Van Gochs letter to his brother on drawing

“Well, and yet it was in these depths of misery that I felt my energy revive and I said to myself, I shall get over it somehow, I shall set to work again with my pencil, which I had cast aside in my deep dejection, and I shall draw again, and from that moment I have had the feeling that everything has changed for me, and now I am in my stride and my pencil has become slightly more willing and seems to be getting more so by the day. My over-long and over-intense misery had discouraged me so much that I was unable to do anything.”

Contrast

In order to produce drawings that are vibrant and exciting one of the tricks that artists use is contrast.

This contrast can be achieved in a number of different ways for example texture, lighting, line, grey scale

Proportion, layout and scale. There are many more methods that one can use to create contrast see how many you can come up with and produce a simple storyboard that highlights each one. A  good understanding of contrast is also important as too much information contained in a drawing can also confuse the viewer, it is important to use contrast to your best advantage. Think about the message or  what you want to enhance in the drawing, remember a drawing is the same as any piece of artwork sometimes more is less.    

As you know by now Van Goch is one of my favorite artists he had produced more than 1100 drawings by the age of 27.When we analyze his drawing of men unloading at the dock let us examine how he uses contrast to involve you in the drawing. The first thing that I notice is the white space on the left of the dock this is the first major contrast as everything else in the drawing is full of texture.

The chain hanging off the dock on the left hand side uses heavy line when the rest of the drawing has lines of medium weight he uses weight to contrast and at the same time sends the message that the chains are strong anchoring the boats.

The next most striking contrast for me is the texture of the water in the front of the drawing compared to the contrast in the background. He has in a very clever way created depth in the drawing with a few strokes sending the message that the water in the front of the drawing is more turbulent than the water in the back of the scene.     

Without giving too much away see what other interesting areas of contrast you can identify in the drawing what is interesting to me is the masts of the ships and the planks why did he leave them white and with no detail. See if you can work it out? Also notice the fact that this is not only a drawing he has used areas of wash as well. This brings me back to my original point of understanding how to use contrast to the drawings advantage.  

Have fun and see what else you can identify.  

 

     

Online representation

Online sales and promotion is the way the world has moved there are some great art sites out there and it is a good way to get to meet fellow artists look at the work and get inspired. I have been involved in the online community for some time now and these are my favorite sites,

Draw space my top site hosted by Brenda who has written many books on drawing. i am a teacher on the site and I have posted more than a hundred of my drawings online. Bluecanvas another favorite of mine I started a drawing group which I moderate and have more than forty members who have joined and posted their drawings online.

Red bubble a must visit great artists from all over the world.

Artwanted a great site for selling your work online.

Get involved with the online art community there are some fantastic sites out there.

Cheers Wayneo  

Oshogbo temple Oson state

My wife and I decided to travel to see the Oshogbo temple in Soon state so we left on the Ibadan expressway early sat morning travelling on a very busy road in bad condition it takes about three hours to get to the temple so we decided to stay overnight in Ibadan Africa’s largest flat city

We found a local hotel that was reasonably priced and had air conditioning very important in west Africa that evening there was a party on at the hotel so we ended up around the swimming pool with our driver having a couple of beers and enjoying the evening the pool area had a few plastic palm trees and many pool noodles in the pool. After an early start the next morning we were on our way to the temple

The temple was built by a Brazilian woman an artist who created a fertility temple that was actively used by woman every Friday. it was situated in the local forest and I was very keen to visit the area

After about another hours drive we arrived at the forest and on the way to the entrance I noticed low mud walls with faces and figures carved into them there was the odd figure also looking at us from the trees  We paid the nominal entry fee at a small hut to the side of the entrance which was a huge vagina which you could walk through we decided to take the other route into the forest and started our exploring The ground had a funny look to it shining and sparkling with minerals which I think was feldspar Everywhere you looked there were giants statues of figures and many smaller ones in the walls even down by the river there were specific statues alongside the banks

We came to the actual temple which was still being used and the local priest asked us if we wanted to be blessed so we agreed and went through the ritual in the temple took about half an hour all in all. Afterwards we were interviewed by a local press crew that showed up photos were taken and lots of fun was had by everyone

 

Benin West Africa

The home of voodoo that is what I saw in the Benin embassy in Lagos

I was trying to get a visa for myself and a friend as we were planning a road trip to Benin from Lagos

He was on a British passport so he got a visa very fast I was on an SA passport so was told I would get my visa at the border. the night before we left we were having a few drinks at the yacht club and when the bartenders found out we were going to Benin they offered to kill a white and a black chicken for us we would be given a parcel to put in the boot of our car we were interested but never took them up on the offer instead we offered them a chicken and chips meal on our return.

