Sunday, November 22, 2009

Nguni 30

Another Nguni that I completed recently: 



Nguni 30 - Oil on Stretched Canvas
400 x 300 x 16mm

A number of my more recent Nguni paintings (both oil and watercolour) are now with the BLOU DONKI gallery in Clarens. Two Ngunis are also currently being exhibited  (over the festive season) at artSPACE in Durban (Millar rd, off Umgeni Rd), as part of their annual "Affordable Art" exhibition. 

Monday, November 2, 2009

Two Completed Commissions

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.
 
Pin It button on image hover