#south african illustrators

[lazer-t]

Gemsbok for a $15 Ko-fi supporter

[random-brushstrokes]

William Mitcheson Timlin - The Enchantress (1916)

[fyblackwomenart]

"Lady Double U " by The Fresh Canvas 

[veracityp]

What’s interesting about African art is that many pieces are created using natural materials like wood, clay, and metal.

[uwmspeccoll]

Spotlight: African Folktales

For Black History Month I found another book of folktales (shocker) to share with you all! The fun and exciting part of this job is being able to look into things that one would not normally take the time to explore, and I have been given the opportunity to do nothing but explore and dig into the expansive collection we have in Special Collections (if you aren’t getting interested to come in and take a peek, you should be).

The book I am keen on sharing is The Ox of the Wonderful Horns: And Other African Folktales, a children’s book from our Historical Curriculum Collection, published in New York by Atheneum in 1971. The stories were retold and illustrated by Ashley Frederick Bryan (1923-2022), an American writer and illustrator for children’s books, of which most of his subjects focus on the African-American experience. Bryan’s desire and challenge for the anthology was to “bring the stilted language of the linguists’ narration back to an oral tradition through rhythm and poetic verses.”

This anthology features five tales from Akan-Ashanti, Angolan, South African, and Kaffir myths with various illustrations accompanying us through each story. The illustrations switch between half-page black and white and full-page color that are meant to evoke African wood block motifs that suggest the ochres and reds of African clay dyes and African textile designs; very eye-catching and absorbing!

View another of my posts.

View more Black History Month posts.

-- Elizabeth, Special Collections Undergraduate Writing Intern

[tzanos]

Wildflower Stories features versatile patterns inspired by the natural beauty and tranquility found at springtime by the water’s edge

[wesley-nkohla]

Bully (video game) artwork

[mrtheengie]

The Pride of Africa

South African Railways 25NC

This is a peak into my imagination. In my mind’s eye, I often picture wheels screaming round and round, crossheads pounding back and forth, and cab rides at high speed. Thoughts of steam fill my mind at all hours of the day, and my dreams at night. These things aren't just machines. They are so much more.

Steam inspires me, but the people who worked it inspire me even more. That's why I've chosen the 25NC. I've read a bunch of stories and watched videos put out by this old South African railway man. He was there until the end of steam in the 1990s. The stories he tells provide a wonderful insight into railway life, and the strong friendships the railway men formed with one another.

Now, about the picture. This was very fun and experimental. I'm not good and conveying motion, so I want to get better at it. I think I did alright with the wheels and rods. At first, I wanted to do the front end (the "business end," some might say), but I decided to take it easy on myself and do the back end. If I had colors at my disposal, I would set the picture during the night, and have the rods barely lit by the orange glow from the firebox. Maybe another time.

[thefugitivesaint]

William Mitcheson Timlin (1892-1943), ''The Ship That Sailed to Mars: A Fantasy'', 1923 Source

[rinusuarez]

The South African Giraffe is the last member of the giraffe family I've been studying, and it's been quite an adventure. While I still struggle to identify some of the subspecies, I feel confident in recognizing most of them.

South African Giraffe

The South African Giraffe, also known as the Cape Giraffe, is a fascinating subspecies with a population of approximately 37,000 individuals. Interestingly, it was once extinct in some of its native areas in Southern Africa, but thanks to reintroduction efforts, its population has seen an impressive 150% increase. This is certainly good news for this subspecies, which is now a common resident in zoos, private farms, and ranches around the world.

With its distinctive coat pattern of cream-colored patches with orange-brown edges, the South African Giraffe is a unique and beautiful animal. While habitat loss, poaching, and trophy hunting continue to threaten their populations, conservation efforts are helping to protect these magnificent creatures for future generations to enjoy.

______________________________ Credits: South African Giraffe Photo Reference Credits: Sharon Verkuilen ________________________________ Thank you for being here. It will be awesome if you are here more often, so please like and subscribe, It will help me a lot. See you next week. Reblogging also qualifies as awesome.

[oorionjeann]

"Oryx", oil pastel/A3 black pastel paper, 2023.

This piece is finally finished, although I admit I was hesitant to post it, since I made some lighting/shadow mistakes that really bother me! But here it is anyway, since I've been posting progress pictures and it wouldn't make sense to leave it as a loose thread on my blog.

I learnt a good lot while working on this, and there's many things I would do differently, had I known them when I first started the piece. But I digress, please enjoy! Below is a detail picture of the clouds, because I think they turned out the best of all 🌩

[saber-monet]

[random-brushstrokes]

William Mitcheson Timlin - The Friendly Dragon (1942)

[annasellheim]

Day 28 inktober

There is a particular family of students I teach that are fashionable as all get out. I took photos of a lot of N’s outfits over the summer bc they were amazing. So I decided to draw some of them.

Swipe to see them all and one of their drawings in the @refugee.youth.project.bccc zine (available for purchase on my store).

[veracityp]

Did you know that African masks are still used in religious ceremonies, traditional dances and story telling? Comment below if you’ve seen one being used before!

[tyrannoninja]

The Battle for Antarctica

It is the 1800s in an alternate timeline, and the Zulu and the Maori are fighting over the far southern continent of Antarctica and whatever riches might lie underneath its ice sheets!

Giving both the Zulu and Maori attire suitable for the Antarctic cold while still keeping them recognizable as Zulu and Maori presented a bit of a challenge, I will admit. What I went with was wrapping their limbs with local leopard seal fur as well as giving the Zulu leather cloaks called karosses.