This is the view from Nyamepi campsite in Mana Pools, looking across the Zambezi River. It is a place where you come face to face with Africa’s big game. On several occasions we had to leave our chairs to make way for elephants, and once we had to give way to a hippo. Hyenas were seen by torchlight, baboons and vervets were frequently present during the day, and on the 1st afternoon, lion and buffalo were spotted from the camp. On our last morning, a pack of painted dogs were a 1 minute drive from the campsite. I was surprised that during the course of this sketch I didn’t have to give up my chair to make way for a passing elephant! If you look carefully you will see a couple of vervet monkeys in the sketch, but other than that it was a quiet afternoon for Mana Pools!
Mana Pools Field Sketch by Alison Nicholls
All my field sketches, are created in Africa directly from life, or sketched back at camp purely from my memory of sightings. They are completely finished in Africa and I use no photos or video reference at any time in their creation. It is always tempting to add finishing touches back in the studio, but I avoid this to ensure that my field sketches really are field sketches.
The Original Field Sketch is watercolor & pencil on watercolor paper, 11×14″, priced at US$300.
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Until Nov 22, I will be sharing 1 of my new African field sketches every day. The new sketches are shown to my newsletter readers a full day before they are shown here. Click here to Join my Mailing List and see the sketches as soon as they are released, or see them here 1 day later.
Wherever and whenever you see them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Tomorrow’s sketch is of a lion pride.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com