Magaliesberg Mountains 2

The true artist paints for himself.
- A. C. Leighton

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

"Magaliesberg Mountains 2" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 12" x 8" - Maree©

This 30 000-hectare mountain preserve is almost entirely the property of agricultural, mining or industrial landowners. But legislation ensures that no more quarries, factories or unacceptable developments can take place that would threaten the integrity of the natural area. There is a fragile and secret world in the kloofs of the Magaliesberg, with places where you can see vultures soaring on updrafts, swim in clear mountain pools - and perhaps even catch sight of a pangolin, a brown hyena or a leopard.

For this wet-on-wet scene of the mountain, after wetting the paper, I sketched the main outlines of my scene using my Rigger and Cerulean Blue, a "trick" I picked up at my watercolour workshop in April this year. I'm sure many of you use this technique, but I've always been somewhat of a sketchy person, using my pencil, going into great detail with a lot of erasing happening. It's only been the past couple of months since I started practicing painting with no sketching beforehand that I feel confident enough to consider doing this.

The other day I was reading the article "When can you call yourself an Artist?" - and that morning, painting this scene, I felt like an artist! Standing in front of the easel, arm outstretched with the Rigger, creating a beautiful masterpiece!

I didn't use any reference material either, just my imagination.

By the way, to answer the question above, I think the best reply was as follows :

“You are an artist when you make art. Many artists spend their lives not selling their work … One of the first requirements for an artist is to ignore those who would define whether they are artists. The only real measure is the person making the art or, if need be, posterity.”
-- Jon

Magaliesberg Mountains 1

“I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.”
- Unknown

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


"Magaliesberg Mountains 1" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 15" x 11" - Maree©

For one of the workshops I attended with Angela Eidelman in March this year, we had to stretch and prepare our paper at home beforehand and that week's practice was wet-in-wet again. We had to draw the outlines of the scene we were going to paint, from pictures Angela supplied, with Cerulean blue and then, paint it wet-on-wet, keeping in mind our composition, light source, focal point, etc., with Angela constantly peeping over our shoulders, giving encouragement and correction.

This is a scene of part of the Magaliesberg mountains, which runs for more than 100 kilometers from Rustenburg to beyond Pretoria. I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise!

Hartebeesthoek

“I listened, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.”
- William Wordsworth

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


"Hartebeesthoek" - Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 11" x 7.5" - Maree©

Driving towards Hartebeespoort Dam, we go through the area of Hartebeesthoek (Gauteng, South Africa), where the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory is situated in a Nature Reserve in a valley in the Magaliesberg hills, 50km west of Johannesburg.

The Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) is the only major radio astronomy observatory in Africa. The Observatory began as Deep Space Station 51, built in 1961 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States of America. The station tracked many unmanned US space probes. These included the Ranger, Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter spacecraft which landed on the Moon or mapped it from orbit, the Mariner missions which explored the planets Venus and Mars and the Pioneers which measured the Sun's winds. ("Hartebeest" refers to Gnu, a species that used to roam the area in vast numbers).

This area is still one of vast open spaces and unspoilt landscapes, green rolling hills and steep gulleys, with wildlife roaming free and sometimes even crossing the road (luckily none of the Big 5!), like Warthogs, Monitors, Mongoose, snakes, tortoises, guinea fowl, hedgehogs, Striped Polecats and small buck. In fact, anything that's small enough to get through the fence. We normally drive through the area at about 60km per hour and I, for the life of me, cannot understand people whizzing past at 120kph, oblivious to the beauty of nature all around.

Daisies infinite

"Daisies infinite
Uplift in praise their little growing hands,
O'er every hill that under heaven expands."
- Ebenezer Elliott ("The Corn Law Rhymer")

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


"One Spider-Daisy" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 11" x 8"- Maree©


The Gerbera Spider Daisy is from the sunflower family (Asteraceae). It has a delicate, spiky appearance and is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds, and deer resistant! (No idea why, Wiki doesn't say!)

It has approximately 30 species in the wild, extending to South America, Africa and tropical Asia and is a tender annual flower.

I just love sketching these daisies - each one has a different personality and seems to fairly beg you to look at them and take notice!

Zantedeschia (Arum Lily)

When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.
- Georgia O'Keeffe

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


Arum Lilies - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 5.5" x 7.5"- Maree©

A study of some Arums in my garden - this year they have exceptionally long stalks (probably looking for some sunshine amidst all the shade!) and I have been picking bunches for my tall vase for the dining room table - stunning!