I see you

I see you is a pastel on paper Beautiful wolf..

This is a pastel painting on 100% cotton paper Stonehenge  warm white.  12x17 . This is done with Schmincke,Art spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastels and pastel pencils  .

King of the Prairie

I love these icons of the old west. But they were a staple for many of the American Indians both east and west of the Mississippi . The few areas where they didn't roam Az. Cal. Fl. the seashores and the north east.

I plan to paint more Bison and other North American wildlife  .  I kinda rotate in medium and  subjects I dont want to fall in a rut and paint only one thing and one medium .

Imagine seeing a million head herd of these Bisons .  I read that was common in the 1830s .

I was a tad off on the photograph its too light on the right side.  My lighting was too bright on that side.

This is how I think I will frame this one.

This pastel is done on 15 x 22 Stonehenge paper which is 100% cotton . Cotton paper can last for several centuries if care for. I used Blick soft pastels, Schminkie soft pastels some hard pastels and pastel pencils .


Thank you for looking

Hope you enjoyed it.

Inquisitive Mockingbird

This little bird just struck me and I had to paint it.  The way it looks at you with a tilted head really intrigued me and challenged me the beak is foreshortened which adds a little more difficulty to it.  

I finished it a few days ago just got it photographed and uploaded. I am happy on how it turned out. It is a 11x14 pastel.

 I will put a mat on it and a backing board . Then slip it into these neat plastic sleeves I found they are clear and protect it and allow it to be stacked.  It seems to be a perfect way to try to display watercolors and pastels for sale with out the expense of frame for every one.

This pastel is done on Stonehenge paper which is 100% cotton . Cotton paper can last for several centuries if care for. I used Blick soft pastels, Schminkie soft pastels some hard pastels and pastel pencils .


Thank you for looking

Hope you enjoyed it.

You're Trespassing

 I had several names thought up like "My Pasture","What Part of Run Dont You Understand" "Go Ahead and Make My Day "or " This is  " My Field "  .  Going to leave it as is for now. but starting to like "What Part of Run Dont You Understand" better. What you think? Which One?

I tried to use color, light  and dark to tell a story.  A dark stormy sky adds drama a bull about to charge.  I had a hard time finding a reference to work from. I wanted a longhorn about to charge facing viewer pawing or other threatening poses. This is a frankenstein  reference 4 bulls to the stance body language nostrils eyes and the color.

 Longhorn fans this one is right up your ally . I had a wild animal in pastels  theme  going.  But some suggestions  spurred this to life.

This is a pastel done on Stonehenge paper natural white its 15x22 . This is done with Schminke, Art Spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastes and pastel pencils  .

King of the Mountain

King of the  Mountain,  He is ready for the Next challenger .

The big horn sheep dot the west from Canada to Mexico. Residing mainly in mountainous regions and rough terrain any where from dry desert mountains to the wet forests of British Columbia .   The Rams can weigh up to 500 lbs .

I did get the pleasure of seeing a duel of 2 rams. Opposite side of a canyon from them I watched them and heard the loud clack of the horns meet time after time.  Hard to believe  how loud that is when they bash to gather. It seemed like a good 30 minutes they kept at it.  Until the weaker one gave up.

This is reminiscent of that day I watching em duke it out .

 

This is a pastel done on stonehenge paper natural white its 15x22 . This is done with Schminke,Art spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastes and pastel pencils  .






Thanks for stopping Bye

Rocky Mountain High

This fellow enjoys rugged shear cliffs , high mountains  of the Rocky's.  There is a old saying a road so rough only a Mountain Goat would travel. The goats climb places it at ease that make  a trained  mountain climber think how do I get there.  I must admit I have seen these in nature as a white or cream dot on a mountain in the distance. I have seen photographs of them on a roadway I have never been so lucky.  This is a composite from multiple references .  I tried to get a inquisitive look ,like what are you doing here?  I  am happy with it.

This is a pastel done on stonehenge paper natural white its 15x22 . This is done with Schminke,Art spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastes and pastel pencils  .

Hope you enjoyed viewing it.

Spider Rock

This is in Canyon de Chelly  Az. These are impressive twin spires in the bottom of the canyon. The Taller one is approximately 800 feet tall. They are not far from Canyon de Chelly ruins .  Actually the taller and thinner spire is big enough at the top to land a helicopter on. I believe there are commercials of this spire with  cars or trucks on top of it. It sure dont look like it could fit one from looking up from the ground.

There is a story with them. Being named Spider Rock the local native legend  Spiderwoman  lived at the top and taught the local Navajo people how to weave. And they do some beautiful rugs. There are other stories with these spires and Spiderwoman it is not my place to tell them I have no affiliation with the tribe.  I just love the  beauty  of the land  like the stories and legends  and like the people and culture.

This is an acrylic on a gallery wrapped canvas  10 x 20 .

Thanks for looking.

Prong Horn

I Did this fellow right after the buffalo.   Just  got around to photograph my newer works.

Lets bounce this is the split second after he sees you and before he bounces of into the distance the next thing you see is his back side getting smaller into the distance.  Actually they are a relative of goats.

