I am happy to have completed two commissions recently!
The first one was for a friend of mine, who has a Bed & Breakfast near Rustenburg. She has named it after a bird, the Southern Boubou, for its beautiful call. She wanted something half abstract, half realistic. It had to contain the elements that make her B&B special: the boubou (of course), the thorn trees, the African sunset and the magnificent nightsky. After a number of preliminary digital compositions, sketches, and finally a collage, we arrived at a concept that she liked.
The painting has been finished for quite a while, but we were hoping to combine its delivery with a visit to her B&B. As that possibility faded, we finally sent it via courier, so here it is:
Acrylic and Oil on stretched Canvas - 1160 x 810mm.
The painting contains collage underneath the top coats of paint, so that lettering (of her B&B blurb) shows through in places. It has a very tactile surface and gold coloured paint has been used, especially near the borders and in the sky .
The second commission was a repeat of a painting I had made some time ago. Although I offered several other compositions and suggestions, the client preferred the original composition. It is a scene of some Nguni at a waterhole, with the Ubombo mountain range of Zululand in the background. So, with a few minor changes, and a slight change in technique (more use of the palette knife), here is the final product:
Oil on artboard. 760 x 500mm.
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