World Inspired Landscapes: Zambia

 

Zambia has a familiar history for an African country, it was populated by Bantu people prior to colonization by the British which ended in the 1960's. Rich in minerals, and home to part of the incredible Victoria falls, Zambia is located next to Malawi, it is landlocked, and nestled into the central part of southern Africa. Otherwise, the country is a sweeping, arid plateau with low lying mountains in the distance. Having painted all of the countries in Africa except for one more, I decided to go with a more traditional scene of the savanna set onto a backdrop of dusk. Dusk was representative of this being the second-to-last painting in the World Inspired Landscape series. The last country of course is neighboring Zimbabwe known for its rich wild life and safaris. 

The key elements to the painting were the pastel sky, the dark earthy foreground, and the near-black silhouettes of the trees. Colour was infused into the distant mountains, an electric blue made with ultramarine (PB29) and dabs of phthalo blue sapphire (PB15). There is actually a colour on the computer monitor called electric ultramarine with the hue formula (63, 0, 255).. that means 63 parts red and 255 parts blue. When your eye is stimulated with red and blue simultaneously it produces shades of magenta and blue-violet. Complementing the blue is a thin rib of pure yellow at the base of the cloud. As it turns out, the prolonged period of rain we have experienced in Montreal was the best thing for finishing off this series, which is entirely done in the 'studio' also known as our kitchen table. I will take some time to contemplate the final painting in the series, and hopefully get a sunny day on Sunday to do some location paintings. 

World Inspired Landscapes: Zambia, watercolour 7.5 x 11" cold press, May 2025