Rhino Study - The Unpardonable Crime

To a man whose mind is free there is something even more intolerable in the sufferings of animals than in the sufferings of man. For with the latter it is at least admitted that suffering is evil and that the man who causes it is a criminal. But thousands of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. If any man were to refer to it, he would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime.
~Romain Rolland, Nobel Prize 1915

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

Black Artline Fine-point pen sketch with colour wash on Amedeo 200gsm

Of late I've been inspired to do more and more wildlife sketches and paintings - there's so much in our area to draw inspiration from - the Krugersdorp Game Reserve, The Rhino and Lion Park and many small private game Reserves - to name but a few. These Rhinos reside at the Rhino and Lion Park in Kromdraai and sometimes graze right next to the fence, not perturbed at all by tourists taking pictures or sketchers like me!

Gemsbuck Study - Wear your own skin

We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.
~Albert Schweitzer, The Philosophy of Civilization

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

PilotFineliner Blank ink sketch with W&N watercolour on DalerRowney 220gsm (135lb) Smooth heavy-weight sketching paper - small sketch 6" x 8"

The Gemsbuck (Oryx gazella) is one of the most handsome antelope in Africa, with its long rapier-like horns and striking markings. They can form herds of up to 20 - 30 animals. Gemsbuck are grazers but will survive on browse in times of drought. When wounded they can be very dangerous animals to approach on foot. The horns of the calves grow extremely fast and when they emerge from concealment after birth their horns are very evident. This has lead to the myth that a Gemsbok is born with horns.

Art is Magic!

"Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other."
~ Mary Caroline Richards

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

W&N watercolour on smooth inside back cover of Amedeo watercolour pad - no preliminary sketching

The inside back covers of the various watercolour pads are nice and smooth, almost like painting on Yuppo, and it fascinates me how one can wait for the paint to dry and then add layers or, just with a wet brush, lift the paint completely, leaving the clean, white surface again! Makes fixing 'mistakes' a cinch!

The true meaning of life...

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
~Nelson Henderson

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



The above quote came to mind as I was doing this sketch in my Moleskine 200gsm Folio (A4) watercolour sketch-book at Hartebeespoort Dam last year - two beautiful trees at the edge of the dam and I wondered if anybody has ever sat in their shade....

Umbrella Thorn

Should a tree write its autobiography, it would not be unlike the history of a race.
- Khalil Gibran

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

Thorn tree - watercolour on Ashrad 300gsm
Umbrella Thorn {Acacia tortilis}

There are few more striking symbols of Africa than a thorn tree - its gnarled branches, graceful form, jagged thorns and abundant blooms, in many ways reflecting the paradoxes of the continent.

This Umbrella Thorn (Acacia tortilis) stands in one corner of my garden and offers a safe haven for many birds who seek a safe place to nest.

The Song sings itself

In summer, the song sings itself.
- William Carlos Williams

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

W&N watercolours on Amedeo 200gsm

My Swallows (Greater-striped Swallow) have returned and it always amazes me that they've come thousands of miles back to their nest on MY little piece of soil here in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa! How great is that!

They've already got their first brood and this sketch started off as one of the youngsters perching in my peach tree, and although they do have a glint of blue on their heads and wings, I got carried away with the blue and now it looks more like a Blue Bird (which we DON'T have here in S.A.! lol!) But I have managed to capture the likeness in his cute little face, so it will have to do for now!

Gone to seed

Pleasure is the carrot dangled to lead the ass to market; or the precipice.
- Robinson Jeffers

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

Watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm Watercolour Sketch-book - 5" x 8"

A farmer friend's carrots have all gone to seed and have formed these gorgeous flowers, not unlike Queen Anne's Lace. Did you know that Carrots are from the Parsley family?

The Parsley Family includes some wonderful edible plants like the carrot and parsnip, plus more aromatic spices found in your spice cabinet, such as anise, celery, chervil, coriander, caraway, cumin, dill, fennel and of course, parsley. But unlike the Mustard or Mint families, the Parsleys are not all safe for picking and eating. In fact, the Parsley family is among the most important families of plants to learn, since it includes the deadliest plants in North America: poison hemlock and water hemlock. Note that the hemlock tree is totally unrelated. The wild carrot is the same species, but a different variety than the carrots we grow and eat.

