In the Wild

My very sweet painting friend Sherri had a friend travel to the Serengeti a while back. She generously passed along many photos to me, including some great elephant ones. I much prefer to paint animals in their natural habitat and love elephants, so I was thrilled.

12x12 on 1/8" museum quality panel

www.halliekohnart.com

Balloons Over the Serengeti

I am blessed to have an extremely thoughtful art friend! I met Sherri in a workshop I took in Indiana last winter. She is such a positive, uplifting, and supportive woman; just goes to show, one of the best things about taking classes is the wonderful people you can meet.

Sherri had a friend travel to Africa, and sent me a handful of photos she thought I would enjoy of elephants, giraffes, lions, and an awesome shot of two hot air balloons over the Serengeti. The balloons seemed like the biggest challenge for me as they had vertical (curved) lines, which I thought would be quite difficult to accomplish with the knives.

It was a challenge for sure, but I surprised myself. Maybe I was remembering our workshop, but instead of going at it with fine detail (read: small knife), I grabbed my biggest knife and went around those curves that way. Later I tidied it all up. This was the way to go. It made the task less daunting, it allowed me to be loose, and I quickly found myself in the zone. Just the exact place I wanted to be!

(Although being in one of those hot air balloons wouldn't be too bad either…) 

12x16 Oil Palette Knife Painting

www.halliekohnart.com