Art Safari Images from Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, 

India, Namibia and Antarctica since 2003

Many happy hours spent painting...

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Elephant orphans pose in Nairobi, all red from a dust bath, just like the ones we paint in Samburu National Park

Walking safaris in Zambia incorporate the challenge of sketching on the move - this walk involved 11 lions.

"No entry"

and he meant it.

Quick sketches of moving antelope get easier as you do more and more of them.

First mix flamingo pink... then should you try to isolate just one flamingo to paint?

Sometimes the birds surprise you with their size and speed - a fish eagle takes off from the Shire River in Malawi

Sun birds work the flowers as we have tea in the garden

Any perch will do for a sketch
 

Learning to capture movement can be so challenging, speed is the essence

or relax at a waterhole and watch the animals as they come to drink and play

Looking like bronze sculpture, playing like kids in the mud.

Our guide will also watch out in case we get too involved in a painting

Such a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

We learn from others' endless interest and curiosity.
   Giraffe defy the size of most sketchbooks, like baobab trees they quite never seem to fit on one page.

We might start with stick giraffe, then begin to look at shapes and lines and pattern.

They will sometimes be still enough for portraits, like this female.

Simple lines can work so well

River crossings are a part of elephant life during the dry season as they forage and wander, this time disturbing our landscape session

Elephants at sunset in South Luangwa

A sunset, an MGT, a happy person painting.

Showing drawings to the local Chief.

Lessons in perspective - and tolerated distance.

The first time painting since school, and much more fun now.

You should have seen the smiles and heard the laughter, so much expressed in that hour of drawing, talking and showing under the mango trees.
There's nothing like the peace that you can find in yourself when you manage to capture the stillness of a scene.  Simple colours, simple shapes.

A chick came to sit on my foot while I sketched, and a dozen children used coloured pencils for the first time, drawing cars, helicopters, houses and birds.

A lone Massai - shy of photos, we remember some scenes to paint them later

I never forget that observing wildlife is all about noticing it all - the small things as well as the big.  This butterfly on the bougainvillea at Tribal Textiles was one such reminder

Leopards are rare to see, sometimes glimpsed at sunset, when there may be precious little time to learn this sinuous cat's shape and to draw so many spots.
  

The big paws of a lion always fascinate me - and the yawn makes you tremble and your drawing shake with adrenalin.
Antarctica - Art Safari's first step 'out of Africa' in 2008 - looking for contrasts beyond the known and discovering a land of blues beyond belief and the total charm of penguins whose antics were constantly distracting our iceberg paintings

The paints didn't freeze.  We were able to paint on shore and from the zodiacs as we toured the icebergs, not stopping even for whales surfacing metres from the boat.

The crater behind Dune 49 in Namibia's famous Namib desert, at Sossusvlei, where some of our party took a scenic flight to see 40 minutes of dunes from here to the coast.

A painter under a tree in Dead Vlei.

We were the visitors to this Meercat's manor.

I work individually with you, talking to you about that painting and I hope you continue on your artistic journey with greater confidence and skill. 

The group also provides a wonderful supportive learning environment, as we encourage and learn from each other.

At the end of each trip as we recall our most intense wildlife moments, often there are too many to count, and each person has one that is special to them.

What will yours be?