It is important to paint what you want and what you enjoy, but within that, paint what other people will also enjoy.

Observation, together with field sketches and photographs taken on the spot, supplied primary references for this painting. But beware the pitfalls when using photography taken in situ as reference back in the studio. Camera sensitivity can be a problem to the artist in the bush, where extremes of light and shadow prevail. Polarising filters to darken the sky to any degree should be kept to a minimum unless really necessary to heighten effect. Also, the camera can foreshorten or distort dramatically the subject and background, especially when the long lenses necessary for wildlife photography are used.

I can paint more confidently if I set the habitat right before concentrating on the live subject matter. This helps to establish the time of day, mood, density, composition and balance. I make the live subject and the whole environment equally important.

A way of establishing atmosphere or mood in your painting is by manipulating the light direction and the way it falls on your subject matter. Light is harsh during the middle of the day, but much more beneficial to the artist early-to mid-morning and within two hours of sunset. An African sunset defies belief. The mixtures of blues, pinks and purples on hills and escarpments at both ends of the day are an artist's dream and excellent for backgrounds in paintings.

In general, be mindful of dead giveaways to bad observation and inexperience in finished work. For example, don't show vegetation where it wouldn't normally grow. Umbrella acacias are common in Kenya and Tanzania but less so in Zimbabwe. Get out into the field: painting Africa from sources other than your own on-site sketches and references will result in howling mistakes due to lack of true-life experience.

Don't be afraid to incorporate larger features like kopjes (hills) and rocks, which can lend impact to a painting. The numerous colours of the rocks due to various lichen can be extremely imposing. Grasses and low scrub between the rocks make for light relief. Lighting on the rock surfaces is particularly good at dawn and dusk, offering wonderful shadows and reflections.

Above all, understand your live subject matter and its environment as intimately as possible. A good wildlife painting should reflect an intense and continual investigation of nature. Observation is the key - see it and get it down!

Mood
The animals' reactions provided the basis for this painting, in which I have tried to portray tension, not only between the buffalo and the lions but also including the person viewing the painting. This is done by showing the young lion on the left to be aware of the observer's movements. The buffalo not only watch the lion but look beyond them. The lioness on the right is aware of something happening outside the field of view, the idea being to create uneasy speculation in the viewer, thus getting him to use his imagination as to what may be happening behind.

Composition
The lion in the centre is shown in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation with the buffalo on the far bank. This leads the viewer to scan the painting from that point across the group to the right, back across to the left and down to take in the three cats. Facing the lion away from the viewer reduces its dominance in the foreground in favour of the buffalo.

Good perspective and dramatic viewpoints should give the observer of the painting a sense of being there, especially if the viewer has visited the area depicted.

Light
The light background and strong shadows give the painting a semi-desert feel, emphasising the heat. The light reflected off the back of the buffalo makes it possible to show them as being not too dark and heavy, and more in balance with the lions in the foreground. To this end, not too many buffalo have been included as this could overpower the background. I have also added some egrets on the left and oxpeckers on the buffalo for additional interest.

The trees had too much heavy shadow and their structure was slightly heavy, so in the painting I made them a little lighter. In general, if the lighting and the direction of the animals can go the same way (i.e. right to left), it eases the eye and gives a better "flow" to the painting. Small amounts of "counterflow" (the buffalo middle left and the lion on the right) restore a more natural feel to the scene.

The background in this type of painting should be softly defined and not fussy. The paler, more uniform ground colouring behind the buffalo is shown in such a way as to give the idea of distance and space in contrast to the fairly tight grouping around the waterhole. This contrast helps to raise the painting's profile. Also, the sky colouring is used to dictate the general atmosphere (i.e. hot and dry).

Reflections
In such contrasting light conditions, the artist is bombarded with reflected colours and light in addition to the natural colours of the animals themselves. Reflections from the sky, ground, water and vegetation all pose challenging problems in how they should be interpreted. Awareness of these additional colours and shades is necessary to give that added dimension to the work in hand.

Michael Kitchen-Hurle has produced work for the Born Free Foundation, the Royal Agricultural Society, The National Trust and other organisations. His speciality is African wildlife.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Twelve: Summer 2000 Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)