On the west coast of central Africa lies a small but wealthy country called Equatorial Guinea. Like most African countries it was under colonial rule until the 1960's when it became independent, although it is under the control of the same ruling family until this day. The vast wealth of the country comes from rich deposits of crude oil, unfortunately the money is all in the corporations and ruling elite leaving the average citizen living in extreme poverty. Next to oil, the economy is driven by selling wood from their forests. Equatorial Guinea is part of the Congo basin and has, or had, tropical rainforest. When I researched this small country I saw many jungle and waterfall scenes, much like Costa Rica, but these scenes were localized to a large island where the tourists visit, and apparently take lots of pictures. The painting I did captures the mainland, where it is common to see cleared forest and scarred land.
I used a range of granular paints to give this painting a feel of wild energy. The stark border is bone black (PBk9) which forms little patches of dark, like pepper. The river contains caput mortum (PR101) edged with raw umber natural (PBr7). The exposed earth patches are burnt ochre (PR102) and Venetian red (PR101). I find these granulating paints are tough to use, but with the right design and space, they can be very effective. Caput mortum also makes fantastic greys with indo blue (PB60) as seen in the distant mountain.
World Inspired Landscapes: Equatorial Guinea, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, March 2022 (No. 2990a)
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