Tag Archives: alison nicholls art

Fashionable Color Palettes – Artistic Smart Move or Sellout?

A while ago a good friend of mine pointed out that most of my paintings in a certain color palette were sold. At the end of each year I look at my sales and try to determine trends, including general color schemes, but I have never made a point of checking out the current season’s ‘fashionable’ colors and using them in my art. Instead, I have used color to indicate the time of day, or mood. But, like most people, I do have my own favorites, colors that I turn to again and again in my art. So my friend’s comment got me thinking – would checking out and using some of the seasonal color palettes help me get out of a color rut, when I’m tempted to turn yet again to my favorite colors? Would it increase my sales? And do I want to go down that road?

New Limited Edition Giclées by Alison Nicholls

Before I tell you my own opinions (in next week’s post) I’d like to ask you for your opinions. Are seasonal color palettes, like Pantone’s Fashion Color Report, useful tools for a savvy artist, or do they interfere with your unique artistic vision?

Let me know your thoughts and I may feature them in my post next week.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredByAfrica.com

Oh No – I’m In An Elephant Sandwich!

On safari, its not generally a good sign when someone starts videoing your vehicle, because the chances are you are about to star in a viral YouTube video about a dangerous or scary incident. So when the people in a car in front of us turned around to video us and an elephant, I was not very happy!

We were in Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa and instances of elephants using cars as scratching posts have been fairly common. In the notes on the park map it even says that if you come across a bull elephant walking down a road towards you ‘do not pull over & allow the elephant to pass’ as this may encourage the elephant to take an interest in your car.

One morning we came around a blind corner on a dirt road and found a big bull elephant munching calmly on a bush. After a couple of minutes he started walking down the road, away from us, so we gave him a good head start and slowly followed, as we were going in that direction. This continued for several minutes until a car appeared behind us. They seemed keen to see the elephant, so we let them pass us. They were sensible, not getting too close to the elephant, who was still ambling down the road.

Elephant Sandwich - the 1st Bull. Photo by Nigel Nicholls ©2015

After a few more minutes of our slow procession, my husband looked in the rear view mirror and saw a 2nd bull elephant behind us on the road, coming in our direction. So now there were 4 of us in the procession – in front was the 1st bull, next was the car that passed us, after that was our vehicle, and in the rear was the 2nd bull elephant. Unfortunately, the elephant behind us was moving faster than the 1 in front, so we were slowly being sandwiched together! This continued for a few minutes and as the road contained many blind corners, we kept wondering if we were going to come around and find ourselves between the legs of the 1^st elephant, if he decided to stop for another snack. Luckily for us, he didn’t.

The people in the car in front wondered why we were catching them up, until they saw the bull behind us. This was when they started videoing our vehicle, and I started imagining becoming famous online, for all the wrong reasons!

After a few nervous minutes, the elephant behind us disappeared off the road. Then we came to a junction and the 1^st elephant took the other turn. With our elephant sandwich now broken apart, we decided to stop and have an early lunch!

Until next time…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

This Is Not A Drill – Art and Fire Alarms!

I’ve been working on my latest painted dog piece for over 2 weeks now. And something is definitely wrong. The composition and drawing are good, but I’m finding excuses to leave my studio. Every time I come back in, I try to evaluate the painting with fresh eyes, but in my head, alarm bells are ringing.

Painted Dog (African wild dog) playing, by Alison Nicholls ©2015

Detail of painted dog piece by Alison Nicholls

Its like a fire alarm going off. First, you think its a false alarm, so you can carry on with what you are doing. But it doesn’t stop, so you wonder if its real or just a test. Eventually you realize you will have to leave the building, whether the fire is real or not.

Late yesterday afternoon, I finally paid attention to the alarm bells, decided to abandon this version of the painting, and metaphorically ‘left the building’.

Since then I have experimented with a subtle gray color, and now I have the inspiration and desire to start the piece again, with fire extinguisher in hand!

Until next time…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

Running to Catch Up on World Cheetah Day!

On this World Cheetah Day, I’m sprinting to get this out in time… and sharing a quick field sketch of 2 hunting cheetahs from my recent trip to Botswana. The sketch was created in pencil then the watercolor was added once I returned to camp (without reference to photos or video). In the spirit of sketching the fastest land mammal, it was all done very fast!

