Guatemala is among the most populated countries in the Americas and has the fastest growing population. It stretches from the Gulf of Honduras to the Pacific Ocean and is bordered by Mexico, Belize and El Salvador. After centuries of Spanish rule, Guatemala suffered from a long and bloody civil war that gave way to dictatorships and finally, a legitimate democracy. Their economy continues to grow but poverty remains a major problem. One of the main source of income is actually from Guatemalans who live in the United States, Canada and other countries who send money back to their families. Like most of the central American countries it consists of rolling hills and steep volcanic mountains, with some flat lands and beaches around the coasts. In the painting, I depicted a volcano on the horizon with undulating jungle hills in the foreground. I made two studies before this one to get the colours and composition right. The main adjustment was omitting yellow and going with magenta, red and violet. Lowering the foreground elements was also helpful to create a sense of depth. So far, I have been painting the World Inspired series more or less in alphabetical order, but the travel book I have right now covered El Salvador, Belize, Honduras and Guatemala so I decided to do this painting while the inspiration was still fresh.
World Inspired Landscapes: Guatemala version 3, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, March 2022 (No. 2989a)
There were two smaller versions of this with similar compositions and colour schemes (No. 3082a, No. 3082b)
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