I will work on the quantity, but trust GOD for the quality.

PROTEA PAINTING 20250804

PROTEA PAINTING 20250804

by | Aug 4, 2025 | WATERCOLOUR

4 August 2025 : Protea Watercolor on Potentate paper.

I felt very fancy starting this painting with Daniel Smith paint on an A3 Potentate watercolour paper.  My excitement slowly went down the inkwell after layer upon layer made no difference to shadows or highlights.  The paper just sucked the paint and water in, and I could not get a little grid on my painting that I usually get.  

After about 4 layers, the image was still very wishy washy and after giving it a rest for the weekend, I came back on Monday and put a final layer on with gouache.  Now this is not the lighthearted watercolour I had in mind, but it is an image I can love.

I will do this Protea again on a different paper to try and get the result I was after to begin with.  

See you later

Riana the Enthusiastic Creative

WHAT IS ON MY TABLE 20250721

WHAT IS ON MY TABLE 20250721

by | Jul 21, 2025 | WATERCOLOUR

Not All Kingfishers Fish!

Kingfishers are conspicuous birds in the Lowveld thanks to their bright colours and noisy, active habits. There are ten species that occur in southern Africa of which nine occur in the Lowveld (seven commonly so). They vary in size from the minute 12 cm pygmy kingfisher to the 45 cm large Giant kingfisher.

Kingfishers enjoy well-wooded areas in the vicinity of water but not all kingfishers fish! The Malachite, Giant, and Pied kingfishers are piscivores (fish-eaters) while the Striped, Woodlands, Brown-hooded and Pygmy kingfishers eat invertebrates including insects, lizards, frogs and even snakes, scorpions, rodents and the occasional bat. Insects are often more numerous in the vicinity of water and proximity to water is advantageous for hygiene purposes too.

 

MONDAY 21 JULY 2025

Currently I am working on a 3 image series on King Fisher Brids.  I love the amazing colors on these birds and it is something new to me.

I have not painted many birds in the past, and to be honest, the feathers scare me a little. I started with the bird in flight to get the most difficult one done and build confidence for the other two.