World Inspired Landscapes: Democratic Republic of the Congo

 

The area that most people know as the Congo is actually two countries roughly divided by the Congo river. I made a painting of the Republic of the Congo showing gorillas in the mist. This painting was inspired by the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is located to the east of the Congo river and is known for its large capital city Kinshasa. Rich in wildlife, the country has many protected areas of tropical jungle and lush greenery. Of course much of the land is used for agriculture, farmlands and cash crops like cocoa and bran. They are very rich in resources such as copper, cobalt, petroleum and diamonds. Sadly, many of their people suffer from infectious diseases which reduce the lifespan and affect children. I guess the rest of the world got a sense of it now with the pandemic, but they have been with infectious diseases for a long time. 

In the painting, a low sun hangs over a misty jungle valley. A few bats descend from a tall tree looking for a meal. To create the sun I traced a bottle top with light blue paint, then outlined it in some moist pyrol orange (PO73). Then I filled in the sky with a pastel blue, moving the brush in circles to create a penetrating glow. Then I completed the foreground with an array of dark yellows, olives, dark green, and brown. The middle ground was done with dilute perylene green (PBk31), water to blend it, and some light orange to create a glow. I knew the sun would scan and show red on the computer monitor, so I made the colour much more yellow than usual. It worked out because the shade of orange I am seeing looks correct, it should appear as a fresh clementine orange.

World Inspired Landscapes: Democratic Republic of the Congo (No. 2976)