Niki Saunders is a self taught wildlife artist. She was born and raised in Zimbabwe, Africa, and was exposed to the extreme outdoor environment from an early age.
Niki's artistic ability was evident early in her life and she was encouraged by her school tutors to pursue a career in the arts. Niki however chose to settle down and raise a family. In later years she realised her artistic potential.
Greatly inspired by the great masters Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo and their attention to detail, Niki concentrated and perfected her unique technique of crosshatch, utilising the rapidograph technical instrument in black permanent ink. She works with a 0.13mm and 0.18mm cone creating a lifelike and photographic effect. Niki's pictures are purely crosshatch and no other medium is included. The work is very labour intensive and requires extreme patience.
African wildlife artist Niki, only completes one-off originals and works on all forms of African wildlife. She has exhibited in Zimbabwe, South Africa and in London.
Niki has perfected her own style of crosshatching and these samples give some indication of the detail in her fine work. Crosshatching must not be confused with etching. The image on the right shows detail from the tusk of the elephant.
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