back to basics and sketch a lot more. Sketching forces you to look in more detail, and ask yourself what you actually see. You’ll end up seeing a lot more than you would otherwise. There’s something about holding a pen or pencil in your hand that gets your creative juices flowing in a much different way than holding a brush. When you get used to sketching, the movements of your hand become much more fluid and it becomes really easy and natural. The more you practice, the better you will become at sketching.

The magical process

"Painting is a magical process that I like, where you conjure something out of nothing; you get a little idea that leads you through ... You can go into a trance while you're doing it, so it's a nice contrast to real life."
- Paul McCartney

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

Watercolour on Arches 300gsm

Stuck indoors again, lots of rain, so no field sketching at the moment! This is one of the 6 paintings I did while it poured outside and being without electricity (and therefore internet as well!) - having to boil water for coffee on the little gas burner and sitting close to the window (for light). Did this from my imagination, taking inspiration from the blue, wet hues outside, the bright green of all the grass and all the muddy patches everywhere.

The Journey

“I haven't a clue as to how my story will end. But that's all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, you don't conclude the road has vanished. And how else could we discover the stars?”

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


Magaliesburg Farm Road - watercolour in Moleskine watercolour sketchbook
8.5" x 5" - Maree©

A farm road in our area passing through Spring Farm, which we often use as a short-cut to get to Magaliesburg (Gauteng, South Africa). I did a quick ink sketch in my Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book and completed the colour when we got home.