art safari

New paintings!!!!

| Sara Glendinning - Watercolour painter

Actually, no need of a fanfare. There are bound to be new paintings since the last time I posted. It is more of an annual event than a blog post.

Anyway- I have managed more than a couple since I tidied my studio in 2021.

A lone zebra in the Makgadikgadi.
Young yellow-bellied greenbul.
Bull elephant in the Chobe river.
Buffalo in the early morning with egrets.
Amsterdam Albatross – not found in Botswana!

Sometimes I just don’t have much to say.😂

I have transferred most of my studio to Gaborone where I can teach and hang out with other artists. Hopefully more painting, more blogging will be the result – if not I daresay you’ll hear from me again in a year or so…

Note to self….. This is no way to build a career in art!!

Today’s Distraction

| Sara Glendinning - Watercolour painter
  • My long, lost sketchbook.

I have Stuff to do and so my brain finds other things to mess with. I put a bookshelf in the studio and in the general tidy up I came across old sketchbooks. I never finish a sketchbook – I invariably put it somewhere and can’t find it so I spent a happy hour revisiting an art safari in Madikwe, a trip to Mauritius, and what looks like a sketch challenge to draw people. It’s hard to imagine the easygoing freedom to BE with people that we had before lockdown – hopefully soon it will all be in the past and hugs and handshakes will be okay again.

Madikwe – animals MOVE – so frustrating but good to catch essentials and practice looking.
Coming from Botswana where we have thatched roofs, it was interesting to see these thatchers with a different material and method refurbishing the beach umbrellas.


Quick sketches and a long one of a steel/marimba band in Rosebank. 100 people 100 days challenge? I didn’t get very far!

Art on safari…

Image | | Sara Glendinning - Watercolour painter

I said this was the year for going back to school – more like going back to Finishing School! This last workshop with Alison Nicholls took place at The Bush House, a small, luxurious lodge in Madikwe Game Reserve. It was a perfect way for me to see and study wildlife. I am not a wildlife artist but I live in Africa and not drawing or painting animals is like never drawing from the figure – in fact figures are much easier because people shapes don’t vary as much as you would suppose. On the other hand, is there a more ridiculous animal than a giraffe? Perhaps an elephant? Or a rhino….. African animals are the weirdest shapes and they move constantly – very hard to draw!

In spite of living in Botswana for thirty years, I have rarely travelled and have seen little of the country or its wildlife. Alison Nicholls lived in Gaborone for just a few years and she and her husband seem to have spent every possible moment in the bush. This has led to a passionate involvement in conservation and a full time career as a wildlife artist in America. I, on the other hand, am very nervous around elephants and cannot sketch them while they stare back.  This is why The Bush House was perfect. Sitting on the edge of the lawn looking out at the waterhole there was a constant procession of thirsty animals. With sketchbook and paints on hand there was ample opportunity to study the forms and gestures of antelope, elephant, buffalo, baboon…. an absolute feast for the eyes!

The more I struggled with trunks and horns the more I began to appreciate Alison’s advice to always start with the body and use a basic template of circles to create the form. Knowledge of animal anatomy and habits helps enormously when you can’t quite see what is happening because the grass is obscuring something! (See post concerning zebra feet) After a few days my elephants started to look like elephants – but they are all very bad models!

The trip was organised by Africa Geographic and we spent the four nights at The Bush House in Madikwe, just over the border (and less than an hour from home for me!) Fabulously comfortable – it may not be everyone’s idea of a safari but it suited me! Good food, attentive staff and masses of animals made it a good location for the art safari and of course Alison’s knowledge and understanding of both animals AND watercolour made it a perfect painting experience too.