When I saw Djibouti next on the list of countries I though to myself where is Djibouti? It is located on the horn of Africa, at the north east point next to Somalia. It is a very small country tucked between other countries, and on the edge of a tectonic plate. As I learned using google earth, and by reading a brief page or two from an African travel guide, Djibouti has a wonderful variety of landscapes ranging from mountain valleys, flat deserts, lush oases, desolate rocks, and vivid salt lakes. One of their lakes, lake Assal, is among the lowest and saltiest of any body of water in the world. In this painting, you see a large lake that has interesting rock formations and a heavily textured surface. It is more of a salt marsh than a lake. To create the intense sunset, I basically got lucky with the moisture levels and a yellow bloom formed like a halo. A pale yellow wash was applied, and when about half dry the orange-red magenta was applied.
World Inspired Landscapes: Djibouti, watercolour 7 x 9" cold press, March 2022 (No. 2981)
There were so many interesting ideas from Djibouti that I made four paintings. The top right is a depiction of the salt lake, with a candy-like green that fades into lemon yellow, briny white, and toasty beige. The bottom left shows an arid valley with a few shrubs making brilliant red flowers in the foreground, and the bottom right shows an interesting mountain near the coast that reminded me of a scoop of ice cream that fell on the floor. They are all on the same piece of paper. I was going to cut them but decided to just leave it as a quadruplicate.
World Inspired Landscapes: Djibouti, versions 1 - 4, watercolour 7 x 12" cold press, March 2022
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