An Artist's Sketchbook to make

A (really!) Quick & Easy sketch-book to make

An Artist's Sketchbook - front cover

Here in South Africa there aren't many choices of journals or sketch-books for artists to choose from in our book stores or art supply shops. I would imagine one of the few choices is the Moleskine range - they offer sketching and watercolour notebooks in various sizes, and they are really great to use - I have a full range - but that's about the extent of it. If you would like to make your own, personalised sketch-book, here's a really fun, quick and easy way to do it.

Artist's Journal Open

For this project I used an A4 Bockingford 300gsm watercolour pad (containing 10 sheets of paper) cut in half to form an A5 size (5.5" x 7.5" - approx. 14 x 19cm), giving me 20 pages. You can use any paper you like, but less than 140gsm doesn't give a good surface for painting on. You can also fold and tear the paper in stead of cutting it for an interesting effect on the edges, or use different colour papers.

For the front and back covers I used the backing card of the A4 watercolour pad (cut in half), but you can use any stiff board cut to size, even covers from old books.

Artist's Journal Inside

The next step is to mark where you want your holes and punch the holes into your paper and stiff board covers. You can use ribbon to hold the book together like I have done here, or you can use binder rings found at most craft shops. Two should do the job. I used a leather hole punch to do 2 or 3 pages of paper together, as 300gsm is quite thick. Or you could use the standard office 2-hole punch with the holes in the centre of the paper, but I have found that top and bottom works best to keep the book stable.

Binder rings

Leather hole punch

I punched 6 holes into the pages of this journal as I was going to put it into a leather-bound ring binder I already have, but when the pages proved to be too big, and I didn't want to cut them smaller, I changed my mind and decided to use the ribbon.

And here's the enjoyable part - designing your front and back covers. I have used plain brown paper to cover the stiff boards and glued on some Hessian cut into an interesting shape, using ordinary Pritt Project glue (Ponal or Alcolin wood glue does the same job). You can, of course, use any pretty paper or gift wrap you have lying around as well.

Journal Back cover - you can leave it plain as above or embellish it further with items of your choice, below.

Journal - last page and inside back cover

Optionally, for the inside back cover, I cut a piece of Hessian, glued all along the top, right-hand side and bottom edges, leaving the uneven edge open, to form a pocket for some notes (money or other-wise!). Always comes in handy when you've been out sketching in the heat and you need to buy a cold drink.

Enjoy and happy sketching!

List of supplies :
- 10 Sheets A4 watercolour paper, cut in half
- 1 sheet A4 board, cut in half
- 2 binder rings or ribbon, string, cord of your choice,
- Office or leather hole punch
- Gift, wrapping or any paper to cover front and back covers
- Scissors
- Craft glue

Country Diary - The Art of Reverence

“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.”
- Yoko Ono

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

Ink, wash and collage in a hand-made sketch-book with satin-finish Linen paper.

This satin-finish linen paper has the most wonderful quality of allowing the watercolours to flow beautifully just where you want it to go. The only drawback is that you can't change anything once you've put colour - trying to lift anything results in the paper almost disintegrating and coming of in chunks. You've got one shot at it, and it better be good! lol!

This is the fifth in the series Country Diary, which consists of paintings, sketches and collages depicting nature, rural and farm life.

Country Diary - Pay it Forward

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

Ink, wash and collage in my Moleskine 200gsm "Country Diary"

When we open ourselves to the natural world, we escape the fast-paced bustle of our daily lives. That experience, not only reduces our stress, it also grounds us, reaffirming our connection to the Earth and all its creatures.

We need the tonic of wildness… We can never have enough of nature… We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
- Henry David Thoreau

This is the third in the series Country Diary, which consists of paintings, sketches and collages depicting nature, rural and farm life.