# 10 Kudu
#10 Kudu (1020mm x 760mm acrylic)
Click on image to enlarge
To watch as a kudu emerges from the thicket is an encounter of elegance and grace, mixed with a fair amount of caution. It is an experience which for me defines the duality of these magnificent antelope, for behind that strong sense of majesty and aloofness is a wariness and tension which will see them disappear back into the unseen at the slightest hint of danger, aspects that challenge the artist who wishes to share more than just the physical scope of the image.
Of course, to paint a kudu is to join a tradition which can be traced back over hundreds, if not thousands of years, for in the hushed silence of a darkened cave, the magnificence and mythological power of the kudu was captured in ochre’s and earth pigments by those gifted first painters, the San. For them there was much more than just the image, for within the painting were bound a complete cosmology and relationship with the earth, approaches which , even today, have the power to completely transform the experience of viewing artworks, and thereby rekindling a connection with the natural world around us.
Noel Ashton’s Wildlife Studio – www.noelashton.com
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