Friday, March 20, 2009

THE FLYING COLOURS OF HEMP
Image above is painted with hemp oil, which, along with linseed and poppy oils, is one of the most useful painting oils known to man. It depicts a Laggar Falcon chasing sandgrouse, which are cousins to pigeons. The are swift fliers and usually evade the falcon's talons, but one caught unawares, usually at a wadi, or drinking spot, can find itself a meal to this predator. As they are cousins to pigeons, it may well be they are fond of hemp, as are most birds. This image, and other images painted in hemp, and mostly depicting falconry, can be found now at the new blogspot Lure of the Falcon. I have been drawing and painting these now for 20 years, so this is like a retrospective. Presenty I am working on a painting of a Saker hunting a Houbara in the desert. I don't know if houbara eat hemp, but they have been noted for eating poppy seeds as they migrate through Afghanistan. As there has been a sighting of hemp fields in Afghanistan, I am starting to work on a sketch of houbara in the hemp fields of Helmand.

1 comment:

Mark Ski said...

great site!