World Inspired Landscapes: Colombia

 

Colombia is located at the very top of South America. Its proximity to central America has made Colombia a major thoroughfare for migrants who are travelling to Mexico and the United States. The geography is mountainous and rich with tropical jungles and rivers. The south part of Colombia contains Amazonian rain forest with small towns dotting the countryside. There is even a river called the rainbow river, you can look it up on the internet, which has all the colours of the rainbow due to red, yellow and green moss, with ochre and umber rocks and blue sky reflections. It was tempting to do a painting of that river, but I decided on a lush jungle interior scene. As the design evolved, I included a tree crossing the river like a make-shift bridge, and a winding path that disappears into the foliage. The rocks are covered with an intense, almost neon-green moss. I added the extra slice of river at the very bottom of the painting, with one rock poking up. It gives you the feeling of immersion. You can almost imagine trying to make it across this river and onward into unknown dangers.

World Inspired Landscapes: Colombia, watercolour 5 x 7" hot press, January 2022 (No. 3057b)

 

I made numerous sketches before settling on a horizontal format with the waterfall flowing from top right to bottom left. In this preliminary sketch I established some of the colour scheme which included an array of yellow and chartreuse, dark raw umber rocks, and a wild river with ochre highlights. The design concept focused mostly on the water effect, with the fallen tree being carried by the water. While looking at this sketch, I closed my eyes and reflected on all that I knew about Colombia and realized that the tree had to be a bridge, and the forest had to have a path. In the final painting, the landscape flows right to left, while the walking path goes from front to back. The walking path represents a hiking path, or an an animal trail, or it represents the journey of a migrant through the dangerous jungle.

World Inspired Landscapes: Colombia, watercolour, sketchbook, January 2022