Chief Spotted Elk

Spotted Elk aka "Chief Big Foot" by the US soldiers . Skillful diplomat ,Great leader , Good warrior but remembered the most by his death in 1890.  The name  Chief Bigfoot  came from to some oversized boots he wore which he got  at Ft. Bennett  .  He was the leader of the Mniconjou people who were killed here in the massacre of Wounded Knee.    After he was killed George Trager photographed him and labeled it  Chief Bigfoot and the name stuck . He is buried in the mass grave at Wounded Knee .  His group was headed to a Ghost Dance The Calvary stopped them and Chief Spotted Elk met with them under a white flag then the Calvary wanted disarm everyone  Chief Spotted Elk agreed  then during the disarming everyone and a shot rang out .  The rest is sad history.

Graphite on 11 x 17 Stonehenge warm white paper .

Last Glow of the Day

I saw a picture of a sunset that inspired me. You could hardly see the lower part of the sunset. Artistic license  to the rescue . I changed the reference removed some trees and shrubs leaving enough to boarder the sunset with trees.

I need to work on my photography skills a bit the picture is off a bit the yellow is brighter .

This is a soft pastel 11 X 15 on a grey Stonehenge paper 100% cotton .  I used mostly  Schminckie  and Blick soft pastels with some pastel pencils.

Thank you for looking hope you enjoyed it.

High Mountain view

I was looking for some ideas to try . I saw this scene with this sky and  a road with jeeps and people . I really liked the sky distant hills but the jeep and road had to go.Omitted road jeeps added some trees . I enjoyed it and its pretty.

 

 The left is darker than actual . 

This is soft pastels  on Strathmore 400 paper 9 X 12  I used mostly Schminckie  soft pastels with some pastel pencils for grass

Thanks for looking.

Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull is next in my series of famous,notable  and important Native Americans .

Sitting Bulls, Indian name was  Tatanka Iyotake.  Sitting Bull was born  into the Hunkpapa of the Teton Sioux.1830 -1831, in the Dakota Territory in the blackhills and died on December 15, 1890, on the Grand River in South Dakota

He was a  Teton Dakota Indian chief  and Holy man who united  the Sioux tribes  in their struggle for survival . He held a lifelong distrust of white men and  stubbornly determination to resist their domination. Sitting Bull joined his first war party at age 14 and soon gained a reputation for fearlessness in battle. He fought many battles beat George Custer but in the end he was forced to surrender. 

There was a Ghost Dance Movement  that started in the southwest spread to the Black hills  . Sitting Bull allowed this religious movement in his area. This Ghost Dance Movement  worried the Calvary BIA agents. They sent lawmen to arrest Sitting Bull in hopes of preventing an uprising . When Sitting Bull was about to be arrested braves loyal to Sitting Bull protested a fight ensued . Strange as it seems  Sitting Bull Died by the hands of a natives of his own tribe who were working for the government..

Now back to my art. I felt most  references showed Sitting Bull as a Defiant adversary to the white man and his world.  I softened the expression to what I would expect if he was addressing his tribe or family.  For some reason my lighting was off when photographing this on just a tad dark on the top and lower right .

This is graphite on 10 X 15 warm white Stonehenge paper 100% cotton.   Hope you enjoy looking at it I enjoyed doing it.

Mini Shiprock

This is an acrylic painted on a 4"X4"  on primed hardboard.   Shiprock has always been one of the formations I really like. I believe I am going to do some more of these small sizes. I ordered them in to try. I like how the minis come out .  Most paintings view range is 6 ' or greater these look good on a desk 2'-3 '  from the viewer.

Hope you enjoyed viewing it.

Anna

Annie Dodge Wauneka was a very influential member of the Navajo Nation she received honorary Doctorates Presidential awards. She did alot of work to improve the health  of the Navajo people on the Reservation.

In my quest to paint this woman all photos are 20 to 40 years old and was not pleased with most  of the few that are there. I took old poses with with different facial angles. The only colored photo I found I didnt like her red blouse  .  I liked a pose with a smile it appeared as she was 50s in it I tried to achieve a likeness of her in that time frame.

This is the result .

This took a while to do , first the sketch then I painted it in a monochrome of a grey. Then added  the color as glazes on top one layer at a time .  This was with acrylic which dries fast . Trying to make the blouse look like blue velvet was tricky.

This is acrylic on a 16 x 20 canvas

I hope you like it

Southwest Sunset

I saw a photo with the clouds and similar color . I changed mountains foreground and mid ground . I tried to use a mountain range outline from southern New Mexico.

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  .

Afternoon storm over Chimney Rock

This sandstone monument is north of Shiprock New Mexico and just southwest of  Cortez Colorado  .  It is on the northeastern  end of the Navajo Reservation. It is an interesting rock formation.   Drove by it hundreds of times over the years.

 I have not heard any stories or myths with this sandstone monument but there maybe . 

If your familiar  with the area what direction is this view ?

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  .

Winter night in Monument Valley

This little one is a based on monument valley . A bit of artistic license  ,  I like it.  It gets a few snowstorms there. This I see as  a family in a lone hogan weathering out a rare winter snow fall.

This is my second painting on primed masonite .

This is acrylic on primed masonite 4" X 4"

Geronimo " one who yawns "

 Geronimo  " one who yawns " was my next  endeavor . Him being a legend it was a must for me to draw him. Loved, feared, and hated he fought a long hard battle against the Calvary .  His tenacity in his war deserves respect.

The use of the name while jumping out of a plane or a charge came from his exploits like rushing a group of men armed with guns while only carrying a knife and winning.

The next 2 paragraphs are not my writing but from the linked web site.

