Sierra Leone is a small country located on the west coast of Africa, it was initially founded in the early 19th century as a place for oversea slaves that had been freed to return to Africa. Eventually it became a recognized territory and gained independence in the 1960's. Like a lot of African countries it is incredibly rich in natural resources such as ores and gems, but the people are mostly living in poverty. Interestingly, they are very tolerant to religions, with a majority Islamic living with a Christian minority owing to the Portuguese influence. Prior to that, the region was inhabited for many thousands of years, and was protected from outside invaders by the dense jungle. Reading more about the relocation of former slaves to Sierra Leone and there was a Canadian connection where some of the black loyalists who had fought for Britain and settled in Nova Scotia relocated to Sierra Leone and founded Freetown, which is now the capital city. A lengthy civil war resulted in mass causalities, and now it is a relatively stable democracy. The geography is mostly flat lands with forest with some mountainous jungle interspersed.
The painting shows a searing sky with a cool foreground. The sky is mostly pyrol red (PR254), pyrol orange (PO73), with orange (PO62) and yellow (PY154). Dull neutral turquoise and blue, with soft reds give a stunning contrast to the intense sky. To make the greyish-blue variations of the trees, I mix three colours including violet (PV55), dark blue (PB60) and blue-green (PG7), then drop in a small dab of yellow ochre (PY43) to make it greyish. In doing so, I can create a wide variety of cool grey and half tones. Its useful to know this on location too. Those bright reds were fun to paint, its not common to see so much red, and I was worried it would be overwhelming, but the cool foreground really tames the sky.
World Inspired Landscapes: Sierra Leone, watercolour 8 x 10" hot press, April 2025 (No. 3878b)
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