Red dunes in pastel-Concetta Flore

As my exhibition is only a week away, and it's named "Terre d'Africa", I've only been painting lately from my Namibian observations. In these two pastels my starting point was a tiny moleskine and black ball-point sketches and colour notes.

Please wish me luck- i.e. sales!

the natural way to life-the Himba.Concetta Flore

Now, I was in doubt whether this Himba girl would be a subject for this blog. But after all, the Himbas live in the most natural way you can think of. They possess no technology, are happily illiterate, do not bother to wash but plaster their skin and hair in clay; they live in huts made of wood and mud, eat from the bush, raise small goats and chicken, and corn as a main crop. Yet they're healthy, beautiful, and happy under the african sky, which is their roof all day long.
Meeting them was an ancestral experience that made me feel redundant and fragile. I probably couldn't survive their way of life. But they condescended to pose for this strange, unknown practice of portraying them with a stick on something white and thin.
What they recognize are digital cameras, never seen a sketchbook before- and might never again!
This painting is taken from my sketch ( visible on my blog in an older post on Namibia) and was made on board, with acrylics, and covered with tissue paper to create atmosphere.
Location: Africa, Namibia; this little clan was on Gelbingen Farm, near the Etosha Park.

A red-head from Africa-Concetta Flore

The Common Agama, Red-headed Rock Agama, or Rainbow Agama (Agama agama) is a species of lizard from the Agamidae family, found in most of Subsaharan Africa.
It can often be seen in the heat of the day. In the breeding season, the males develop their most dramatic markings, the head and neck and also tail turning bright orange, and the body dark blue. Outside of the breeding season, the male is a plain brown. The females and juveniles are always more cryptically marked. This lizard can be climbing rocks and walls. The diet is insects.
Thank you Wiki!

What I knew before this was only the beauty and calm countenance of this subject, and that it was an Agama. He was sitting on a rock and let us come up real close to take pictures. He acted like the guardian of the Twifelfontein site, a stunning place in Namibia where the rocks have been carved during the centuries, shaping animals and scenes of ritual meaning.

Although the agama was sitting on an uncarved rock, it is my intention to combine the two in a  painting for my African exhibtion end of November. If you wish to take a look at the lion I'm painting in oils, and other Namibian sudies, you're welcome to visit conci's colours.

studies after Namibia-Concetta Flore

I have been working from my Namibian pictures, actually sketching from the monitor. A commendable exercise, since you can adjust contrast and values and zoom in for details, which of course you can't do in nature. Also, you have time- endlessly valuable- and don't need a prop for your model since it's already upright. The difference between a live sketch- see my previous post here or my blog Conci's colours- and a study from a still image is striking. I actually prefer the former, though it often remains unfinished, if the model isn't asleep or drinking...
Now for the watermark. I personally don't like them since they create a disturbance within the picture. But this time I felt I owed it to myself, having been to Namibia at a great expense and having my own pictures and studies to work from...maybe I'm feeling selfish...but I think you artists understand.

live sketches from Namibia-Concetta Flore

Hello! A week ago I flew back from a trip to Namibia, my first experience of Africa and the desert. A heavy schedule, dry winter season, early sundown, pitch dark cold nights with beautiful, different stars...The long hours spent sitting in the car speeding across dry savannah and deserts have left me with the longing for more time to stop, absorb, learn more. But anyway, when I could, I did sketch. Here are a few samples: the dunes of the Namib desert, beautiful shades of rusty red and dark, blue-gray shadows; the seals in Cape Cross; elephants and rhinos at the Etosha lodge waterholes (more like sitting at theatre than being out there...)...You'll find more details on my blog,check it now and in the next days if you like.