Old Canvas Expeditions
Specialist African Safaris - More than just a game drive

DRAWING & PAINTING SAFARIS WITH ANDRE DE LA ROSA
Co-ordinates S28 03 26.4 E32 17 42.2

Bonamanzi is the ideal setting to discover the artist within. Set in a 4000 Ha, privately owned game reserve in the heart of Zululand, and bordered by the World Heritage Site of Isimangaliso to the east and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve a short drive to the west, it is the perfect place to hold a drawing and painting safari. Surrounded by the calls of the African bush, this piece of paradise, disconnected from the hectic schedules of our day-to-day lives, is enough to inspire the artist in all of us.

Our courses are run by Andre de la Rosa who with her years of painting experience is eminently qualified to conduct these safaris. Read more about Andre here.

For a map of the Isimangaliso - St Lucia Wetland Park and the Bonamanzi region, click here.

Accommodation comprises delightful, air conditioned thatched chalets, all with en-suite bathrooms, set in beautiful, thorn tree studded parkland with warthog and nyala wandering freely through the camp. Our studio is a beautiful, semi-enclosed deck overlooking an African waterhole where the water lilies splash their colour across the languid waters and frogs serenade one another late into the night.

Dinner is served beneath the star-studded heavens, while cathedrals of candles and a huge camp fire throw flickering, golden shadows across enchanted faces. Delicious food, chilled drinks and convivial company are a given, and time is marked by the slow wheel of the Southern Cross through the African sky.

Old Canvas Expedition’s three-day drawing and painting safari takes place over a weekend; with registration and introduction on a Thursday evening; then a full Friday and Saturday, and a half-day on Sunday.

Some of the topics we cover are:

• How to access our creative self
• Basic drawing concepts
• Introduction to painting
• Choosing your materials
• Colour, tone and light.
• Composition and creating space
• Choice of subject matter
• Classical painting methods of the old masters
• Creating your masterpiece
• Game drives to photograph subject matter, look at composition, light, colour and much more
• Group discussions

Thursday
You will make your way to Bonamanzi on Thursday, where we will gather in our beautiful studio overlooking our waterhole at about 16h00. The setting sun will be casting long shadows across the water and the light will not be ideal for painting, but this gives us the opportunity to chat about what we hope to achieve over the next few days and perhaps take a look at composition and introduce a few techniques. Andre will have some of her wildlife paintings with her and will discuss the technical aspects of these pictures. Everyone will be given a view finder to take on the game drive the next morning. As the frogs begin their serenade we will have sundowners in the adjoining open lounge, before moving on to dinner.

Friday
After a 6h00 wake up call we will gather for coffee and rusks before we set off on a game drive. We will stop at various points of interest along the way as we look for different compositions using our view finders. You may want to take a camera along for some shots of potential masterpieces. We will also discuss various points which go into composing a great painting.

We will head back to camp at about 7h30, where we will set up our easels and paints and then after a scrumptious breakfast at 8h30 will return to our African studio to unleash our creativity.

The day will begin with some basic lessons on engaging the creative side of our brain which may well have lain dormant for many years. We will do some fun exercises, talk about and practice colour and tonal variations and then venture into basic pencil sketching, our own individual styles already emerging.

After lunch we will begin on a more ambitious exercise – to transfer a composition onto canvas and then get down to the serious business of putting some paint onto canvas. At this stage we will all work on the same composition as it is the most efficient way of demonstrating the various techniques.

From 16h30 to 17h30 we will go on a game drive, to see how the changing light effects the mood of a composition and how to capture them in paint. Again bring your camera to record what you see. Back to camp for an informal chat on what we have learnt, maybe a drink or two and then another dinner under that star-studded sky.

Saturday
06h30. The day will begin much like the previous one; coffee and rusks and then heading off for a drive where we will just enjoy the bush and learn to “see” without allowing our prejudices and filters to remove the magic of what is around us. Then it will be back to camp to set up for a creative day of painting, and a discussion on what we saw on the drive.

After breakfast we will continue painting, applying what we have learnt. We will take another look at composition and how to create depth in our pictures; talk about focal points, vanishing points; light and whatever else pops into our creative minds.

Andre will be available to help each person on a one-on-one basis.

For those who feel the need for sustenance, lunch will be around 12h30. However Andre guarantees that everyone will be so eager to get back to their easels that lunch will not be a long affair.

The afternoon will be taken up with painting, learning as we go. There will be an optional game drive again in the late afternoon. As the light fades we will have to lay down our brushes and gather once more for drinks and dinner.

Sunday
07:30. An early breakfast today 7:30 or 8:00 so that we can get back to our masterpieces. The morning will be spent finishing off our paintings and obtaining last bits of advice. We will have a group discussion about everyone’s work, sharing and learning from one another’s experiences.

Hopefully we will all leave Bonamanzi with some understanding of the creative side of our souls, and how to make it part of our lives. Life is a journey and it would be an immense privilege to take you on a small detour, and on that detour surprise and delight you with an amazing discovery around some bend in the road.

And that my friends, will be the end of my detour, but perhaps it would have led you to another fork in the road and given you courage to venture down the road less traveled.

We will end off with lunch under the spreading boughs of a beautiful thorn tree before departing at our leisure.

Your Painting Kit
You will be provided with a kit which will be made up of your course notes, prepared boards for painting, paint brushes and a set of paints.

Workshop Dates: 17th to 20th September 2009

Cost per person Inclusive
The total cost of the course, including accommodation, meals, game drives, course notes, painting kit and workshop is R7125 per person sharing or R7925.00 per person single. Non-participating partners are R3485.00 per person. (Prices subject to change). Note: The course fee does not include drinks and extras.

E-mail us on info@oldcanvasexpeditions.com for more information.