Imagination is ancient! Welcome to Coloricombo 2025

Week 1 is Rust, Peach, Mocha Mousse & Dark Chocolate

Welcome to 2025 and a new #coloricombo program. This the fourth year that I’ll be sharing colour prompts on a weekly basis, I’m going to be altering the format slightly, changing the fixed format of colours found in an artwork by a featured artist to one based on a variety of sources. This will keep #coloricombo content fresh and gives me the opportunity to share stories beyond those of artists or artworks.

We are travelling to South Africa today for a short break. Our trip will include some time in the mountainous region of the Cederberg in the Western Cape where many examples of San rock paintings dating to around 8,000 years ago can be found, I’m excited about what I’m hoping to see and will share it with you here.

Prehistoric art is utterly fascinating, I fell into a virtual rabbit hole whilst looking for an image for this week’s prompt and stumbled across info about a fairly recent discovery of a long wall of rock art in the Chiribiquete National Park in the Colombian Amazon.

The park, known as the "Maloca of the Jaguar” is Colombia’s largest national park, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it’s is covered in tepui (table-top mountains) which contain the most significant collections of rock paintings in the world. Some paintings are estimated to be up to 20,000 years old and are still being added to by the indigenous people who live in the 45,000 square kilometres of the park and still don’t have contact with the outside world.

Over 75,000 figures have been made by indigenous people on the walls of sixty rock shelters depicting jaguars, hunting scenes with deer and tapir, ceremonial practices and the rich biodiversity of the region.

The paintings are in red, black and yellow pigments, all derived from natural materials like as iron oxides, charcoal and plant extracts. Brushes and hands were used as applicators, with signs of engraving and layering where works have been added to or later paintings painted. The majority are of monumental scale, placed on protected but virtually inaccessible cliffs on the tepuis. The site was inaccessible until 2018 due to the Colombian conflict (it was under the control of FARC) and still isn’t open for visitors today. What a mysterious place.

Here’s links for further information:

• Apollo Magazine

• The Guardian

• National Geographic

“Rock art from Chiribiquete National Park”, natural pigments on rock. artists unknown, from 20,000BCE onwards (Image source)

Colour Combination

The colours for the first prompt of 2025 are Rust, Peach, Mocha Mousse & Dark Chocolate.

Use these colours (together with any neutral lights and darks) to create an artwork in absolutely any medium or style.

As always, I love seeing what you’ve created. If you’re posting on Instagram, please tag #coloricombo and #estemacleod or join us in the private Facebook group Creative Prompts.