They are native in the western Untied States grass lands, high desert, and steppes of the mountains . Open plains they call home their eyesight and speed make them challenge to any predator.

This is a pastel done on stonehenge paper natural white its 15x22 . This is done with Schminke,Art spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastes and pastel pencils  .

Hope you enjoyed viewing it.

Bovine of the Prairie

I had a old photo of a Buffalo at top of a ridge with trees silo barn  windmill fence ect. Thought it ruined it cropped it out .  I like this better .

Side note 1492 60 million of these , some herds were in the millions. By 1890 780 were left alive.

This is a pastel soft pastels with hard and some  pastel pencils on 15 x 22 stonehenge  paper .  Have a stack of sheets and pieces from pencil drawings. I like how it handles pastels.

As happy as I am with this I am going to do a few more in this style with other American wild life. 







Thanks for looking

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

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 .

I have been painting drawing and learning this last month not talking pictures of the work either. I have a few new watercolor paintings I would like to share.

These are done with watercolors on 90lbs  watercolor paper .

Cardinal in the Storm

I saw a picture like this and I really liked it . I changed it cropped it made it snow .  If I knew where the original reference came from I would gladly credit to him or her for the good photograph.

I enjoyed this one  I really cant believe I didnt post this yet . It seems I did this January 14 or December 13. 

This was done with pastels on 9X12 Colorfix paper. I used some nupastels , Blick soft pastels, art spectrum, Sennelier, pastel pencils ,and some Schmincke.

Weathering the Storm.

This one was a quick loose representation of the reference I have. One of my cousins took the photo of a small herd of buffalo hunkering down in a blizzard .  When ever I see these magnificent  Icons of the old west it is a bitter sweet moment. I am happy to get a chance to view one and a glimpse into Americas past, its bitter is knowing millions were killed for just their hide leaving the meat to rot on the plains.  Uncontrolled slaughter took the herds  of million down to the verge of extinction . I have read some herds were so large it took days to go around ,some herds were said to have a million heads thats a lot of bovine there. Now they are a rarity . One article states before 1492 there were 60 million yes 60,000,000 but by 1890 there were 750.

This is Pastel on grey Strathmore  pastel paper . It is 9x12 with hard and soft pastels .I used Nupastels , Blick artist pastels, Sennelier and Schminke Pastels.

Illustrations For a Childrens Book #2

Here are the second set of illustrations .  The hardest part is keeping the people and the puppy looking similar from one scene to the next.

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I had fun doing these . I think I will explore more in this area of art.I have a relative who has some ideas we need to explore. She has some old books she had written decades ago might try a new set of art work for them. It seems like its hurry up and wait then repeat.

Illustrations for a Childs Book

I did this set of drawings for a starting out author  just so happens I am a starting out artist . I  am waiting to see this set get published . I want to display them since I am pleased on how they turned out.

I wont give away any story details . These illustrations are colored pencil on  8 1/2  x  11 Stonehenge 100% cotton paper . 100% cotton can last centuries .

This is book 1 book2 is for another day. I hope you enjoy viewing them knowing the story I really enjoyed drawing them.

Streams Edge

I  thought of this composition early this spring. I fiddled with if for quite some time. The composition was using square canvas  instead of the rectangle . I used some other  compositional ideas . I did 5 or 6 compositional sketches.  First step was build the river bottom .  I sketched it out just the major rocks.  I was going to try a style of painting I never tried before .

 Above is stage 2 I outlined all rocks below a close up.

 

I used a deep blue black for the out line it will be the shadows between the rocks. You can see my expected water line on the big rock  on the left.

The next step was to contour all the rocks in  monochrome I used paynes gray /white to do this step. This was  very tedious  but the result works well.

Next I glazed the various  colors over the monochrome  under painting . The the fish was added light and shadows then water and bugs then enhanced the shadows and lights . Some rocks and areas took several glazes to get the quality I was looking for.

This is the completed  painting . It is acrylic on a 20 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas the painting  goes down the sides. This was finished  August 2013  .

 This success and newly learned skills presents a dilemma for me .   Which direction do I go . The direct way so many painters paint mix colors paint blend refine be done with it. Or this planned , slowly developed with multiple  layers of glazes. I think I will have to determine  that on what I am painting.

Moonlight wolf

Another of a favorite  subject the endangered  Wolf .  First night scene I am pleased with the results. This painting had many lessons for me to learn the successes were many, success = learn something . I  take all knowledge forward to strengthen my skills.

This was completed October  2012  . This is acrylic on canvas  16 x 20.  Every time I put paint on a canvas I get better with either  techniques  or confidence  or both. . I hope you enjoy  viewing my artistic growth thank you for looking.

Snow Howler

I have always loved wolves . I owned an Alaskan Malamute  who was kinda on the feral side great dogs .  I have an inclination to wolves . I feel politics  are exterminating this graceful  creature. My other half likes wolves also. My wife had some wolf prints years ago  before we got together so I did this one just for her.  This Snow Howler I found a howling wolf and added snow to the scene .

 This was done in September  2012 it is Conte pastels and Nupastels  on a 11X14 Strathmore pastel paper. I had fun doing this and rewarding to do something a loved one would enjoy. Need to revisit doing wolves again.