Amazing Elephants

On my recent visit to Kruger National Park in South Africa in May 2023, I had the opportunity to visit the northern end of the park.  An area less crowded and more peaceful, full of many scenic river views. And so many elephants!  We spent hours watching the interaction of wildlife at waterholes, some man-made, some natural, all giving much information about the environment and its inhabitants.  

This painting is of a young bull elephant, maybe three years of age, who came bursting onto the waterhole scene, growling and trumpeting, causing a heard of Cape Buffalo to scatter.  What a surprise for me.  I never imagined a young elephant would have so much power.  He was so small, but so confident and bold.  

Please join me at my art website, Vickie Henderson Art, where I have created a blog post that tells the rest of this story and how my visits to S. Africa are inspiring my art.  

You are invited to subscribe to my website blog and newsletter so that we can stay in touch no matter which platform I am using!  Vickie Henderson Art - blog.  See you there!

Revisiting Alaska with Sketches

I recently had a request for a grizzly bear sketch from my dear friends who spent many months as summer rangers in Denali National Park and Preserve.  They both, husband and wife, helped park visitors stay safe and taught them how to enjoy the beauty of the wilderness, a job that mixes hard work with determination and sometimes the unexpected.  Their generous invitation for me to join them for a week in Denali was the reason I planned my trip to Alaska in 2012 in late August.  If you click on the link, you will see the beautiful colors found on the tundra as it prepares for winter.

Browsing through my Alaska images was like a revisit and brought back a surprising sense of awe similar to what I originally felt while surveying the rugged and beautiful terrain of the wilderness.  I especially enjoyed that revisiting sensation in the midst of this Covid-19 pandemic that currently limits travels. This is a time when photography and art can transform the moment.

While creating the sketches I also explored papers, light and shadow, and bear shapes. The first sketch was on Canson sketching paper, easy, free, forgiving, fun. There is something about sketching paper that frees the spirit.  But I did miss the depth of color and fluid movement that happens on real 140 lb cotton paper.  The second and third images were on different watercolor 140# rag paper, one soft and absorbing (image 2) and the third, tough Arches 140# cold press, which is most familiar to me and my favorite.  These were fun explorations and I am not finished playing!  A lot of learning and fun happens in series painting!
Visit bear fun and a sketch I made while in the park at Vickie Henderson Art:  A Bear Gets a Good Scratch

The Stunning Brown Creeper

Always a fun surprise, especially at eye-level, I discovered a Brown Creeper scooting up a tree truck near my carport as I was taking my recycling out.  The carport is high above ground-level, mid-way up the trees, giving me a good view of birds in the area!

In Tennessee, these 5" birds (including bill and tail)  are seen mostly during the winter months so I've never heard their calls or songs, or at least, I haven't recognized them.

This creeper was scooting so fast on this gray, overcast day, that I had difficulty getting a good focus with my camera and then she stopped to preen!  (Males and females appear the same, so its impossible to tell!)  What a treat to see this activity.  Check out the long back toe and claw, above.  And below, a nice view of its tail brace. 

Though creepers aren't in the woodpecker family, they have a tail with stiffened, pointed tips like those of woodpeckers, that help brace them as they forage in the bark looking for insect eggs and larvae. Their beautiful dark and chocolate brown colors speckled with white, camouflage them almost completely when perched motionless on the bark of a tree.

My first creeper sighting of the season--a bird that makes you appreciate the beauty of brown and gray!
To see another intimate visit with a Brown Creeper visit my Brown Creeper post on Vickie Henderson Art.  

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Trying something new in art stimulates your creative juices, challenges self doubt and hesitation, and pushes you past habits that represent safety but not your best artistic potential.

That is what happens when you take a watercolor workshop from a master or from any accomplished artist that you want to observe and learn their way of creating watercolors.

Charles Reid is known for his bright use of color and unique drawing style.  He admits readily that his quirky drawing is because "I can't draw".  He draws what he sees making pivotal dots as he moves his pencil in a different direction, similar to contour drawing but more angular in style.

One of the most important watercolor skills I retained from his demonstrations was his emphasis on the connection of colors within the painting.  Each yellow flower, for example, should connect with another yellow.  He does not identify a center of interest, but considers these color connections as a pathway through the painting, leading the eye.  He also paints straight from the pallette, using generous amounts of water to spread the pigment on paper, creating brilliant colors.

