Red Valley

My better half and I took a drive out behind Shiprock over into Arizona for sight seeing and material for painting. The Town Red Valley is just over the boarder. This is an out cropping of sandstone I thought was interesting  we found just off the road near Cove Az .  I loved the juniper fighting for survival in a crack on top of  a barren rock. I thought I would make a great painting.

This is acrylic on gallery wrap canvas  16 x 20.

Alpha

This is a composite of  references .  The Wolf standing on a knoll from one  a rock  out of another reference  and pine trees.  I think I captured   an attentive  gaze in the wolf . The original he looked bored . Hes waiting and watching for the slightest movement sound or whisper of a scurrying  rodent or any thing that qualifies as next meal.

This one I really enjoyed doing it .  But It was hard to get a good picture of it .  The transparent glazes would glare  show the top color or the base or just the highlights. I finally used all manual settings manual focus still had glare upper left but 90% good.  Maybe natural light light bulbs and tripod light stands  might get the photo quality I want.  The camera my better half got for a birthday present is pretty good I lack in skills and proper lighting .  But for now my purposes are full filled as is I get a good picture on the web.

This is acrylic  on  gallery wrapped canvas 16 x 20.

Thanks for looking

Howling Coyote

This is in Monument Valley  looking past the Totem pole and Yee bi chea dancers to the Howling Coyote way out in the distant about to get a shower.  Monument Valley has been a place that fascinates me the high cliffs, sunsets sunrises with beautiful colors with dark shadows. A change of 30 minutes  can change the colors from a sandstone cream to fiery reds and oranges  or golden yellows the rinsing and setting of the sun is a sight to behold if you are ever threw there stop and watch one. 

This was finished  early April , but I started it in January  this sat on my easel while I was in the hospital from that wicked flu that went around this spring.   Finished this when I came home.

 The boulders on the bottom left are the size of a home  there actually is a home and coral there for what I was painting they didn't fit  so they gone.

This is acrylic on gallery wrap canvas 16x20.

Another  study on wildlife  . The reference cute bunny was from wetcanvas.com  as a sub forum challenge .  I liked the picture so I gave it a try.  This setting could be in my back yard. I am getting better at photography also still having glare on parts getting colors better .  But the transparent  glazes seem to photograph off from actual color and intensity  some layers virtually disappeared . 

This an acrylic  is a 8x10 canvas panel .

This was an experiment on animals and their fur coats .  I saw a photo of a bear eating something undetermined in a tree I really liked it .  I added a dark back ground reworked the shrub turning it to a red berry bearing  shrub.

I read the old masters many times used a limited pallet  with out blue . Greens were made with black and yellow.  All greens on this were done like that.

The fur was painted in a grisaille  with glazes of color over the under painting.  I am pleased on how it turned out

This is an acrylic painting done on a 8x10 canvas panel .

Hope you enjoy viewing it . I had fun pushing my boundaries .