Water Lily from Merauke

Merauke is a town in southern part of West Papua. I went there early this year by airplane and visited several areas of the town including Wasur National Park. While in the park, I saw giant termite nest whose height could reach 3 meters from the ground. Much of the land in Merauke consists of lowland and swamps. That's why I could see various water plants. One the way back to town, I saw the water lily that looks so beautiful.

Back at home, I opened my sketch book and decided to draw and color it. Because the watercolor pencils were not strong enough in depicting the contrast between the light and darker colors, I added Pentel watercolor to the painting. And then I used my Nikon camera to capture the picture. After some adjustment in Adobe Photoshop, finally, I could uploaded it onto my Redbubble portofolio.

White Terrestrial Orchid

Here is another terrestrial orchid whose petals are white. The name of the flower, based on the information on the internet, is Spathoglottis plicata. I made this artwork using Staedtler 2B pencil and Derwent watercolour pencils. As you can see below, I gave black strokes of graphite pencils as the background of the drawing but for the purpose of uploading the image into my redbubble store, I removed its black background using Adobe Photoshop.

It is now available on various products of Zazzle. One of them is the iPhone case presented below:

White Terrestrial Orchid online at redbubble

Terrestrial Pink Orchid Flower

I have just finished drawing a flower. Its a terrestrial orchid called Spathoglottis plicata. I saw it when I went trekking in the jungle near Manokwari. The pink petals of the flower attracted my attention and triggered my desire to make an artwork from it.

For the purpose of uploading it into my Redbubble account, I cut its background using Adobe Photoshop 7. The objective is to enable it to be printed on T-shirts or other products of different colours.
I used Derwent Watercolour pencils during the drawing and "painting" process.  It is only a small painting and I hope that you are interested in purchasing it and my other artworks on various products from my redbubble account presented below.

Black Capped Lory in Watercolor

Title: Black Capped Lory
Size: A4 size paper
Media: Watercolor on paper
Painter: Leo Charles Roring

Here is the watercolor painting of Black Capped Lory (Lorius lory). I saw this bird while I was traveling in Raja Ampat islands. As a tourist guide, I often arrange tours and accompany tourists on various birdwatching and snorkeling trip in West Papua. Some of the destinations are Sorong regency, Tambrauw mountains and Raja Ampat. Raja Ampat is a famous place for diving and snorkeling. But the regency is also a nice place for birdwatchers. I saw this bird in Kri island and was attracted to it because of its colorful feather.
I made the watercolor painting of the bird using Derwent Watercolor pencils. I offer the cut out version of this bird in my Redbubble store. It can be bought on various printed products from T-shirts and drawstring bags to iPhone cases and pillows. I hope that you will be interested in buying some of them on the following link: Black Capped Lory Prints

Watercolor painting of Orchid

Here is the watercolor painting of orchid that I created last year. I think it is from Dendrobium family but I don't know its species name. I often see orchid plant in high trees when I guide tourists on trekking or birding tour in the forest of Manokwari or Sorong regency of West Papua.

Orchids are epiphytes or air plants. This is true because most orchids grow in high trees on the junction between a branch and the main trunk of a tree. Their roots tightly cling to the tree and also gather moisture from the surrounding air. There are also species of this plant that grows on the ground taking nutrients from the soil.

Orchid can also be seen as a sensual flower that is beautiful if artistically drawn or painted on canvas or paper. Because I like watercolor, I will make more artworks of orchids and upload them in this blog. 

I also have got the vector version of this painting that I made using Inkscape software. I uploaded it on my zazzle.com tropical art store.

The artwork is available printed on various products from mugs to t-shirt and from mouse pad to adult apron.

For Digital vector: 

Pink Orchid Teapot by tropicalart

For the watercolor print products, please, click the following link:

http://www.redbubble.com/people/leororing/works/16187857-orchid-flower-in-watercolor

Watercolor Painting of Hibiscus Flower

I made a small artwork last week. It was a pink rose mallow whose Latin name was Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. In my country, it is called Kembang Sepatu or Shoe Flower. Perhaps the painting of this flower decorated a lot of shoes that became hot items in the past. I like making small sized watercolor paintings because I can finish each of  in one day.

Red Hibiscus - watercolor on paper

This painting is available for purchase in various print products, one of them is hibiscus invitation cards or greeting cards on Redbubble.
If you are interested in having a rose mallow painting on the wall of your house, you can contact me for a commission works. I will paint it and send it to you. by Charles Roring/ E-mail: charlesroring@gmail.com

Watercolor Painting of Snake

Snake is often seen as a dangerous animal. This reptile is often seen in various artworks. The most popular snake in art world is dragon. Unfortunately, I have never seen it in real life. So, I prefer to make a painting of snake that is more realistic. The following picture is my painting of green snake that was portrayed at night among the leaves of a tree. Instead of sketching directly from nature, I used a photograph from the internet. The result is more dramatic than the photograph. Actually, the snake is quite small compared to the leaves but when it was drawn on a large paper it looks big.

I needed 2 days to complete the painting. The most important thing that I have to consider when drawing the sketch of the plant and the snake is trying to position the subjects in a balanced position. Finally, the result is an artwork that is not perfectly diagonal to the paper. It looks diagonal but the stalk of plant is positioned a little bit to the middle of the drawing area. by Charles Roring