Natural Beauty
- Pina Carrubba
- Mar 28, 2016
- 2 min read
The practice of capturing the ever changing beauty of nature is a passion I exercise everyday. A vibrant flower bursting in colour, the soft white facial feather tufts on the New Holland Honeyeater to the graceful contours of the human body. All these and so much more are gifts from nature to be respected and inspired by.
I am nearing the completion of Leonie Norton's Natural History course I commenced over a year ago where the talented Leonie has guided me in enhancing my observational skills through field notes, sketches and paintings. I never know where drawing and painting the natural world will lead me. To explore all life in depth enriches my life and maybe encourages others to draw and paint the natural world around them, hopefully gaining a profound love of nature whilst learning to care for it.
So, what am I working on now you ask? As part of my Natural History studies I am busily working away on my last assignment focused on birds. My subject is the wonderful New Holland Honeyeater 'Phylidonyris novahollandrae' which most of us see in our gardens. These were one of the first birds to be scientifically described in Australia. Around 18cm long and mainly black with yellow margins on its wings and tail feathers. They eat mainly nectar of flowers, honeydew, sugary secretions produced by the jumping plant louse. They can also feed on spiders and crickets. My master sketch and colour study is now done (see below), onto the final painting. Watch this space.
I am also working away on a 4x6 inch figure painting for private sale which I've almost completed. The acrylic piece is a stylalised representation of the female figure in the earthy colours of raw and burnt siennas, indian red, burnt umber with hints of deep purple and yellow ochre.The contours of the female figure are painted mainly in white to show her skin almost translucent as glass.
In future blogs I'll be previewing my works in progress and share learnings from other artists past and present, those that drive my creativity forward.
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