Save the Rhino and Elephant

This is a small version of a huge painting I would like to make to donate towards saving our Rhino and Elephant from poaching. I am always heart-broken when I see on the news that another rhino has been slaughtered  for it's horn. If you also feel like me, please share this on Facebook and other social media and please also donate towards these worthy causes.

Important Notice:

I have once again updated my website Painted Canvas. Please make sure to visit and thank you for your support.

The Colour White

Colour is a very interesting subject, a science by itself. To write about colour I will be busy for a very long time, so I am not going to even try to go into the physics of it. Most people do not even have to think about colour, except when they want to buy a car or what colour shoes to wear with their clothes.

But an artist has to think about colour all the time. We have to observe how objects reflects the nearby colours. We have to think about which colours are found in shadows, how colours change from sunny skies to overcast conditions. We have to think about how indoor lighting effects portraits or still life studies. Then we also have to figure which tube colours to mix to get the millions of colours we observe. It is difficult to be an artist!

We have to think about colour harmonies, colour contrasts, warm and cool colours, colour brightness, complimentary colours and how to apply it. You cannot use just one hue of red to paint an apple - it will look flat. There must be a highlight and shadows. For the highlight of a red apple you do not use pure white, also not white added to red (pink). You must add a touch of green, the compliment of red, to white. The same goes for the shadow, you use green in the shadow area. That is one way to make the colours sing. They compliment each other.

So how do you paint a white object, like white roses, in a white object on a white cloth against a white background? By adding touches of colour to create highlights and shadows. In this painting there is not one spot of pure white, and if you look closely you will see lots and lots of colour!

Please also note that I have updated my website again. You will find this and other new paintings on my website.
Click here to go to Painted Canvas, the website.

Life of a Cape Town Artist

Living in Cape Town is a very great priviledge for any artist. Here we are surrounded by all the best life can offer you. There are the beaches, sometimes deserted due to weather conditions, sometimes the most colourful display of people, umbrellas and all that goes with a summer holiday. Then we have the mountains, the vineyards with their awesome autumn colours. The old Cape Dutch houses, the colourful houses of the Bo-Kaap and the townships all make wonderful subjects for painting.

I love to go out over weekends and drive around and take pictures of possible paintings. It is not always practical to take all the painting material but I do take a sketch pad to draw pictures and compositions as I go along. There is just SO much beauty around us here in Cape Town, if the old masters only knew!

This is a painting inspired by a deserted beach on a cold day!

Make sure to visit my website: Painted Canvas. There you will find most of my paintings and at very reasonable prices. You can view my earlier works, my more recent works in various categories, little gems, and commissions. You will also find out how to commission a painting, be it a landscape, still life or portrait of your dear dog, cat or mother-in-law!

Enjoy!

A Red Rose for You

Okay, it is a bit late for Valentine's Day, but you can still buy this red rose for your loved one. I used some very dramatic colours for this little gem. I also made use of the complimentary characteristics of red and green. The green makes the red look even more red than it really is. There are a number of ways to use complimentary colours (those colours opposite each other on the colour wheel):

Here are a few ways to use complimentary colours:

1. Use a subdued compliment to make the other compliment stand out, as I have done here.
2. Use the compliment of a colour in its shadow area, for example use green in the shadow side of a red apple.
3. Use the compliment of a colour to grey down or soften the colour. Example add a little yellow to purple to make the purple less purple.
4. Use the compliment to create vibrancy or to make colours sing. Example: paint the blue sky over a orange ground layer and let the orange shine through. Just make sure the orange is already dry, else you will end up with a grey sky.


The Little Gems on my website are a great way to start investing in quality art. These small paintings are available for $100 or less. Have you ever seen how stunning a small painting looks in the right bulky frame?
You are also welcome to contact me if you want something specific in any size.
Please visit my website for more information.

Another commission finished etc

So much has happened since the beginning of this year, and it just feels as if we are on a roller coaster ride! I have finished this commissioned painting for one happy client. You can read more about this painting on my website. I have also chosen this painting to be the March Painting of the Month.
Max, Fly and Maggie

Furthermore I have and still are very busy with two portrait paintings which I want to enter for the SPI National Portrait Award 2013 competition. At this stage I feel I am too critical and I am really getting frustrated with myself. The competition is only in August and I have now decided to put these two paintings away until July and then  I can take a new and fresh look at it. Unfortunately I cannot show them here, not until after the competition.

So please visit my website! I will be adding two more Little Gems tomorrow.

Until next time!

Website updated

In the January edition of the SA Artist magazine there is a list of 10 things to do in 2013 regarding your painting career. I find that all of those 10 things mentioned are very important, although we sometimes tend to not even think about that. No 1 for instance is to tidy up the studio - throwing away old twisted and empty paint tubes. I will try to go through the whole list!

Yesterday I did number 7 on the list: Spring clean your website. I didn't change the look, but I reorganised my paintings, added a category for commissioned paintings, linked to my fellow artists' webpages and uploaded new paintings.

Paintings reorganised
In each category you will now first find the available paintings and then the sold paintings lower down on the page.

Commissioned paintings
There you will find out how to commission a painting and also see paintings of satisfied clients.

Linked to fellow artists
Under links you can click on the names of my fellow artists to go to their webpages
Anton Betz
Adele van Andel
Simonette van Oudtshoorn
Christelle Coetzee

The paintings that were on our exhibition are longer on exhibition pages, but incorporated in the various categories.
There is also a new painting of the month.

Please visit the website Painted Canvas  and do feel free to give comments and ideas. It will be appreciated.

A Nice Surprise!

Sometimes, no most often, we as humans plan our days ahead, and we are actually taught by the wise people that we should do it. And quite often our days pan out exactly as we have planned, or more or less at least. But then, in my life, even more often, it does not work that way, not that there is anything wrong with my planning, or the execution of my plans. Sometimes things just happen that we cannot see coming, like the day my dog died. That morning when I woke up I had all kinds of plans, but it all changed the moment I realised she was sick, and I took her to the vet. And later that afternoon she was just gone, but that's a story for a different blog.

This morning I also had my day planned out. Most of the day went according to plan, but I got this nice surprise: About September last year I entered a competition with one of my paintings. The winning painting would have been used for the cover of the December edition of the South African Artist Magazine. I didn't win. But this morning a friend e-mailed me to congratulate me on my great achievement.

In the Jan/Feb edition they gave the competition results of the winners and finalists. He said I was amongst the finalists.

There my day changed - I went to the art shop to buy the magazine, and there it was, a picture of my painting and my name - printed in a real magazine. My painting was amongst the 21 finalists chosen out of about 1200 entries received. What a nice surprise! What  an awesome feeling! What is that other than the favour of God!

This evening also did not go according to plan. On my menu for dinner was ONLY stir fry veggies (still struggling to loose a few holiday pounds!). Rather, we decided to celebrate. We went to Ocean Basket, had a starter, main meal and dessert and bottle of JC le Roux sparkling wine. More favour - it cost only R100, because I had 2 R100 vouchers!

I have previously posted the picture of this painting, but here it is again:  

The Red Umbrella