Each of the paintings above, were my practice using his techniques.  Unusual subjects for me and fun experiments into a different way of painting!

Vickie Henderson, Charles Reid and Kay Alexander at Cheap Joes in Boone, NC, 2017.

See also:  Art Workshop with Brenda Swenson

Watercolor Nature Journaling Workshop

Join me for a fun day of exploring nature with watercolor on April 8th at the Chota Recreation Center, Tellico Village in Loudon, Tennessee.

Nature journals are the earliest source of information that we have about our natural world.  Holding a journal in one's hand evokes emotion and awe because we innately relate to the sensory details captured in the artists words and images.  The added bonus to creating our own journals?  We see and enjoy more deeply and that comes with calming health benefits!

Join me for a relaxing day of exploring watercolor and nature. We will review helpful sketching techniques, use of values, basic watercolor washes, negative painting, representation of sky, clouds, rocks and trees, and choice of colors for the season. Using all our senses to enhance our observations, we'll leave our traditional artist fears behind and enjoy a day of exploring nature with watercolor.

The workshop is sponsored by the Art Guild of Tellico Village.  Visit this link to sign up!  
For more information about the workshop and the guild visit:  the Art Guild of Tellico Village Workshops

Inspiration from Cuba

I took a sketchbook and a tiny watercolor palette on my ten day trip to Cuba in January, but our schedule was so full, there was no opportunity to sketch.  I was very glad to have my camera with me and recorded what I was seeing even while we traveled on the bus.    

There was meaning, beauty and inspiration everywhere I looked--in revolutionary symbols, in color and texture, in tropical scenery and endemic birds, in age and youth--a country lingering in a time past with so much energy and vitality in its art and culture.  Artistic images were everywhere.  A warbler perched on a porch lamp, green bananas ripening in a rusty blue wheel barrow, colorful chickens scratching to feed their young, a team of oxen pulling a plow, a sturdy horse pulling a cart loaded down with people.

My photos captured much of what I saw, but I came home with a burning desire to paint these different and challenging subjects in watercolor.  The young girl from Las Terrazas, pictured in the sketch above, is dressed in her school uniform and paused to display her flag for us before heading home after her day at school.

Above, a study of a young horse being trained to accept the noises and confusion of road travel.

In Cayo Coco, Cuba, I was on my way to breakfast and stopped to watch Cuban Emeralds (hummingbirds) nectaring blossoms in a nearby tree.  I also discovered a beautiful Yellow-throated Warbler perched on the light fixture on the second floor balcony above--an unexpected setting for a life bird!  Wintering warblers were everywhere in Cuba!

Visit Cuba on the Discover Birds Blog

White-throated Sparrow on Ice

The cold winter months provide opportunity for gathering inspiration, as well as, quiet indoor time to create watercolor paintings! 

The above painting was inspired by a harsh but beautiful ice storm in east Tennessee in February 2015.  Ice coated everything so I not only spent a lot of time making sure the birds in my yard had food and water, I took many photographs.    

The limbs of an ice-coated Burning Bush were breath-taking, looking like lace.  I watched birds move in and out of its branches, some plucking berries, others perching near the feeders. Above and below, fluffy White-throated Sparrows perched among the limbs.  Birds fluff their feathers to trap air giving them an extra layer of warmth trapped under their feathers.

Painting ice in watercolor means "saving the whites".  The white of the paper is the white in your watercolor painting.  Ice presents an interesting challenge, more so than snow, because it reflects light and color from the surrounding area.  .  

Above you can see how I began this painting.  After carefully drawing the limbs and sparrow, I began negative painting with light washes of a mixture of burnt sienna and ultarmarine blue. Together these hues range from blue to blue-gray, to brown, to brown-gray to rust and subtle shades in between.  .

In this case I applied the washes in layers, with each area drying before I applied another layer over it.

While painting you can also drop paint into damp pigment to vary the color.  The key to keeping the paint underneath from moving is to avoid dabbing your brush but rather, add pigment with a stroke or two and leave the area until it dries.  

Watercolor painting takes patience because we often spend a lot of time waiting for the right moment to add the next brush stroke.  Paint will have a shiny appearance when wet and look dull when dry. Waiting for that right moment will reward you with satisfying results.  
Look for inspiration in the neutrals of winter and have a great time painting while its cold and wet outside!

Links and references:
Negative painting:  Fun with Fall Leaves and Hummingbird Inspiration
Helping wintering bluebirds