Geronimo was the leader of the last American Indian fighting force formally to capitulate to the United States. Because he fought against such daunting odds and held out the longest, he became the most famous Apache of all. To the pioneers and settlers of Arizona and New Mexico, he was a bloody-handed murderer and this image endured until the second half of this century.


To the Apaches, Geronimo embodied the very essence of the Apache values, aggressiveness, courage in the face of difficulty. These qualities inspired fear in the settlers of Arizona and New Mexico. The Chiricahuas were mostly migratory following the seasons, hunting and farming. When food was scarce, it was the custom to raid neighboring tribes. Raids and vengeance were an honorable way of life among the tribes of this region.

 http://www.indians.org/welker/geronimo.htm

He surrendered hoping to return to his homeland he spent time in a Florida prison  and in Oklahoma but never was able to return to his homeland .  


But what is not written about  by many narratives is his war for freedom and vengeance started with Mexico . His Mother, wife and 3 children were killed by Mexican troops . This  transformed  a trader into a warrior over night.

Villain or Hero its your decision.

This is a composite drawing of him. the headdress is from one old photo of him but younger and his likeness from another when he was old. The expression I really liked  but he was wearing a bolder hat and suit just didn't suit me for this.

This is graphite and charcoal  on 11X15 Stonehenge paper 100% cotton  the color is kraft.

 

Chief Joseph

Chief Joseph a translation of his real name is "Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain". He was considered as a  great Chief of the Nez Perce  tribe during a tough time at war with the US and forced from their ancestral homelands . 

 I used several old photos as reference for this. His face from one and the headdress is stylized from another picture. I looked at other photos to of  Chief Joseph to help me make a work of  art that I was happy with.

 

 While I was drawing and shading each feather I started thinking and remembering that many tribes at puberty a male child under goes a rite of passage to prove he is a man.  When passing the trials he gets to wear a feather.  Every notable even of heroism or feat of skill or strength was quite literally a feather in his cap.  Just like our soldiers of today with their chest full of shining buttons and pins and medals  . These headdresses were a display of  heroism not just prettys .  

Was this feather for victory in unarmed combat , a successful raid , a touche of a armed rivals and not being hurt, or stealing cavalry horses as the calvary slept or was this one from his rights of passage so long ago.  Thats some of the thoughts that travels threw my mind while I was doing this one.

 

 

 

I plan on mat and framing this one might crop it a bit but here is a what it might look like .

This was done in graphite of various degrees of hardness . It is 12 X 15  on Stonehenge paper  a 90 lbs paper 100% cotton it will last centuries if taken care of .

Thank You for looking

 

Morning on the farm.

Morning on the farm is 60 % real and 40% fantasy landscape. Took elements from a farm I have pictures of  . Then removed fences used existing light directions and pushed it till it was in the early morning. Did some artistic license to create a painting that is very reminiscent of an actual real place but tweaking the elements to fit a composition  that gives a romantic feeling of a sunrise on the farm.

I hope you enjoy it.

It is an acrylic  on a 14 X 18 stretched canvas.

Lone Windmill Meets the Morning

I took snippets from various sources to make this painting. I aimed to make a western feel  to it  . 


To me, It portrays the possibilities and beauty of a new day.  Calm and relaxing as the new day arrives. 

This is an acrylic on a 14 X 18 stretched canvas.  

Hope you enjoy looking at it.

Chief Manuelito

Chief Manuelito was the main Chief of the Navajos in the mid to late 1800s. 

He told a story to his people  after the long walk. 

 He said, 
"My grandchild, the whites have many things which we Navajos need. But we cannot get them. It is as though the whites were in a grassy canyon and there they have wagons, plows, and plenty of food. We Navajos are up on a dry mesa. We can hear them talking but we cannot get to them. My grandchild, education is the ladder . Tell our people to take it."

I painted this to remember his words  as if he just climbed down a ladder and was walking away.  Those words ring true for all mankind .

I used a 1850 photo of Chief Manuelito as a reference.  (there are very few of them ) I dont know who the photographer was.  

 

Chief Manuelito education is the ladder

This is an acrylic painting on canvas 16 x 20.

Thank you for looking

 

Windmill Near shiprock

Shiprock is always a popular theme to paint or photograph.  I was approached to paint this  scene .  I  used a photo I took last year and added a windmill to the scene .

I had it taken to My Dads place and they picked it up there. They loved it , that makes me happy.

This is a acrylic on a 11 x 14 stretched canvas.

There is a bit of  glare on the right side.

Thanks for looking.

Good Harvest

The bounty of a good chilli crop .  Or could double as a Christmas scene here in New Mexico .

This was a challenge for me first it is on primed hardboard second its a 4" x 4"  a  support used a lot but I never tried before .  I never worked that small before. 

This is acrylic on gessoed  hardboard (masonite)  4x4.


Thanks for looking.

Quiet Evening on The Trail

This is a idea brought to life .  I searched for some references to go by for shadows and shading . These were built into my vision.  I like the result.

It brings back fond memories of campfires, camping, horseback riding  and just enjoying nature.  I hope you enjoy this little camping trip.

 

This an acrylic painting on a16 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas.

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  .

Old Forgotten Farm on the Hill

This is a multi reference painting.  One was a field of bluebonnets from a low angle and another was  old fence with a made up farm house from a sketch. 





 I tried to match the different blue a sky is from the high desert blue sky.  I had fun with it thats the main thing.

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

Hope you like it and thanks for dropping by.

Sundown at the Western Oasis

The old windmills once a common sight and icon the western states are slowly disappearing . They are being replaced with electric pumps and waterlines . Also ranchers and farmers are gradually going out of business and giving up and letting them rot.  I just love windmills, old farm or ranch houses old barns.  All the items of a by gone era.


This painting is a composite  from several references.

It is an acrylic on 16 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas .

Thanks for looking.