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Gamini Ratnavira was born and raised in tropical Sri Lanka. As a self-taught artist he uses his photographic memory and life experiences to produce vibrant, colorful images of the rain forest flora and fauna, which are complimented with intriguing stories about his work with wildlife and research information about each painting. His paintings reveal his love for art coupled with an unrestrained, lifelong reverence for nature and animals. After earning unequaled praise in his native land, Gamini moved to the U.S. where he continues a successful art career in Southern California. He is a member of the Society of Animal Artists and Artists for Conservation and has exhibited with Birds in Art and Arts for the Parks top 100 tours, as well as shows across the United States. His work is collected worldwide including 43 paintings in the San Diego Natural History Museum, and many other conservation organizations. He has traveled to over 50 countries researching endangered wildlife everywhere, amassing a life bird list of over 4,000. He illustrated Birds of Sri Lanka and Mammals of Sri Lanka and is currently working on Endemic Birds of Sri Lanka, a coffee table book of Sri Lankan Birds. He has also illustrated 38 official postage stamps for Sri Lanka, where over a third of the land is set aside as natural conservation land.
Gamini’s Full Website: www.gaminiratnavira.com
“I absolutely love working with turner acryl gouache japanesque colours as it captures the vibrancy of the rain forest.”
I have painted as a professional artist and have worked with acrylic, gouache, watercolor, oils and by far I love turner acryl gouache japanesque the best. I paint on canvas, paper and claybord and use yellow ochre and burnt sienna washes to add depth of field to my paintings. With a little patience and exploration I think other artists would understand the vibrancy of colors achieved and immense palette choice they can attain with these remarkable colours.
Specifically working with the fur and feathers to get detail and to create the vibrancy I have only been able to achieve accuracy with these paints. I particularly like the high pigment with the opaque finish of these paints. I like the colorfastness of these colours that allow me to not use glass leaving clearer detail for the viewer. I like the capability of using it in layers to create shape. I have ordered my art supplies from Jerry’s Artarama since the late 90’s as an extremely prolific artist creating 100 originals per year I find their online and customer service an economy of time as well as money. My experience in working with turner acryl gouache japanesque colours has been an exciting step forward in my art career, especially to create the brilliance in the rain forest species I create. -Gamini Ratnavira