Blog Posts - Scratchboard / Scraperboard Art by Solly Gutman 'The Colour of Black and White'

Black Breasted Snake Eagle

7/5/2020

The Black Breasted Snake Eagle can be found in a wide variety of habitats including savanna, bush-veld, semi-arid and even desert areas throughout southern Africa, and all the way up to Ethiopia, Sudan and Angola. The most important thing for this eagle to survive is an open terrain to hunt in and something to hunt. As the name suggests, this bird mostly feeds on snakes, but will also catch other reptiles, small mammals and amphibians.

Browse my online gallery for more images of African animals and birds, botanical studies and
detailed images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town in both monochrome and colour.

Pig's Ears!

6/28/2020

After a couple of days and nights of heavy rains and stormy weather the sun has come out and our winter flowing plants are out in all their brightest glory. One of these is the Cotyledon arbiculata, commonly known as 'Pig's Ears'.

Native to South Africa, this plant with its attractive orange-red bell-shaped flowers, has a number of medicinal uses. The fleshy part of the leaf is applied to warts and corns. Heated leaves are used as poultices for boils and other inflammations.

Browse through my online gallery for more images of African animals and birds, botanical studies and
detailed images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town in both monochrome and colour.

An Interview with the International Society of Scratchboard Artists

6/21/2020

I was both delighted and honoured to be interviewed by Jeanne Bossart for the latest edition of the International Society of Scratchboard Artists' magazine.

You can read the interview by clicking this link.

A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican...

6/14/2020

A wonderful bird is the Pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week!
But I'll be darned if I know how the hellican?

by Dixon Lanier Merritt

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Browse through my online gallery for more images of African animals and birds, botanical studies and
detailed images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town in both monochrome and colour.

All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.
Click here for prices.

Contact me
by phone on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com

A Herd of Ostriches

6/7/2020

Unmistakable of all the bird species, the common ostrich is the largest and heaviest bird. Flightless, it occurs in savanna and semi desert plains, a habitat which it is most suited to given its long powerful legs which aid it to make a quick get a way when threatened. Whilst most birds have four toes the ostrich only has two, this appears to be an adaptation for running. However, they run on just one toe with the second being used for balance.

Browse through my online gallery for more images of African animals and birds, botanical studies and
detailed images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town in both monochrome and colour.

All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.
Click here for prices.

Contact me
by phone on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com

Here's looking at you!

5/31/2020

The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal. With acceleration that would leave most automobiles in the dust, a cheetah can go from 0 to 60 miles an hour in only three seconds. Before unleashing their speed, cheetahs use exceptionally keen eyesight to scan their grassland environment for signs of prey—especially antelope and hares. This big cat is a daylight hunter that benefits from stealthy movement and a distinctive spotted coat that allows it to blend easily into high, dry grasses. Most wild cheetahs are found in eastern and southwestern Africa. Interestingly, the cheetah is the only big cat which doesn't roar.

Browse through my online gallery for more images of African animals and birds, botanical studies and
detailed images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town in both monochrome and colour.

Crowned Crane

5/17/2020

Gray crowned cranes are every bit as majestic as their name suggests. One of 15 species of crane, these long-legged birds have gray bodies, white wings with brown and gold feathers, white cheeks, and bright red gular sacs underneath their chins. Most strikingly, a spray of stiff golden feathers forms a crown around their heads.

Browse through my online gallery for more images of African animals and birds, botanical studies and
detailed images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town in both monochrome and colour.

Bird of Paradise - The Strelitzia Reginae

5/10/2020

In full flower here now, the Strelitzia reginae is a well-known South African plant, identifiable by its striking colours and unique shape. Strelitzia reginae is also known as the bird of paradise (resembling the colours and shape of an exotic bird), the crane flower and the orange strelitzia.

The vivid orange and purple flowers are large, hardy and spiked. This beautiful flower has made this one of the most popular plants in South Africa, and it can be found flanking the major national roads and in gardens all over the country.

South Africa is the only country in the world in which Strelitzia reginae occurs naturally. They are found in abundance from the KwaZulu-Natal province on the east coast, throughout the Eastern Cape and in Cape Town and the Western Cape.

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Pop over to my online gallery for more botanical images as well as images of African animals and birds,
together with iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town in both monochrome and colour.

An Image of Cape Town Harbour

5/3/2020

I was delighted to be asked for my permission to include this image, entitled 'Smoke Break', in the latest edition of the Platinum Creative Arts Grade 9 Learning Book which is due to be published by Pearson Press South Africa later in the year.

I completed the original scratchboard work in 2011 which depicts a typical scene from the past at Table Bay Harbour in Cape Town.

Table Bay Harbour traces its roots back to 1652 when Jan van Riebeeck of the Dutch East India Company established a supply station there. A vicious storm in 1858 saw 30 ships blown ashore and wrecked, with huge loss of life. Lloyd's of London declined all further insurance on ships in Table Bay in winter, resulting in the British Colonial Government starting the construction, in 1860, of the first breakwater.

This developed into the Victoria and Alfred Basin, the first safe harbour. There has been extensive expansion since then and today the V&A Waterfront is a premier tourist attraction.

Visit my online gallery for more images of Cape Town and surrounds, its people, buildings, birds, animals and plant life.

Simon's Town Penguins

4/19/2020

These beautiful birds have taken to the streets during lockdown.
See them waddling down Main Road, Simon's Town!

Visit my online gallery for more images of Cape Town and surrounds, its birds, animals and plant life.