Hakuna matata

Absolutely love this one!!!

Thank you very much MHK, much appreciated comment!

This is really cool, looks straight out of The Lion King.

Very nice painting, well done 👍

Thank you Kelsith! Mentioning the lion king, I wanted to place the silhouette of a giraffe underneath one of the trees but my wife was really opposed to that.

Thank you Patoex, a heartwarming comment!

Don't worry about doing your own thing. Bob always said he's not teaching us to copy but to instruct us in the technique and then we can do what we want with it. Straight away I thought Masai Mara so you really have captured the essence of the serengeti despite there being no animals in the painting. I've been to Kenya and you don't necessarily see the animals as they're so well camouflaged, but you know they are there and if you get out of the truck they will try to eat you! Your back-lit trees are great. You have inspired me to experiment with lighting a bit more.

I was thinking to do similar painting but not there yet, as I try some other things on the side. You did great job to achieve this dark shade (not pure black!) for the trees and I like how you got leaves on the end of the branches just slightly lighter in value to show that sunlight goes through it!

Thank you so much Landscapepainter, a very warming compliment from you. I've been to Kenya too (unfortunately not Tanzania) and I did try to capture the nature there a little, that is true. As I mentioned in another comment, my wife and daughter were totally against it that I would put a giraffe (or maybe an elephant) in the picture, so I did not. Up to now, everybody (neighbours, family, this community) believe this is my best so far and indeed, the flaming colouring did the job. What really helped was a yellow coloured canvas that I used for this. The trees were inspired by Bob where I used a darkbrown background for some texture and on top, a dark red coloured cover (alazarin crimson and some sap green) for the leaves, making certain that I overshoot the background so that more light would come through the leaves. The trunk is black with some Vandycke in it.

Dear Sunnylady, I would encourage you to try something similar, it will put any room on fire! Smiling here now!
For some techniques used, also see my comment to Landscapepainter. As for the sun through the leaves effect, that happened almost automatically since my sun was rather bright (a little too small perhaps) and the dark background didn't cover all of it, much to my relieve. I was careful with the reddish leaves as well, just a small covering, and that truly paid off. For the end of the branches, I deliberately overshooted so the leaves become really thinner there.
All the wonderful comments that I received the past days about this painting really motivates me to try another similar one, perhaps with some more mountain in it and a touch of green. And who knows, I might paint that giraffe as well!!

Definitely your best painting, and it's proof that doing your own thing will always beat "copying" someone else's work. It looks very realistic, almost like a photograph! And your wife and daughter are absolutely right, no giraffe! Less is more!

Mahy, merci beaucoup for your great comment! The enthousiasm at home and in this community made me do some research on future similar projects and yes, I have several now that would very suitable for a painting. Watch out for more within the next few weeks or months!

I agree with many of the comments above. Bob constantly encourages not copying his but rather experimenting using his tools. I do that a lot but you absolutely nailed it. Hakuta Matata

Dear MHK, know that, next to your artistic work, I admire you a lot for being very adaptive and imprivisional. I will certaily try from time to time to follow your footsteps in that! Looking forward hearing you and seeing your work!

I love the colors and the theme.

Thank you Moai, there are several more in this style to admire so please, look around in my paintings. Till next one!