It was early sat morning when we set with a French chef as our guide after about two hours of Lagos roads and traffic we arrived at the Benin border a tin house on the side of the road with a lot of people standing around there were lots of pieces of string and tree branches across the road each one a roadblock and each one wanting money after about four hours at the border and one or two issues with passports we crossed the border into Benin our first impressions on crossing was a huge informal market with people selling everything and changing money airtime rice you name it.

It is often cheaper to buy food in Benin and bring it back across the border so the border area is very active. We get past the border and travel up to the capital continue the streets are clean and there are separate lanes for motorcycles everyone drives properly and the local French police are everywhere nobody talks English only French so most of the time you are not sure what is happening we visit a local village to meet our drivers family and he is very proud to show us his family house and the other cottages he is renting out. We then go to his uncle’s hotel for a local beer after a round or two we notice the hotel has a lot of small rooms and there are a lot of woman around so it does not take long to work out where we are.

We had booked into a coastal apartment room on the beach very close to the Togo border so close that in five minutes you could cross into Togo. On the way the countryside becomes more rural jungle overgrown and then we are at the coastal village clear blue oceans and two or three small hotels.my friends and I settle into our new room and we send the drivers off to visit yet another uncle. We went for a walk on the beach in the pouring rain and met with some locals who were fishing finally we ended up in a hut chatting to a chap who was selling herbs for a living. Him and his two children in a hut on the beach.

We got back pretty late and my friend was tired so he went to bed while I sat on the veranda watching the ocean we had ordered chicken to eat and to my amazement two plates of raw chicken with rice was delivered to us we sent it back and went to sleep I could hear that our drivers had returned and they were sitting outside our front door chatting the next morning was raining but crisp not the normal heat that we were used to after a breakfast of French bread and fried eggs we set back to the Benin border.

The amazing thing about Benin is you can buy French bread along the road the bread is not sweet it is fresh and great to eat in Lagos you get agaga bread which is very sweet almost like cake cellphone costs airtime is very expensive but food is cheap.

We crossed the border back into Lagos and the roads were very blocked they were also searching vehicles coming back from Benin so we decided to take a longer route back which was less congested.

That same day an aircraft crashed into the city of Lagos another plane crashed in Ghana and the roof of my hotel collapsed.

 

Mozambique

What a lovely place, the family and I spent a week close to Inhaca island .we rented a land cruiser and left from SA early in the morning with a full load of food and water The family was very excited to make the long trip by road as we were planning on going through the elephant reserve to get to where we were staying. We had two vehicles with us one a full off-road vehicle and the other one a two by four with a diff lock. My family and their friends are very keen paddlers so on the roof we had two canoes strapped to the top. The trip up to the border post at Komatiepoort went off fairly smoothly with a pit stop of fried eggs and bacon along the route.

Komatiepoort is a great little town with a supermarket banks a few restaurants and nothing much else

The local golf course was great with a view over the valley river and border post we spent the afternoon with a cold bottle of wine taking photos of the surrounding countryside.

We stayed over at a local guest house which had a pool and braai facility a great afternoon was had around the pool and the boys braaied under the carport for supper the next day was an early start for us as we had been told by some of the locals that the border would open very early so at 3 in the morning we set off to cross the border

The border was chaos as most African borders are the endless lines of traffic and people when we reached the border some of the locals tried to scam us out of some money saying that we had to have travel insurance to cross over luckily I spotted the scam and warned some German tourists who were about to be taken of the situation my kids joined the long line of people trying to get their passports stamped after about an hour of getting nowhere I decided to explore and paid a protocol officer to get us through about twenty minutes later we were through the border and into Mozam which by now was pouring with rain.

It was a pretty long drive to the turnoff into the elephant reserve but the roads were in pretty good condition so no real problems getting there. We turned off onto a dirt road and into the forest we went the roads became waterlogged and full of mud with the usual bad road conditions I remember at one stage watching a local vehicle in front of me a small little Toyota bakkie that was skidding from side to side on the road most of the trip he was going sideways eventually I managed to pass him and we carried on to the gate of the reserve.at the entrance to the reserve we stopped and took photos next to a large elephant skull and had a look at the curios in a small office at the gate.

The road conditions got much worse and from here on in I handed the vehicle over to another driver who was far more experienced as the other vehicle kept on breaking down in the mud and narrow roads after about four hours of extreme forest and not a single elephant in site we came to an open plateau and lake which connected to the ocean it was great to see hippo in the water at least about eight or so enjoying the water.

