Maasai Morani:

Jan does not do many people - the only people she does are those of African tribes. They are such an intregal part of Africa that she feels compelled to do them. Favorites are the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania. They have a fascinating culture of being pastoral nomads for centuries. However in the last 10 years Jan has beginning to see a change in the people, wearing more "western" clothing, mostly given by tourists. The proud and noble heritage of this fascinating people is quickly disappearing.

This is a warrior - a "morani". The culture is set up in age sects. At about the age of 13 the boys are initiating into manhood (thus becoming a morani) which includes circumcision. Also historically it meant the spearing of a lion. If the boy managed to kill a lion he was rewarded with being able to wear a headdress fashioned from the mane. Now days, the killing has been banned by the governments, and most of the head dresses are passed down from father to eldest son.

Jan has been able to spend time photographing and sketching the maasai for over 13 years. Here she is seen with a group of morani. One wearing the alternative to the lion mane headdress which is a one made of ostrich feathers.

Jan likes to create random organic texture. Here she is doing the cow dung hut behind the maasai by lying in the paint wet and then crumbling a piece of cellophane into it.

Jan is now transferring the drawing done to the same size as the painting to the painting surface using a white artist transfer paper.

Here the outline of the warrior is seen transferred on top of the textured hut background.

To create the organic natural look of the ground, Jan starts by spattering paint with a toothbrush. Notice she has covered the areas she doesn't want to get paint on.

The ground has now been completed. Notice how Jan has added "sun and shadows". The doorway and the braces for the roof have also been started.

Jan has started painting the lion mane headdress. She is doing it (no surprise) just like her regular fur technique which is to "draw out the hairs in off white paint, put a brown wash on it, and then detail it out.

The head dress is now completed, and Jan has transferred the drawing for the rest of the warrior.

Jan has "blocked off" areas of the skin with an artist's masking fluid. She has then started painting in the folds and contours of the red "shuka" that the warrior is wearing.

In this photo the shuka and the face have been completed, and Jan has begun work on the arms and legs. The skin is done by layering lots of colors transparently so that each color "glows" through the next, adding depth and color. She has also begun work on the head dress bangles across the face.

The beadwork on Maasai is EXTREMELY time consuming. Jan goes through three or four brushes when doing Maasai! Here you can see Jan is using her magnifying lamp to do the detail of the beads on the warriors bracelet.

This is the completed painting "Warrior", 18 x 24. The original is sold but giclée prints are available.