Wednesday, March 25, 2009

African Elephant - completed!



African Elephant is at last finished!  He is 22 inches by 30 inches of transparent watercolor on Arches 300 lb. paper. He was such fun to create - even though he was quite a while being "born"! ( I apologize for the imperfections in the picture - this painting is quite a bit larger than my scanner, and I guess I didn't get it scanned perfectly, so there are a few "joint lines" which are not there in real life.). 

If you are interested in buying this piece of art, contact me at: jogiesbrecht@gmail.com

24 comments:

Alvin Richard said...

Wow Joanne! This painting is one of your very best. The colors are truly unexpected and work superbly in this context with the browns, just beautiful!

Vern Schwarz said...

Joanne, this big fella turned out wonderful. There are some great details and beautiful colours throughout. I was wondering why you didn't photograph this piece.

Michelle Wiebe said...

Wow - beautiful balance between the detailed skin folds and the haziness of the background.

Lovely stuff.

Cheryl McCarley said...

This is gorgeous, Joanne! Love the colors, so soft. I agree with Alvin, one of your very best! I would love to see more animals from you.

Anonymous said...

That is stunning Joanne...it was nice to "watch" your process, too. By the way, I'll be tagging you in my post tomorrow ;)

Virginia said...

Joanne, this is beautiful. I love your choices of color. It's very peaceful. Lovely work! You're very talented!

Unknown said...

Thank you Alvin! I take your comments to heart, and I am very encouraged that you think this painting is a good one.

Unknown said...

Hi Vern,
Thanks for your comments! I didn't photo this one because it was already night when I finished him, and I wanted to post him for today. The lighting in the studio just was not right for a photo. As well, I have found that with scanning, the color representation is so accurate, I don't have to adjust the picture in Photoshop at all. That is a BIG plus! Love your new avatar! Rocky is so cute - great painting!

Unknown said...

Hi Michelle,
Thanks for coming by and letting me know that you like this one! I am glad to be finished it - but also enjoyed the process very much!

Unknown said...

Hi Cheryl!
Really nice to hear from you! Thanks for the encouragement - I am thinking of doing another couple of animals that I took pictures of at the San Diego Zoo the same day as I photo'd African Elephant. I am only THINKING though - because they are also complex... but we'll see. :-)

Unknown said...

Hi Veronica,
Thanks for coming by and commenting! I will await the "tag" with a smile. :-)

Unknown said...

Hi Virginia!
How are you, friend? I am so pleased to see your name pop up in my comments - what an honor! When are we going on our photo shoot day? What about coffee? So much to catch up on! Thanks for your generous comments. ttys

FitFoodieMegha said...

Gr8 Work Joanne..! Details are very fine. Will come back for more...:) BTW I have started a new blog dedicated to my sketch work — Art on Sketchbook

Unknown said...

Hi Megha!
Thanks for your visit and comments! I will come by and check out your new blog today... I really like your avatar sketch. :-) Hope to hear from you again.

Kristin Summerlin said...

I'm so glad you visited my blog, so that in turn I came here and saw two things that make me incredibly happy: an elephant and sunflowers! I think you've captured the spirit of the elephant beautifully, and the colors of the sunflowers can't help but lift me up and make me smile! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

This guy is so majestic and beautifully painted as he stands in that soft glow. The handling of that wrinkly skin is so well underdone and delivered with just the essence of elephant.

And I must agree about those sunflowers. holy moly, they are fantastic!

Unknown said...

Thank you Kristin - you have lifted MY spirits with your comments! I love your jewelry, and will be checking your new creations often. Thanks for stopping by my blog. :-)

Unknown said...

Thank you so much, Bonnie, for the visit and the comments. :-) I absolutely LOVE your latest painting - It brings the warm breezes and music of a warm and sunny land right into my snowy and cold climate! Hope to "talk" to you again!

Maria Hathaway said...

Ooh, this is gorgeous! I really love it. The background colors are lovely and add a lot to the painting.

Unknown said...

Hi Maria,

Thanks for stopping by to see "African Elephant". He was a lot of fun to do - so glad you like the results!

paintandink said...

Wow! Stunning. Such character and the colors are enchanting.

Unknown said...

Thank you Alison for your comment on African Elephant. I had a lot of fun doing him - and I have given him to my husband for our anniversary as he loved it so much!

Emm said...

Beautiful! I had to go through quite a few posts to find out how this painting had turned out. So happy to see all your other paintings and photos as well.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Emm! I have actually been brave (or brazen) enough to enter this watercolor in a competition. This was one of my goals for 2009 - so 2 down and 2 to go!
I was so happy to see a couple of new postings on your blog! Such beautiful paintings! Hope you are having a wonderful spring.