Below you’ll find links to some great cheetah conservation organizations. Hurry up and check them out!

Cheetah field sketch by Alison Nicholls

Cheetah Conservation Fund
Cheetah Botswana
Cheetah Zimbabwe
They all deserve your support to help conserve cheetahs and the habitat they need to thrive!

Until next time…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

African Wildlife Sketch #21 – Elephant Bull (sold) by Alison Nicholls

This final sketch from my new series is another from Mana Pools. This was an elephant bull who definitely had right of way through our campsite, looking for delicious seed pods around our tents. Behind him you can see the Zambezi River and Zambian escarpment – a typical view of this beautiful park in northern Zimbabwe. I thought this would be a great sketch to end with – showing a little of the landscape, along with an orange and green elephant!

Elephant Bull field sketch (Sold), watercolor 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.

This Original Field Sketch is sold, but Limited Edition Giclées are 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.

My latest visit to southern Africa was one of my most productive sketching trips so far, and over the next few months these sketches will inspire a new body of studio paintings. Thank you for taking this trip with me through the amazing wildlife areas of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe!

Until next time…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

African Wildlife Sketch #20 – Painted Dogs in the Morning by Alison Nicholls

We had searched unsuccessfully for painted dogs for a couple of days, then one morning this pack appeared right outside our Mana Pools campsite in Zimbabwe. They relaxed for a few moments then got up, greeted each other and immediately set off hunting. Within 5 minutes they were heading off to the right, then reappeared running in the opposite direction in hot pursuit of an impala ram, which they caught by the river. This sketch was the calm before the storm!

Dog Pack Field Sketch © Alison Nicholls 2015

Painted Dogs in the Morning Field Sketch, watercolor by Alison Nicholls

The Original Field Sketch is watercolor & pencil on watercolor paper, 11×14″, priced at US$300. Limited Edition Giclées are 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 an elephant bull.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

African Wildlife Sketch #19 – Lion Pride by Alison Nicholls

This sketch was created, as a demonstration, during the 2015 Africa Geographic Art Safari in Kariega Game Reserve, South Africa. It was a cloudy day and we were watching a lion pride, when suddenly a mother warthog and her brood came trotting out of the bush, straight at the lions. One of the lionesses gave chase and they all disappeared, only to reappear a few seconds later, clattering down the track, with the lioness on the tail of one of the piglets. The chase ended in success for the lioness, but the male lion soon appeared to steal the kill from her. After the commotion died down, they all emerged from the bushes and lay in the open, where this sketch was created. The watercolor was added back at camp, as a demonstration of how I add color to my pencil sketches. It was an exciting start to our Art Safari!

Lion Pride Field Sketch © Alison Nicholls 2015

Lion Pride Field Sketch, watercolor by Alison Nicholls

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 pack of painted dogs.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

African Wildlife Sketch #18 – Mana Pools by Alison Nicholls

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

The Original Field Sketch is watercolor & pencil on watercolor paper, 11×14″, 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 lion pride.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

African Wildlife Sketch #17 – Browsing Elephants

Watching these browsing elephants was so interesting. They used their feet to dig up roots, picking them up with their trunks, the bashing them on the ground to get rid of the dirt. Then they leaned casually against a small bush and uprooted it completely. A little later, one of these elephants was following us down the road, while another was in front of us, walking away. Yes, we were part of an elephant sandwich! More of that soon, but in the meantime, enjoy these relaxed elephant bulls browsing their way through the African bush!

Browsing Elephants Field Sketch by Alison Nicholls

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.

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

African Wildlife Sketch #16 – Crashed – Painted Dogs by Alison Nicholls

As you probably know, Painted Dogs (African wild dogs) are highly social. They rarely fight, even over food (unlike most other predators), and will regurgitate food for sick and injured adults in their pack. During my recent travels in southern Africa I saw 4 different packs, and that included a lot of pups. Every time they finished playing they would all flop down together, in a pile. There were heads on backs, feet on heads, tails in faces and ears everywhere – a perfect expression of their highly developed social nature, and a perfect painting composition!