We arrived at our camp just as the sun was setting just as well as travelling through the forest at night was not a great idea the accommodation was spacious with many rooms and a great deck you could walk for about five minutes and you were at the ocean what a great place to stay. We spent the next week exploring the area some of the highlights for me was a Douw trip to one of the other islands we set off by sail up the coastline to a large island which had a market hotel and a main street with markets and small pubs what a day great fun to explore and eat the local food with a cold beer or two the trip back the tide had come in so we had to wade out to the Douw on the way back our small outboard motor had a spark plug problem and as we were going against the current we would not get back without it so we all sat on the Douw and swan in the ocean while our guide swam ashore to find a spark plug eventually we were back on track and into a fierce storm everyone was wet and cold on the journey back and the ocean came up so the swells were fierce we did see dolphins following the boat

We landed at a coastal village and the villagers all swamped the boat to offload the supplies we had picked up at the other island an early night was had by all as we had had a day full of adventure

The next day we explored the local village and some of the beaches it was spectacular the beaches are pristine clear blue water and fantastic rock formations

Some of the hotels and beach homes are superb it is a great place to have a break  that evening the resort had a big fire on the beach and the folks that were staying in the area all came down for sundowners it was old year’s night and we could see the fireworks from Maputo, the town was celebrating  

The trip back was long and dusty we went through a separate border post which was checking every vehicle for pork there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease so the officials were concerned about people bringing meat back into the country.

What a trip Mozam I would love to go back this the next time I will fly to Maputo and get a ferry across to the island.

 

Omo forest part two

We hit the first obstacle a huge mud pool with a high ridge, the vehicle spinning out of control and crashing into the side of the forest at one stage we were almost only on two wheels. Through to the other side and we all pile out to guide the next vehicle through. With no equipment winches axes or ropes if we got stuck we were going to be there for a long time nobody would come and rescue us we were the only two vehicles in the reserve

Our day consisted of moving logs tress by hand three people lifting trees and a lot of skidding sinking and crashing through trees two obstacles before the bridge which was our final destination the second vehicle was well and truly stuck the wheels had disappeared into the mud and water had got into the engine. Just when we were ready to walk out along comes the mighty tractor with two chaps and a chain

The tractor can go anywhere and the local folks always have one around to pull trucks and vehicles out of the forest so within ten minutes or so we were back on the road we arranged with the tractor crew that they would follow us the entire day and we would pay them when we were back at the camp.

Through all the hurdles hot tired and full of energy we arrived at the bridge a military bridge over a large fast flowing river this was where we would wait for the cyclists as we were the water point and first aid backup under a huge tree we met some locals who were farming and selling plantain we all shared some cold beverages and then decided to go swim in the river. There was lots of fun and laughing as we got into the river the locals all watching us from a large rock on the side of the river.

After the swim the first lot of cyclists started arriving so our little camp was busy handing out water and supplies medical attention as a few of the chaps had dehydrated luckily we had a medic with us. After the last of them were through and we had loaded a few into the bakki we started back to base camp on the way back the road took its toll one vehicle had the front ripped off and the other a tree through the side but we made it back much to everyone’s relief.

There were no bath or shower facilities so we ended up washing in a bucket with water pumped from an underground well. Once everyone was cleaned up we settled down to the serious business of braaing and having sundowners. The forest is a really incredible place tropical with many different types of trees and ferns vines flowers very dense and you can hear the sound of insects all around you elephants have been discovered in the area and there is a small group of people that are trying to count them and look after their wellbeing sadly two elephants were shot last week for eating the local crops

Around the fireside that evening there is a lot of talk about preserving the area and donating to the elephant trust all of the expats contribute to the fund and we are hoping to keep building up the reserve this will be an annual event and this trip was the second challenge with more cyclists taking part. The professor who also holds a gold medal for cycling for Nigeria shows us an elephant tooth from the elephant that had been shot he is very passionate about the forest and what he hopes to achieve in the region. With our tummies full of south African meat that has been brought in we decide it is time to settle down and go to sleep me and a friend decide to sleep on the back of the bakkie under the stars what a bad idea not good in the morning I am covered in mosquito bites my feet are swollen and the ants have been taking chunks out of me.it is a fantastic morning the mist has settled into the trees and the ants are everywhere big ants that are very well organized they have got into our food and anything they could lay their hands on they build bridges to get to where they want to go ant bridges boy these guys are good.

We decide to go explores as everyone is still asleep so into the forest where we come across a natural bamboo section and a running waterfall a fantastic place a slice of heaven

After a can of mielies and a sausage we are back on the road to Lagos after a really memorable weekend