Tag Archives: #africanwildlifesketch

African Wildlife Sketch #14 – Buffalo Herd by Alison Nicholls

A herd of buffalo can move at a deceptively fast pace, even when they are just walking. When you are trying to sketch them, the pace seems even faster and the herd that was beside you, are now just back-ends disappearing into the bush. Angles change, perspective changes and before you know it they are gone.This is why I find it helpful to really know the animals I am sketching, so I can get the basics down on paper faster than they are walking. When I added watercolor to this sketch, I chose a large brush and a bold color scheme – my favorite painting method!

Buffalo Herd field sketch © Alison Nicholls 2015

Buffalo Herd Field Sketch, watercolor 11×14″ 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. Limited Edition Giclées are also available, priced at US$120 each. Only 10 copies are available, printed using archival inks on watercolor paper, 14×11″, all signed and numbered by me.

A donation will be made to African conservation from every sale.

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 elephants at Kwando Lagoon.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

African Wildlife Sketch #13 – Cheetah Dawn by Alison Nicholls

These are the same male cheetahs who featured in my sketch Creepers & Cheetahs earlier in this series. This sketch was created while I watched them scouring the bush for impala or other prey. They took their time and I was able to sketch both cheetahs as well as the tree and termite mound. I could have followed them all day, as not only were they very handsome boys, but they kept choosing the most scenic of locations, perfect for a field sketch artist!

Cheetah Dawn Field Sketch © Alison Nicholls 2015

A donation will be made to African conservation from every sale.

Wherever and whenever you see them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Tomorrow’s sketch is of a buffalo herd.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

African Wildlife Sketch #12 – Bull Elephant Drinking (Sold) by Alison Nicholls

From behind, an elephant can appear to be just a very large, fairly indistinct, object because most of the details – trunk, ears, tusks etc – are at the front end of the elephant. To indicate that this is a sketch of a bull elephant, I needed to include just a glimpse of the trunk, tusk and ears, but this was a difficult angle to sketch, because the elephant constantly lowered and raised his trunk to drink. As I began the sketch I was hoping he was planning to drink for at least a couple of minutes, so I could finish the sketch. Luckily for me, he obliged. I used the bold color scheme to emphasize the bulk of the bull elephant by first painting around him, then adding touches of color on the elephant to highlight the important details of his tail, spine, trunk and tusk. I think the combination was very successful!

Bull Drinking field sketch (Sold) by Alison Nicholls

This Original Field Sketch is Sold, but Limited Edition Giclées are also available, priced at US$120 each. Only 10 copies are available, printed using archival inks on watercolor paper, 14×11″, all signed and numbered by me.

A donation will be made to African conservation from every sale.

Wherever and whenever you see them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Tomorrow’s sketch is of a 2 cheetahs preparing for a hunt..
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

African Wildlife Sketch #11 – Carmine Bee-eaters by Alison Nicholls

It was incredibly windy on the morning I saw these Carmine Bee-eaters nesting on a flat riverbank in Linyanti. It was so windy that I couldn’t even begin to sketch them, so instead I concentrated on memorizing their stunning colors and trying to figure out if I could even create these colors from the very limited palette I have available in my field sketch kit. After a few minutes we moved away and stopped for morning tea and even though the wind continued to blow, I got out my paints and huddled down next to the vehicle to create this sketch. Although it may be far less dramatic and detailed than many of my other field sketches, the fact that I managed to create this sketch at all (and get close to the stunning colors of these amazing birds) makes this quite an achievement in my eyes!

Carmine Beeaters by Alison Nicholls ©2015

These field sketches were created during my Aug/Sept 2015 African trip. 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.

This Original Field Sketch is watercolor and pencil on watercolor paper, 11×14″ and priced at US$300.

A donation will be made to African conservation from every sale.

Wherever and whenever you see them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Tomorrow’s sketch is of a bull elephant drinking.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com