Crashed Field Sketch © Alison Nicholls 2015

Crashed field sketch, Painted dogs, African wild dogs, in watercolor by Alison Nicholls

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 browsing elephants.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

African Wildlife Sketch #15 – Kwando Lagoon by Alison Nicholls

Kwando Lagoon is an amazing place to be. Not only is there a wonderful view from the bar, the dining table and even your bed, but that view is liberally sprinkled with elephants. I stopped to count them one morning, and there were more than 60 elephants visible from just 1 of the large mesh windows in our huge, beautiful, room. Add to that the vocal pod of hippos, the fruit bats hanging in a tree, and the numerous birds, and it was barely even necessary to go out on a game drive. On a couple of occasions it was impossible to leave our room because of the elephants munching on vegetation around us. Photos of that will follow soon, but in the meantime, enjoy this view from the bar, and think about a visit!

Kwando Lagoon with elephants field sketch byAlison 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 elephants at Kwando Lagoon.
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

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

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 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 Field Sketch #10 – Playtime – painted dogs – by Alison Nicholls

I believe that Painted Dogs (African wild dogs) are one of the most difficult sketching subjects in the African bush, because when they are active, they are hyper-active! The better I know an animal, the better my sketches will be, so by the end of my most recent trip to southern Africa, having seen 4 different packs, I was able to capture some of the more entertaining, playful moments. While the dogs were playing, leaping over grass and chasing, I was watching rather than sketching, but I am then able to create sketches of particular moments, from my memory, a few minutes later. That is how this sketch was created.

Playtime Field Sketch, watercolor by Alison Nicholls

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. Limited Edition Giclées are also available, priced at US$120 each. Only 10 copies are available, printed using archival inks on watercolor paper, 11×14″, 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 carmine bee-eaters!
Until then…
Alison
www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

Art Challenge Day 4 – A New Medium!

Towards Evening, watercolor on paper 8x10" by Alison Nicholls

Towards Evening, watercolor on paper by Alison Nicholls

A Shady Spot, watercolor on paper 12×12″ by Alison Nicholls

Sun Spots, acrylic on canvas 29x29" by Alison Nicholls

Sun Spots, fluid acrylic on canvas 29×29″ by Alison Nicholls

I don’t work from an easel, I paint with my work flat on a desk. What this means is that I can’t get too far away from my work without moving it off the desk and standing it up. As a result, I found that I was often working close-up, which made my use of color weaker, and increased my use of detail. When my works were framed I felt I had to walk up close to really see them, when actually I wanted to be able to stand across the room and see them. I needed to be bolder. So over time I strengthened my colors and gradually background landscapes disappeared, as I removed everything that I felt was unnecessary in my compositions. Then I switched from watercolor on paper to fluid acrylic on watercolor canvas. Which is how I am painting now. I love the vivid colors, the lightweight canvas, the fact that I don’t have to stretch paper anymore before using it and the fact that I can frame without mats and glass. It took a long time but I think I found my medium!

Tomorrow I’ll show how my subject matter has progressed since I switched to fluid acrylic.

See you tomorrow…
Alison

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Art Challenge Day 2 – Wildlife in Detail

Zebra, pastel 20×16″ by Alison Nicholls

At Rest, cheetah in pastel 20×16″ by Alison Nicholls

Pride On The Move, lions in pastel 20×30″ by Alison Nicholls

Day 2 of the Art Challenge.
After a while, surrounded by wildlife during my bush trips, I decided I really needed to start using animals in my paintings. I switched to pastel for a while and loved using the colored papers. But using this like a drawing medium meant that once again detail was the focus of my work (still surrounded by space, but lots of detail nevertheless) And if you want this level of detail, you really have to work from photos, something I desperately wanted to get away from, but couldn’t figure out how.

Next time, I realize that field sketching is the way out of my dilemma.

And the next artist I’d like to nominate for the Art Challenge is Karen Laurence-Rowe, whose paintings are so wonderfully expressive (I was particularly struck by her giraffes). So enjoy her work and I’ll be back tomorrow, with field sketches.

Until then…
Alison

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